The Tupelo journal., 1907-11-08

day whom We will serve,"-Joshua 24:15.
TIME.-Near the close of Joshua's life.
According to our Bible margins. B.. G.
1927. rs years after crossing the Jordan,
and is after our last lesson. Prof. Beech
err thinks that the time since the crossing
OF Jordan was much briefer.
PLACE.-Thc religious capital wns ut
Shiloh Josh. 1S:l). The great assembly
for renewing the covenant was at She
chem. between Mounts Ebal and Gcri-
zim.
JOSHUA was nearly 10 years old. liv-
ing at Timnath Serah, not far from She
chem.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The conquest of the country took
several years, not of uninterrupted
warfare, but of intermingled with
cultivating the fields and making
though the Canaanites were not wholly
eXterminated Josh. 23:12; Judg. 2:
2, 81, yet the war vas practically end
ed, and the people gave themselves
to the positive work Of settling down
as prosperous citizens OF the Prom
ised Land (.Josh. 21:43-45).
Joshua vas drawing lear to the
close of a long and useful life OF ITO
years. He had been watching the
tendencies of the times, and knew well
the character of his people and the Pc
culiar dangers to which they would
be exposed. Therefor he determined
to make, before he died, one more ap-
peal to them, under the most solemn
circumstances possible.
1t is uncertain whether the last two
chapters of Joshua are two different
addresses OF two reports of the same
address. The only Importance OF the
question is it's bearing on the struc.
ture of the book.
The Polychrome Bible, the Exposit.
or's Bible, and others regard them as
two trustworthy reports of the She
chem address, given separately as the
editor received them, and not inter.
woven according To the plan usually
adopted.
Others regard them as two similar
addresses on the same great occasion
to different audiences, the first to a
mass meeting of the people, and the
second to the officers and judges Of
all the tribes assembled at Shechem.
probably on the sloping sides Of Mts.
Ebal and Gerizim, where they had
gathered rs years before, on the first
entrance into the Promised Land, and
made the most solemn promises to
God.
VS.. lib. No circumstances could
be more impressive, as, amid these
hallowed associations and memories,
the white-haired, beloved leader, saint
ly in character and touched with the
light OF a near eternity, arose and
made his dying appeal, somewhat as
the Apostle John, when very old, went
feebly among the disciples. saying
continually: Little children, love
n another In this place all the
assembled multitudes could see and
hear him. For the air is so clear
that a single voice can be heard by
many thousands" The longest re-
corded distance at which a mans
voice has been heard is is miles in the
Grand Canyon of Colorado. DR.. Young
records that at Gibraltar the human
voice has been heard at a distance Of
ten miles.
Joshua first proclaims what God has
done in the past, as a motive for
trusting and Obeying him in the pres
ent. Gratitude and love are awakened
by his wonderful goodness to them.
Faith in him and reverence and awe
are inspired by the manifestations Of
his divine power Tvs. 1-13).
Joshua's Conference with the PEG.
ple.-Vs. 1924. Urges the people to
choose you this day whom We will
serve. vs.. II, Is. V. IA. Now there
fore" in view of these facts. fear the
LORD" Not be in terror before
him, nor driven from him by fright,
but hold him in reyerential awe and
respect, realize his power to help and
to punish, so as to devote yourselves
to him in perfect trust. There a be
no trifing. Serve him in sincerity
and in Truth" Not in outward farms
merely. but also in the heart and the
life John 4:23, 24). The idea, says
Prof. Beecher, is rather of Wilderness,
integrity, than sincerity.
The Double Witness. VS.. 25.2s.
First. The Covenant.--V. 25. Made a
covenant with the people that day."
i. e., "he solemniy ratified and renew
ed the covenant of Sinai (Ex. 1920,
as Moses had done before him in the
plains of Moab (Deut. 29:D."-Cook.
set them a statute" He determined
and established what in matters of
religion should be with Israel law ard
right"
V. &c. and Joshua wrote" As
Moses at Sinai wrote all the words
that Jehovah had spoken in a book,
probably a ~papyrus-roll Eek. 24:4), so
| Joshua now inscribed minutes OF
| the transactions connected with the
renewal of the covenant at Sechem.
TN the book of the law of God" This
protocol he placed inside the roll of
the Law Of Moses.'-Cambridge Bible.
Practical Points.
There is only L right principle of
living, and that is loving and choosing
| God with all the heart.
After one has made this choice.
then there is need of confirming him
In the choice, and guiding him in its
expression in life.
The need Of all others--of the ma
jority of personals an impulse and
reinforcement Of motives which lead
to this choice.