The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-03-14
Sermon.

And the people answered and said, God for
bid that wo should forsake the Lord."-JosHuA
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(ExTRAcTs.)
The passage of the Scripture from
which the text is taken is an interesting
one in the history of Israel. After a
long career Of victorious warfare, follow.
ed by an old age of comparative repose,
Joshua felt that his end was drawing
near. Oh what life to look back upon
was his How full Of mighty events To
what glorious achievements he had led the
forces of lsreal The valiant old warrior
could not pass off the stage of action
without seeing once more the tribes he
had led in person. Like Moses he deter.
mined to give the assembled Israeites
the advantage of his parting counsels, ,and
to renew with them their covenant with
the Lord.
For this purpose, the tribes were con-
vened at Shechem-upon the very spot,
where, in the distant past, God had met
with their father Abraham, and had
promised that his seed should possess this
favored land.
7. lad uOyu uyuu AvSay
G .. iAlm and Ebal, which arose on each
side of Shechem, that Moses had estab-
lished the law in the land Of Canaan and
where Isreal had covenanted to be the
Lords.
In this place, rendered sacred by the
memories of the past, assembled the
tb bouoondo of Nopoop
And now the venerable Joshua ad-
dresses them their illustrious command
er, the oldest man in all their nation,
spoke to them as to his sons. And Of
what did he speak ? He was a soldier
and bis career had been essentially mill.
tary, but he spoke to them not Of con-
quest. The sound of the trumpet and the
CLEAN of the sword cannot be recognized
in his address. No, he spoke "of tn
holiness and the obedience which became
the people chosen of God.' He commenc
ed with the words. "Thus saith Jehorah.
All were led to feel that they were as
semblcd in the very sight of God, that hi
presided there, and that they were no
engaged in any merely private affair, bu
were entering into sacred compact witt
God himself.
Joshua's address contains an expansion
of two thoughts. He first recalls to tn
recollection of the whole nation the proof
Of the Lords mercy to them he dwell
upon the goodness conferred by God o.
the race Of Israel. The first practica
proof of this goodness, was the calling G
Abraham from his idolatrous association
and his introduction to the land c
Canaan, where his seed had been so mul
tiplied. From an equality with other'
from contact with all that was degraded
> he had rescued them and had drawn ther
!, to himself to be his own peculiar people
The second great practical proof Of tn
mercy of God in the guidance of lsrae
was their miraculous deliverance from tn
bondage and oppression of Egypt. Th
t third great act of God for Israel, was hi
a giving up the Amorites into their hand
= and his overthrow of the power Of Bala
6 king of the Moabites. The last an
} greatest benefit which the Lord had col
a fered upon Israel, was his leading thel
+ into Canaan, subduing all the nations b.
e fore them, and delivering into their POI
: session this fruitful land, with its ferti
; vineyards and luxuriant olive trees.
= And now, under what obligations
Israel laid for these overwhelming man
h festations Of grace on the part Of God
g. . To what are they called by these diviI
Of acts ? How are they to evince their graf
"A tude 2 Joshua tells them-''By turnil
wholly to their Jehovah God, their qua
, dian and deliverer. Come now rene
your covenant and say once more, tn
day, whom ye will serve; whether Jeh
n H. yah or the gods whom your father S serv'
or or in Mesopotamia, or the gods Of the Amc
he ties, in whose land you now dwell. ID
'a eide for yourselves. As for me and II
G. house we will serve the Lord" The a
dress of Joshua was not without its cffe
upon the assembled multitudes. The e
/, tire people, with one voice, responded
. this appeal, by loud and hearty declar
8 tions Of their determined faithfulness
n their covenant with God. "And the pt
IS, pie answered and said, God forbid III
:" aoe should torsake The Lord" Most 81
emnly they called upon God, to forb
tx that they should even turn from him
w. " serve other Gods.
an There is another historic scene in I
a annals ofthe church scarcely less interel
y, " inn IN N neonle than was this renewal