Thus, we find Abraham teaching Sarah to say, that she was his sister, which, though true in a certain sense, was nevertheless intended to deceive. We find Isaac guilty of similar conduct, on a similar occasion. The same is true of many others, and particularly of David, who, on several occasions, declared what was not true; and none of these persons appear to have been sensible that they were doing wrong. It seems, therefore, that in former times, it was admitted as a principle of morals, that it was lawful to utter a falsehood, or to use deceitful words, to preserve life. Is it to be wondered at then, that a woman who had been brought up in idolatry, and had lived a licentious life, and was but just converted to the true religion, should have erred in such a case? It would have been truly wonderful, if in opposition to the universal current of opinion, she had perceived the moral evil of deceiving those who came to apprehend the men whom she believed to be the servants of Jehovah. While therefore, we cannot justify the means which she employed to do good, we can readily believe that her motives were pure, and her faith strong. She erred, indeed, but it was the error not merely of one, but of the age; yea, of all antiquity; in which she had as participants, some of the most eminent saints who ever lived. And we should not be too rigid and censorious in judging the faithful of former ages, when it is not improbable, that our more enlightened posterity may see, that most Christians of the present day, have been living in the practice of some things which to them will appear to be inconsistent with the purity and perfection of Christian morals.

SECTION II.

THE PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES OVER THE RIVER JORDAN.

WHEN Joshua had obtained the information which he desired, he removed from Shittim, and encamped on the bank of Jordan. Here he remained for three days; and the officers passed through the host, and marshalled and prepared them for the invasion of the land, which lay before them. "And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders. And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant

and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know, that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, passeth over before you into Jordan. Now, therefore, take ye twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man; and it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests, that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon an heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests, bearing the ark of the covenant, before the people; and as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the waters, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks, all the time of harvest,) that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up upon an heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those that came down from the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry gound, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." The Lord now said to Joshua, "Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man; and command you them, saying, Take you hence, out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones; and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night." And Joshua directed these twelve men to pass over before the ark of the Lord, and to take up a stone, every man upon his shoulder; that when, in time to come, children should ask their fathers, saying, "What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord"-"and these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." And agreeably

to the orders of Joshua, twelve stones were taken up by the men selected, one from each tribe, and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there;" and Joshua set them for a memorial, where they remained standing for many years. When the congregation of Israel had finished crossing the river, then the priests who had stood all this time at the entrance, also passed over. In the van of this army were forty thousand light armed soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh, who, according to their previous engagement, having received their own inheritance on the east side of the river, now went forward in the front of the host, to aid their brethren in the conquest of the land of Canaan. This passage of Jordan was effected over against the plains of Jericho. Joshua was now held in reverence by the people, as Moses had been before him; and as soon as the priests had come up out of the channel of the river, over which all the people had passed, as on dry land, immediately, the waters of Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all the banks, as they did before. This remarkable event occurred on the tenth day of the first month, which corresponded with our March or April. The place of the first encampment of the Israelites was at Gilgal, a name given on account of an event to be mentioned immediately. Here the pillar, or monument formed with the twelve stones taken from the bed of the river, was erected, on which occasion, they were commanded to hand down to their children a particular explanation of the purpose for which this monument was raised. "Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land, for the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over; as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever."

SECTION III.

CIRCUMCISION OF THE ISRAELITES AT GILGAL-THE PASSOVER IS OBSERVED THE MANNA CEASES-THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD APPEARS TO JOSHUA.

WHEN the kings who resided on the west side of Jordan understood that Israel had actually passed the river, and that the Lord had dried up the waters before them, their heart melted within them.

Joshua now received a commandment from the Lord to circumcise the males of the children of Israel; for, although all

who came out of Egypt had there been circumcised; yet this rite had not been performed on any born in the wilderness, on account of their continual journeyings: and nearly all the males therefore, of the whole host had now to submit to this ceremony; for of all who had come out of Egypt, in adult age, no more than two remained. All the men of war, except Caleb and Joshua, had fallen in the wilderness; but many who were children when the Exodus took place, were still living, as indeed God promised that this should be the event, when he sware, that none of the adults should ever enter the promised land. During the time that the people were recovering from the effects of this painful ceremony, they remained in their camp, at Gilgal. "And the Lord said unto Joshua, this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you," therefore, the name of the place was called Gilgal, which word means, "to roll away."

There was a peculiar reason for attending without delay to the duty of circumcision, because the time for the celebration of the passover was near at hand, and it was expressly provided, that no uncircumcised man should be permitted to partake of this ordinance. Whether the passover had been celebrated in the wilderness, we are not informed. If it was, the qualification of circumcision must have been wanting. The probability however is, that this ordinance also was omitted, during the long period of Israel's sojourning in the wilderness; for they knew not, when stationary, at what moment they might receive the signal to march; and the celebration of the passover with the accompanying feast of unleavened bread, required a period of seven days leisure. But having now entered into Canaan, they kept the passover at the appointed time, on the fourteenth day of Nisan. "And they did eat of the old corn of the land, on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn in the self-same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." These words of the sacred historian suggest another reason why we should suppose that the passover was not celebrated while the people remained in the wilderness; because during that period, they had no bread suitable for the purpose. They had plenty of manna, but this was a very different thing from bread of wheat or barley. If their enemies had come upon them while sore, in consequence of circumcision, or even while engaged in the observance of the passover, they would have found them in a poor condition to defend themselves; but God had struck such a terror into the minds of the Amorites and Canaanites, that they had no spirit to attempt any thing. Joshua, doubt

less, felt great solicitude, in the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed; but like Moses, he trusted confidently in the Lord, whose commands he was executing. While the army lay encamped near Jericho, he seems to have taken a solitary walk towards that city, when there appeared to him a man with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua was not a man to be intimidated, and marched up to this armed man, and said, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come." Joshua perceiving that it was a manifestation of Jehovah himself, "fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, loose the shoe off thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground."

SECTION IV.

THE CONQUEST OF JERICHO-THE CURSE DENOUNCED BY JOSHUA AGAINST THE MAN WHO SHOULD REBUILD THIS CITY.

THIS captain of the Lord's host who appeared unto Joshua, was Jehovah himself; the Angel of the covenant, who attended the children of Israel in all their pilgrimage. "And the Lord said unto Joshua, see, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns; and the seventh day ye shall compass the city, seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the rams' horns, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and every man shall ascend up straight before him. And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let the seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord. And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord." When these orders were obeyed by the priests and people, they were further commanded by the leader, not to shout nor to make any noise with their voice, until they should receive a command to do so. And when they had encompassed the city every day for six days, returning each day into the camp, that on the seventh day, Joshua gave orders for the peo