BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
Joshua
AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,
OF THE BOOK OF
J O S H U A.
I. We have now before us the history of the Jewish nation in this book
and those that follow it to the end of the book of Esther. These books,
to he end of the books of the Kings, the Jewish writers call the
first book of the prophets, to bring them within the distribution
of the books of the Old Testament, into the Law, the Prophets,
and the Chetubim, or Hagiographa,
The rest they make part of the Hagiographa. For, though history is
their subject, it is justly supposed that prophets were their penmen.
To those books that are purely and properly prophetical the name
of the prophet is prefixed, because the credibility of the prophecies
depended much upon the character of the prophets; but these historical
books, it is probable, were collections of the authentic records of the
nation, which some of the prophets (and the Jewish church was for many
ages more or less continually blessed with such) were divinely directed
and helped to put together for the service of the church to the end of
the world; as their other officers, so their historiographers, had
their authority from heaven.–It should seem that though the
substance of the several histories was written when the events were
fresh in memory, and written under a divine direction, yet, under the
same direction, they were put into the form in which we now have them
by some other hand, long afterwards, probably all by the same hand, or
about the same time. The grounds of the conjecture are,
1. Because former writings are so often referred to, as the Book of
Jasher
(Josh. x. 13, and 2 Sam. i. 18),
the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the books of Gad,
Nathan, and Iddo.
2. Because the days when the things were done are spoken of sometimes
as days long since passed; as
He that is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer. And,
3. Because we so often read of things remaining unto this day;
as stones
vii. 26; viii. 29; x. 27; 1 Sam. vi. 18),
names of places
vii. 26; Judg. i. 26; xv. 19; xviii. 12; 2 Kings xiv. 7),
rights and possessions
(Judg. i. 21; 1 Sam. xxvii. 6),
customs and usages
(1 Sam. v. 5; 2 Kings xvii. 41),
which clauses have been since added to the history by the inspired
collectors for the confirmation and illustration of it to those of
their own age. And, if one may offer a mere conjecture, it is not
unlikely that the historical books, to the end of the Kings, were put
together by Jeremiah the prophet, a little before the captivity; for it
is said of Ziklag
that it pertains to the kings of Judah (which style began after
Solomon and ended in the captivity) unto this day. And it is
still more probable that those which follow were put together by Ezra
the scribe, some time after the captivity. However, though we are in
the dark concerning their authors, we are in no doubt concerning their
authority; they were a part of the oracles of God, which were committed
to the Jews, and were so received and referred to by our Saviour and
the apostles.
In the five books of Moses we had a very full account of the rise,
advance, and constitution, of the Old-Testament church, the family out
of which it was raised, the promise, that great charter by which it was
incorporated, the miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and
ordinances by which it was to be governed, from which one would
conceive and expectation of its character and state very different from
what we find in this history. A nation that had statutes and judgments
so righteous, one would think, should have been very holy; and a nation
what had promises so rich should have been very happy. But, alas! a
great part of the history is a melancholy representation of their sins
and miseries; for the law made nothing perfect, but this was to
be done by the bringing in of the better hope. And yet, if we
compare the history of the Christian church with its constitution, we
shall find the same cause for wonder, so many have been its errors and
corruptions; for neither does the gospel make any thing perfect
in this world, but leaves us still in expectation of a better
hope in the future state.
II. We have next before us the book of Joshua, so called,
perhaps, not because it was written by him, for that is
uncertain. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Phinehas wrote it. Bishop Patrick
is clear that Joshua wrote it himself. However that be, it is written
concerning him, and, if any other wrote it, it was collected out
of his journals or memoirs. It contains the history of Israel under the
command and government of Joshua, how he presided as general of their
armies,
1. In their entrance into Canaan,
2. In their conquest of Canaan,
3. In the distribution of the land of Canaan among the tribes of
Israel,
4. In the settlement and establishment of religion among them,
In all which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and
piety, to all that are in places of public trust. But this is not all
the use that is to be made of this history. We may see in it,
1. Much of God and his providence–his power in the
kingdom of nature, his justice in punishing the Canaanites when the
measure of their iniquity was full, his faithfulness to his
covenant with the patriarchs, and his kindness to his people Israel,
notwithstanding their provocations. We may see him as the Lord of Hosts
determining the issues of war, and as the director of the lot,
determining the bounds of men’s habitations.
2. Much of Christ and his grace. Though Joshua is not
expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of Christ, yet all
agree that he was a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour’s name, as
did also another type of him, Joshua the high priest,
The LXX., giving the name of Joshua a Greek termination, call him all
along Iesous, Jesus, and so he is called
Justin Martyr, one of the first writers of the Christian church
(Dialog. cum Tryph. p. mihi 300), makes that promise in
My angel shall bring thee into the place I have prepared, to
point at Joshua; and these words, My name is in him, to refer to
this, that his names should be the same with that of the Messiah. It
signifies, He shall save. Joshua saves God’s people from the
Canaanites; our Lord Jesus saves them from their sins. Christ,
as Joshua, is the captain of our salvation, a leader and
commander of the people, to tread Satan under their feet, to put
them in possession of the heavenly Canaan, and to give them
rest, which (it is said,
Joshua did not.
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.