Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land. And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel."

Joshua now became the leader of Israel. "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him," to pray to God to give him his Spirit," and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses."

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JOSHUA I.-V.

OSES having died, God now commanded Joshua to take possession of the land which he promised that Israel should inherit; and he told him to be of good courage, and only to mind the holy law and obey it, and he should be sure to prosper.

Joshua then gave orders to the officers of the people to provide victuals for marching; and he desired the Reubenites and Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who had already got their possessions, to join their brethren and assist in taking the land, which they honourably agreed to do, as they had before promised.

"And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho: and they went and came unto a harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there."

A harlot means a very wicked woman, and as persons who kept inns were not always the most moral, they all got this name. But it is reasonably thought, that Rahab was not so bad as the name means, but only an innkeeper, where these spies went to lodge; for it does not seem likely that good men would, if they could help it, go to lodge with so vile a person as a harlot means, and much less can we suppose that Salmon, a Jewish prince, would afterwards have married such an one; but he did marry Rahab. (See Matt. i. 5.)

The king of Jericho soon learnt that there were spies entered into his city, and finding out where they were, he sent to Rahab to deliver them up.

However, instead of delivering them up, she hid them.

And she said that

the men had been there, but they were gone, and if they were pursued, they would soon be overtaken.

Now all this time she knew that the men were on the flat roof of her house, for so the roofs are made in that part of the world; and she had covered them over with stalks of flax, which she had laid upon the roof, to dry in the sun, in order to the beating of it, and making it ready for the wheel-a proof that she was an industrious woman.

We learn in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, that Rahab saved herself and her family by faith. She believed that God would destroy the wicked people among whom she lived, as he had already destroyed the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og; and therefore she would not be guilty of giving up his faithful servants to perish. If this had not been a case quite out of the common way, her conduct in preserving men who were going to destroy her country, would have been very wicked, and that of a traitor; but God worked upon her heart, made her kind to the spies, and so prepared the way for Joshua to take Jericho, and to save her and her family.

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But, as to the lie which she told, she was to blame, for no one is justified in telling a lie as it is a wicked thing, we are sure that God did not prompt her to that. This was the means which she thought of to save the men, bat God could and would have saved them, without her doing anything so wrong. What can we say for her? Why, she had lived among heathens, and, as yet, knew no better. When she afterwards would live among the Israelites, she would learn that a lie was a very wicked thing.

Having got rid of the king's officers, Rahab went upon the house-top, and made a bargain with the spies, that as she had saved them, they would, in turn, save her and her family, consisting of her father and mother, and brothers and sisters. This was very affectionate on her part, and as she had shown the spies so much kindness, they readily agreed to show kindness to her.

As it would have been dangerous for the spies to have passed through the streets, she "let them down by a cord through the window for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall." And she told them to flee to the mountains that were near, and hide there for three days, and by that time the men who were in pursuit of them would be tired, and give up the chase, and then they might safely go home.

The spies were, however, afraid, lest by any mistake, in the hurry of

battle, Rahab and her relations should be killed; and therefore, to make her safety more sure, they agreed that she should tie a line of scarlet thread in the window, by which thread they were let down, and that all her family should be brought together under her roof, and no one should dare to venture into the street, or, if he did, his blood should be upon his own head, that is, his death would be his own fault, and not theirs. She was, also, faithfully to keep everything secret which had happened, or to lose their protection.

So the men hid in the mountains three days, when their pursuers returned ; · and they got safe back and told Joshua what had taken place, and what they had heard from Rahab, that the people had heard of Israel's victories, and were afraid of them. "And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us."

The next morning Joshua prepared to set off for Jericho. And he came to Jordan with all Israel, and after three days the officers went through the host, and desired them to follow the ark of the covenant, which the Levites should carry before them. This ark was a sign of God's presence amongst them, and that he was their chief guide. They were to keep at the distance of two thousand cubits, or arms'-lengths from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, so that they might treat the ark with reverence, by not crowding upon it, and that they might see it better than they could if they were all thronging near it.

So the day following, the priests and the Levites "took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people."

And God told Joshua that he would now honour him by a wonderful miracle, which should show Israel that he had chosen him to lead Israel, as he had before chosen Moses.

And Joshua told Israel what God would do for them, and that, as soon as the priests who bore the ark should touch the brink of the river with their feet, the waters of Jordan should stand upon an heap on one side, so as not to flow down their channel; while those on the other side should continue running without any fresh supply; and so the bed, or bottom of the river, should be dry for Israel to pass over, as the Red Sea had before been for their fathers with Moses. Joshua also ordered twelve men to be selected, perhaps to go near and witness this miracle, for the entire satisfaction of the rest.

So the priests moved forward and stood in Jordan; and the waters dried up as Joshua had foretold, although this happened at the time of harvest,