THE THIRD PERIOD. FROM THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st Samuel, 1st Kings to the Ninth Chapter. 1st Chronicles. 2nd Chronicles to the Eighth Chapter. THE THIRD PERIOD. CHAPTER I. JOSHUA SUCCEEDS MOSES IN THE COMMAND OF THE ISRAELITES. SPIES SENT TO VIEW JERICHO. WE are now entering upon a new and distinct period in the history of the Israelites; a period of war and conquest, full of rapidly succeeding events, and of frequent miraculous interposition. The Israelites were arrived at the borders of the land, which was to be theirs by the express command of God; the land of Canaan, to which Abraham had come in faith four hundred years before, and which it was then promised should be the country of his descendants. At the period, when the destruction of the Canaanites was foretold, they were already notorious for their vices; and an awful warning of the punishment which would be the consequence of such depravity, was given them, in the sudden and terrible fate of Sodom, and the other five cities: but the warning was disregarded, and the people were soon wholly given up to idolatry, and its attendant wickedness. In consequence of this their pre-eminence in vice, a fearful example was made of them, to prove to the surrounding nations that there was a God in Heaven, “who judges of the actions of men,” and who will not suffer the wicked to prosper. It was ordained that the Canaanites should be utterly destroyed as a people, and their country given to the Israelites. These latter were chosen as instruments to inflict the Divine chastisement upon the Canaanites: but their keeping possession of the land, was to depend upon their abstaining themselves from the crimes which had caused the expulsion of the Canaanites; to which conquest the history now proceeds. Before his death, Moses had appointed Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, to be his successor: Joshua had, during forty years, been the leader of the people in their military expeditions; having commanded them when they defeated the Amalekites near Mount Sinai, and when they conquered the treacherous Midianites, at the close of their journey through the wilderness. The people were thus accustomed to obey him; and, having been from early life the chosen attendant of Moses, he was peculiarly well fitted to succeed him in the arduous task of government: farther to encourage him in his high undertaking, the LORD spoke to him, and Himself commanded him to be strong and of good courage, and promised that he would be with him as He had been with Moses. "Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Joshua thus divinely commissioned, assumed the command of the Israelites, and was henceforth their general in war and their leader and ruler in civil affairs. After thirty days had been spent in solemn mourning for the death of Moses, Joshua ordered the people to prepare for leaving their encampment at Shittim, and passed over the river Jordan. He sent for the heads of the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, whose portions had already been allotted to them out of the lands of the conquered Midianites and Amorites; and, reminding them of the promise which they had made to Moses that they would cross over Jordan with the other tribes, and assist them in the conquest of Canaan,-he desired them now to prepare to follow him. To this they cheerfully replied, "All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage." Previously to breaking up his encampment, Joshua dispatched two spies to the town of Jericho, to view the land, and bring a report of the strength of the city. And the men went, and lodged in the house of a woman named Rahab. "And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, behold there came men in hither to-night |