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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O S H U A
CHAP. XXIII.
In this and the following chapter we have two farewell sermons, which
Joshua preached to the people of Israel a little before his death. Had
he designed to gratify the curiosity of succeeding ages, he would
rather have recorded the method of Israel’s settlement in their new
conquests, their husbandry, manufacturers, trade, customs, courts of
justice, and the constitutions of their infant commonwealth, which one
would wish to be informed of; but that which he intended in the
registers of this book was to entail on posterity a sense of religion
and their duty to God; and therefore, overlooking these things which
are the usual subjects of a common history, he here transmits to his
reader the methods he took to persuade Israel to be faithful to their
covenant with their God, which might have a good influence on the
generations to come who should read those reasonings, as we may hope
they had on that generation which then heard them. In this chapter we
have,
I. A convention of the states called
(ver. 1, 2),
probably to consult about the common concerns of their land, and to set
in order that which, after some years’ trial, being left to their
prudence, was found wanting.
II. Joshua’s speech to them as the opening, or perhaps at the
concluding, of the sessions, to hear which was the principal design of
their coming together. In it,
1. Joshua reminds them of what God had done for them
and what he was ready to do yet further,
2. He exhorts them carefully and resolutely to persevere in their duty
to God,
III. He cautions them against all familiarity with their idolatrous
neighbours,
IV. He gives them fair warning of the fatal consequences of it, if they
should revolt from God and turn to idols,
In all this he showed himself zealous for his God, and jealous over
Israel with a godly jealousy.
| Joshua’s Charge to Israel. | B. C. 1427. |
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1 And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given
rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua
waxed old and stricken in age.
2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and
for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers,
and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
3 And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto
all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he
that hath fought for you.
4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that
remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with
all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea
westward.
5 And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you,
and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their
land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you.
6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside
therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among
you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to
swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto
them:
8 But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this
day.
9 For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations
and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand
before you unto this day.
10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your
God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
As to the date of this edict of Joshua,
I. No mention at all is made of the place where this general assembly
was held; some think it was at Timnath-serah, Joshua’s own city, where
he lived, and whence, being old, he could not well remove. But it does
not appear that he took so much state upon him; therefore it is more
probable this meeting was at Shiloh, where the tabernacle of meeting
was, and to which place, perhaps, all the males that could had now come
up to worship before the Lord, at one of the three great feasts, which
Joshua took the opportunity of, for the delivering of this charge to
them.
II. There is only a general mention of the time when this was done. It
was long after the Lord had given them rest, but it is not said
how long,
v. 1.
It was,
1. So long as that Israel had time to feel the comforts of their rest
and possessions in Canaan, and to enjoy the advantages of that good
land.
2. So long as that Joshua had time to observe which ways their danger
lay of being corrupted, namely, by their intimacy with the Canaanites
that remained, against which he is therefore careful to arm them.
III. The persons to whom Joshua made this speech: To all Israel,
even their elders, &c. So it might be read,
v. 2.
They could not all come within hearing, but he called for all the
elders, that is, the privy-counsellors, which in later times
constituted the great Sanhedrim, the heads of the tribes, that is, the
noblemen and gentlemen of their respective countries, the judges
learned in the laws, that tried criminals and causes, and gave judgment
upon them, and, lastly, the officers or sheriffs, who were
entrusted with the execution of those judgments. These Joshua called
together, and to them he addressed himself,
1. That they might communicate what he said, or at least the sense and
substance of it, to those under them in their respective countries, and
so this charge might be dispersed through the whole nation.
2. Because, if they would be prevailed upon to serve God and cleave to
him, they, by their influence on the common people, would keep them
faithful. If great men be good men, they will help to make many
good.
IV. Joshua’s circumstances when he gave them this charge: He was old
and stricken in age
(v. 1),
probably it was in the last year of his life, and he lived to be 110
years old,
And he himself takes notice of it, in the first words of his discourse,
v. 2.
When he began to be old, some years ago, God reminded him of it
(ch. xiii. 1):
Thou art old. But now he did himself feel so much of the decays
of age that he needed not to be told of it, he readily speaks of it
himself: I am old and stricken in age. He uses it,
1. As an argument with himself to give them this charge, because being
old he could expect to be but a little while with them, to advise and
instruct them, and therefore (as Peter speaks,
as long as he is in this tabernacle he will take all
opportunities to put them in remembrance of their duty, knowing
by the increasing infirmities of age that he must shortly put off this
tabernacle, and desiring that after his decease they might continue as
good as they were now. When we see death hastening towards us, this
should quicken us to do the work of life with all our might.
2. As an argument with them to give heed to what he said. He was old
and experienced, and therefore to be the more regarded, for days should
speak; he had grown old in their service, and had spent himself for
their good, and therefore was to be the more regarded by them. He was
old and dying; they would not have him long to preach to them;
therefore let them observe what he said now, and lay it up in store for
the time to come.
V. The discourse itself, the scope of which is to engage them if
possible, them and their seed after them, to persevere in the true
faith and worship of the God of Israel.
1. He puts them in mind of the great things God had done for them, now
in his days, and under his administration, for here he goes no further
back. And for the proof of this he appeals to their own eyes
(v. 3):
“You have seen all that the Lord your God has done; not what I
have done, or what you have done (we were only instruments in God’s
hand), but what God himself has done by me and for you.”
(1.) Many great and mighty nations (as the rate of nations then went)
were driven out from as fine a country as any was at that time upon the
face of the earth, to make room for Israel. “You see what he has
done to these nations, who were his creatures, the work of his
hands, and whom he could have made new creatures and fit for his
service; yet see what destruction he has made of them because of
you
(v. 2),
how he has driven them out from before you
(v. 9),
as if they were of no account with him, though great and strong in
comparison with you.”
(2.) They were not only driven out (this they might have been, and yet
sent to some other country less rich to begin a new plantation there,
suppose to that wilderness in which Israel had wandered so long, and so
they would only have exchanged seats with them), but they were trodden
down before them; though they held out against them with the greatest
obstinacy that could be, yet they were subdued before them, which made
the possessing of their land so much the more glorious to Israel and so
much the more illustrious an instance of the power and goodness of the
God of Israel
(v. 3):
“The Lord your God has not only led you, and fed you, and kept
you, but he has fought for you as a man of war,” by which title he was
known among them when he first brought them out of Egypt,
So clear and cheap were all their victories, during the course of this
long war, that no man had been able to stand before them
(v. 9),
that is, to make head against them, so as to put them in fear, create
them any difficulty, or give any check to the progress of their
victorious arms. In every battle they carried the day, and in every
siege they carried the city; their loss before Ai was upon a particular
occasion, was inconsiderable, and only served to show them on what
terms they stood with God; but, otherwise, never was army crowned with
such a constant uninterrupted series of successes as the armies of
Israel were in the wars of Canaan.
(3.) They had not only conquered the Canaanites, but were put in full
possession of their land
(v. 4):
“I have divided to you by lot these nations, both those which
are cut off and those which remain, not only that you may spoil and
plunder them, and live at discretion in their country for a time, but
to be a sure and lasting inheritance for your tribes. You have it not
only under your feet, but in your hands.”
2. He assures them of God’s readiness to carry on and complete this
glorious work in due time. It is true some of the Canaanites did yet
remain, and in some places were strong and daring, but this should be
no disappointment to their expectations; when Israel was so multiplied
as to be able to replenish this land God would expel the Canaanites to
the last man, provided Israel would pursue their advantages and carry
on the war against them with vigour
(v. 5):
“The Lord your God will drive them from out of your sight, so
that there shall not be a Canaanite to be seen in the land; and even
that part of the country which is yet in their hands you shall
possess.” If it were objected that the men of war of the several tribes
being dispersed to their respective countries, and the army disbanded,
it would be difficult to get them together when there was occasion to
renew the war upon the remainder of the Canaanites, in answer to this
he tells them what little need they had to be in care about the numbers
of their forces
(v. 10):
One man of you shall chase a thousand, as Jonathan did,
“Each tribe may venture for itself, and for the recovery of its own
lot, without fearing disadvantage by the disproportion of numbers; for
the Lord your God, whose all power is, both to inspirit and to
dispirit, and who has all the creatures at his beck, he it is that
fighteth for you; and how many do you reckon him for?”
3. He hereupon most earnestly charges them to adhere to their duty, to
go on and persevere in the good ways of the Lord wherein they had so
well set out. He exhorts them,
(1.) To be very courageous
(v. 6):
“God fighteth for you against your enemies, do you therefore behave
yourselves valiantly for him. Keep and do with a firm resolution
all that is written in the book of the law.” He presses upon
them no more than what they were already bound to. “Keep with care, do
with diligence, and eye what is written with sincerity.”
(2.) To be very cautious: “Take heed of missing it, either on the right
hand or on the left, for there are errors and extremes on both hands.
Take heed of running either into a profane neglect of any of God’s
institutions or into a superstitious addition of any of your own
inventions.” They must especially take heed of all approaches towards
idolatry, the sin to which they were first inclined and would be most
tempted,
v. 7.
[1.] They must not acquaint themselves with idolaters, nor come among
them to visit them or be present at any of their feasts or
entertainments, for they could not contract any intimacy nor keep up
any conversation with them, without danger of infection.
[2.] They must not show the least respect to any idol, nor make
mention of the name of their gods, but endeavour to bury the
remembrance of them in perpetual oblivion, that the worship of them may
never be revived. “Let the very name of them be forgotten. Look upon
idols as filthy detestable things, not to be named without the utmost
loathing and detestation.” The Jews would not suffer their children to
name swine’s flesh, because it was forbidden, lest the name of it
should occasion their desiring it; but, if they had occasion to speak
of it, they must call it that strange thing. It is a pity that
among Christians the names of the heathen gods are so commonly used,
and made so familiar as they are, especially in plays and poems: let
those names which have been set up in rivalship with God be for ever
loathed and lost.
[3.] They must not countenance others in showing respect to them. They
must not only not swear by them themselves, but they must not cause
others to swear by them, which supposes that they must not make any
covenants with idolaters, because they, in the confirming of their
covenants, would swear by their idols; never let Israelites admit such
an oath.
[4.] They must take heed of these occasions of idolatry, lest by
degrees they should arrive at the highest step of it, which was serving
false gods, and bowing down to them, against the letter of the second
commandment.
(3.) To be very constant
(v. 8):
Cleave unto the Lord your God, that is, “delight in him, depend
upon him, devote yourselves to his glory, and continue to do so to the
end, as you have done unto this day, ever since you came to
Canaan;” for, being willing to make the best of them, he looks not so
far back as the iniquity of Peor. There might be many things amiss
among them, but they had not forsaken the Lord their God, and it is in
order to insinuate his exhortation to perseverance with the more
pleasing power that he praises them. “Go on and prosper, for the Lord
is with you while you are with him.” Those that command should commend;
the way to make people better is to make the best of them. “You have
cleaved to the Lord unto this day, therefore go on to do so, else you
lose the praise and recompence of what you have wrought. Your
righteousness will not be mentioned unto you if you turn from it.”
11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the
LORD your God.
12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the
remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and
shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to
you:
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more
drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall
be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and
thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land
which the LORD your God hath given you.
14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth:
and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not
one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your
God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and
not one thing hath failed thereof.
15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things
are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall
the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed
you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given
you.
16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God,
which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and
bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be
kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the
good land which he hath given unto you.
Here,
I. Joshua directs them what to do, that they might persevere in
religion,
Would we cleave to the Lord, and not forsake him,
1. We must always stand upon our guard, for many a precious soul is
lost and ruined through carelessness: “Take heed therefore, take
good heed to yourselves, to your souls (so the word is),
that the inward man be kept clean from the pollutions of sin, and
closely employed in the service of God.” God has given us precious
souls with this charge, “Take good heed to them, keep them with all
diligence, above all keepings.”
2. What we do in religion we must do from a principle of love, not by
constraint or from a slavish fear of God, but of choice and with
delight. “Lord the Lord your God, and you will not leave
him.”
II. He urges God’s fidelity to them as an argument why they should be
faithful to him
(v. 14):
“I am going the way of all the earth, I am old and dying.” To
die is to go a journey, a journey to our long home; it is the way of
all the earth, the way that all mankind must go, sooner or later.
Joshua himself, though so great and good a man, and one that could so
ill be spared, cannot be exempted from this common lot. He takes notice
of it here that they might look upon these as his dying words, and
regard them accordingly. Or thus: “I am dying, and leaving you.
Me you have not always; but if you cleave to the Lord he will
never leave you.” Or thus, “Now that I am near my end it is proper to
look back upon the years that are past; and, in the review, I find, and
you yourselves know it in all your hearts and in all your souls,
by a full conviction on the clearest evidence, and the thing has made
an impression upon you”–(that knowledge does us good which is seated,
not in the head only, but in the heart and soul, and with which we are
duly affected)–“you know that not one thing hath failed of all the
good things which the Lord spoke concerning you” (and he spoke a
great many); see
God had promised them victory, rest, plenty, his tabernacle among them,
&c., and not one thing had failed of all he had promised. “Now,”
said he, “has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him.” It
is the apostle’s argument for perseverance
(Heb. x. 23),
He is faithful that has promised.
III. He gives them fair warning what would be the fatal consequences of
apostasy
“If you go back, know for a certainty it will be your ruin.”
Observe,
1. How he describes the apostasy which he warns them against. The steps
of it would be
(v. 12)
growing intimate with idolaters, who would craftily wheedle them, and
insinuate themselves into their acquaintance, now that they had become
lords of the country, to serve their own ends. The next step would be
intermarrying with them, drawn to it by their artifices, who would be
glad to bestow their children upon these wealthy Israelites. And the
consequence of that would be
(v. 16)
serving other gods (which were pretended to be the ancient
deities of the country) and bowing down to them. Thus the way of sin is
down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners cannot avoid
having fellowship with sin. This he represents,
(1.) As a base and shameful desertion; “it is going back from what you
have so well begun,”
(2.) As a most perfidious breach of promise
(v. 16):
“It is a transgression of the covenant of the Lord your God, which
he commanded you, and which you yourselves set your hand to.” Other
sins were transgressions of the law God commanded them, but this was a
transgression of the covenant he commanded them, and amounted to a
breach of the relation between God and them and a forfeiture of all the
benefits of the covenant.
2. How he describes the destruction which he warns them of. He tells
them,
(1.) That these remainders of the Canaanites, if they should harbour
them, and indulge them, and join in affinity with them, would be snares
and traps to them, both to draw them to sin (not only to idolatry, but
to all immoralities, which would be the ruin, not only of their virtue,
but of their wisdom and sense, their spirit and honour), and also to
draw them into foolish bargains, unprofitable projects, and all manner
of inconveniences; and having thus by underhand practices decoyed them
into one mischief or other, so as to gain advantages against them, they
would then act more openly, and be scourges in their sides and
thorns in their eyes, would perhaps kill or drive away their
cattle, burn or steal their corn, alarm or plunder their houses, and
would be all ways possible be vexatious to them; for, whatever
pretences of friendship they might make, a Canaanite, unless proselyted
to the faith and worship of the true God, would in every age hate the
very name and sight of an Israelite. See how the punishment would be
made to answer the sin, nay, how the sin itself would be the
punishment.
(2.) That the anger of the Lord would be kindled against them. Their
making leagues with the Canaanites would not only give those idolaters
the opportunity of doing them a mischief, and be the fostering of
snakes in their bosoms, but it would likewise provoke God to become
their enemy, and would kindle the fire of his displeasure against them.
(3.) That all the threatenings of the word would be fulfilled, as the
promise had been, for the God of eternal truth is faithful to both
(v. 15):
“As all good things have come upon you according to the promise,
so long as you have kept close to God, so all evil things will come
upon you according to the threatening, if you forsake him.” Moses had
set before them good and evil; they had experienced the good,
and were now in the enjoyment of it, and the evil would as certainly
come if they were disobedient. As God’s promises are not a fool’s
paradise, so his threatenings are not bugbears.
(4.) That it would end in the utter ruin of their church and nation, as
Moses had foretold. This is three times mentioned here. Your enemies
will vex you until you perish from off this good land,
v. 13.
Again, “God will plague you until he have destroyed you from off
this good land,
v. 15.
Heaven and earth will concur to root you out, so that
(v. 16)
you shall perish from off the good land.” It will aggravate
their perdition that the land from which they shall perish is a good
land, and a land which God himself had given them, and which therefore
he would have secured to them if they by their wickedness had not
thrown themselves out of it. Thus the goodness of the heavenly Canaan,
and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will aggravate the
misery of those that shall for ever be shut out and perish from it.
Nothing will make them see how wretched they are so much as to see how
happy they might have been. Joshua thus sets before them the fatal
consequences of their apostasy, that, knowing the terror of the
Lord, they might be persuaded with purpose of heart to cleave to
him.
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