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TOPIC: Pink, Arthur - Gleanings in Joshua (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 14.2-The Final Conquest (Continued) 11:1-12:24
Other Subjects in this Topic:
Gleanings In Joshua
14. The Final Conquest (Continued)
Joshua 11:1-12:24
The Challengers Vanquished
Our design in these articles has been to supply something more than a bare exposition of the book of Joshua, namely to point out some of the bearings which its contents have upon us today. A true understanding of God's Word is indeed of first importance, for unless its meaning be rightly apprehended, of what service will it be unto us? Yet it is the use to which we put it, the measure in which we appropriate its principles and precepts to the regulating of our daily walk, that is equally important. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17), that is the test. Thus, to spare no pains in endeavoring to arrive at the meaning of God's Word, that he may give a sound interpretation of the same, is only a part of the duty resting upon the minister of the Gospel, and especially the teacher of God's people. Another part of his work, equally necessary and exacting, is for him to make practical application unto his hearers of each passage he takes up, to point out the various lessons it inculcates, to accommodate it unto the present condition and circumstances of those to whom he ministers. Only so will he emulate the example left him by the Divine Teacher of the Church: only so will he pursue the same course that was followed by His apostles: only so will he be of greatest service unto His needy, tried and often sorely perplexed people. It is not the elucidation of mysteries or light upon prophecy that they most need, but that which will comfort, strengthen and stimulate them.
Such a policy as just intimated will indeed slow down the speed of one who undertakes to go systematically through a whole book of Scripture, or even a single chapter thereof. But so far from speed being a virtue, it is. more often a vice, as much in modern life tragically shows. "He that believeth shall not make haste". (Isa. 28:16) holds good of the "opening up" of God's Word, as it does of everything else. and must be heeded if souls are to be really edified. But though such a method will not make for swiftness, yet by God's blessing (on much prayerful meditation) it will produce something far more substantial and satisfying than the superficial generalizations which now so widely obtain. both in the pulpit and in the religious press. As the old adage says, "Slow but sure is sure to do well." Instead of seeing how quickly we could race through the book of Joshua, we have endeavored to ascertain and then point out the practical application of its contents unto ourselves and our readers. Particularly have we dwelt at length upon the many things in it which illustrate the various aspects of the Christian's spiritual warfare: the snares he must avoid. the rules he must observe, the means he must employ, in order to success therein. We have sought to call attention to the grand incentives and the real encouragements furnished by this book to "fight the good fight of faith," and to show how strength for the same is to be obtained.
In addition, we have endeavored to remove those "stumbling-blocks" (Isa. 57:14) which various types of error lay in the path of the Christian warrior. Let us now add a few words to what was said at the close of our last concerning the misleading teaching of certain sections of what is known as "the victorious life" movement. While on the one hand we heartily concur with their deploring of the carnal and worldly walk of the rank and the of professing Christians, and agree that many of God's own people are living far below their privileges in Christ; yet on the other hand we neither endorse their language nor believe the remedy they prescribe is the true one. All of their leaders are decidedly Arminianistic, which at once evinces that they are unsafe guides to follow. It is scripturally warrantable to say that some believers are living Christ-dishonoring lives and acting contrary to God's revealed will; but that is very far from justifying the oft-made assertion that He desires to do this or that in and for them, but they will not let Him. That would connote a thwarted Redeemer, and obviously a defeated Christ could not be the Leader of any "victorious" followers! Such a "Christ" is very different from Him who is no less than "the mighty God" (Isa. 9:6). Verily "the legs of the lame are not equal" (Prov. 26:7), and they who are proudest of their consistency are often the most inconsistent in their beliefs and conduct.
To contend for holiness of life is indeed praiseworthy, and to urge God's people to "possess their possessions" and enjoy now the rich heritage which is theirs in Christ is also a thing most needful; yet zeal requires to be tempered with knowledge, and if a spirit of fanaticism is to be avoided all must be tested by Holy Writ. Satan is never more dangerous than when he appears as an angel of light. To carnal reason it seems that Christ's acceptance of the Devil's challenge to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple had been an outstanding act of faith in God to preserve Him from all injury; nevertheless, His reply shows that such had been an act of presumption and contrary to Scripture. Likewise, it may strike us as most honoring to Christ to say that He is ready to do all for us if we surrender wholly to His control; but the fact is that He will no more relieve us of personally contending with our foes than He would repent and believe for us in order to our being saved. Strengthen us He will, if we seek His grace aright; yet that strength will be given for the purpose of equipping us to fight the good fight of faith. As the apostle declared, "I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (Col. 1:29). Nor is there anything in that statement the least derogatory to His glory; but very much to the contrary.
Resuming our remarks upon Joshua 11. In view of the great preponderance of Jabin's forces over Israel's, and the weighty advantage he had in being possessed of so many horses and chariots, while they were on foot, there can be no doubt that he was not only fully confident of victory, but that he considered, the initiative lay entirely in his own hands, and that there was not the least likelihood of their launching any attack upon him. Yet that was the very thing that happened. "So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them" (v. 7). Therein we behold the confidence, the obedience, the daring and the promptness of faith. Joshua's confidence lay not in his own military skill, nor in the valor of his men, but in the sure promise of the One whom he served. The assault which he now made upon the Canaanites was not dictated by caprice, feelings, or carnal reason, but was in compliance with the orders which he had received from the Lord. His falling suddenly upon Jabin and his army was not due to any impatience or anxiety for the issue to be immediately determined, but was the result of laying hold of the Lord's "to morrow" in the preceding verse. His action was not a venturesome or foolhardy one, but a daring to rely upon his God when faced with what to sight appeared a hopeless situation-as the Hebrews, and later Daniel, feared not to defy the edicts of the king of Babylon.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining" (v. 8). Thus did Israel's God make good His word through Moses (Deut. 20:1), fulfill the promise made to His servant, and vindicate the faith of Joshua. Thus was provided yet another proof of how firm is the foundation on which has rested the faith of God's people in all generations. And thus too did He demonstrate His acceptance of the impious challenge of Jabin and his fellows, and make it clear that "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord" (Prov. 21:30)-another verse, by the way, whose language is not to be taken absolutely and where an interpreter is needed to bring out its sense. As a matter of fact all the wisdom of Satan and all the policy of the unregenerate is directed, immediately and actively, against the Lord; yet all in vain. He that sitteth in the heavens laughs at the most determined and concerted projects of men against Himself and His Anointed, and fulfils His pleasure despite them (Ps. 2:1-6). As well attempt to stop the sun from shining or the ocean from moving as seek to nullify the decrees of the Almighty. All who make war with the Lamb shall most certainly be vanquished by Him (Rev. 17:14).
The total failure of Jabin's long-planned project demonstrated clearly that there is "no counsel against the Lord" which has the remotest possibility of succeeding. The best-contrived policy against Him comes to foolishness. "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness [not "ignorance "!]: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong" (Job 5:13). Pharaoh's counsel to depress the Hebrews issued in their being increased (Ex. 1:8-12). Ahithophel's counsel was befooled at the very time when "it was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God" (2 Sam. 16:23; 17:7, 14, 23, with 15:31). Ahab's attempt to falsify God's word by seeking to ward off the threatened stroke against his life (1 Kings 22:30-34), Athaliah's deep-laid plot to exterminate the family of David and thereby frustrate the Divine promise (2 Kings 11:1), the blatant boast and wicked design of Sennacherib against Judah (2 Chron. 32:21; Isaiah 30:31), the strong and repeated efforts of the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin to prevent their building of the temple (Ezra 4:6), and later the craft of Sanballat to oppose the erecting of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah), the determination of Haman to slay all the Jews (Esther 3), Herod's seeking to kill the infant Savior (Matthew 2)-all came to naught, as inevitably they should do when opposing the decrees of heaven.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel" (v. 8), thereby fulfilling the promise which He had given unto Joshua the day previously (v. 6). Blessed is it to learn from this, and many other passages, that the wicked, equally with the righteous, are in the hands of Him who made them and are entirely at His sovereign disposal. One of the chief designs of Scripture is to reveal unto us the several relations which God sustains unto His creatures. He is not only their Creator, but their Lawgiver and Ruler, their King and Governor, and, ultimately, their Judge, to whom they must yet render an account of their deeds. Since the reprobate as well as the elect are represented as clay in the hands of the Divine Potter determining their eternal destiny (Rom. 9:21-24), then certainly He has full control of them and their actions while they be in a time state. This is a very real and substantial part of the believer's consolation, that his God "doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Dan. 4:35), and therefore that neither Satan nor any of his children can make the least move against one of the Lord's people without His express permission and the removing of His providential hindrances.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel." What a commentary was that upon "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect" (Ps. 33:10)! Not only are the wicked the subjects of God's government, but their every action is controlled by Him and made subservient to His eternal purpose, yet without His having any part in their wickedness. Was it not so in the cases of Pharaoh and Judas? And is it possible to select more extreme ones? If then the greatest of all rebels fulfilled the purpose of the Almighty (though quite unwittingly so far as they were concerned), then think it not strange that it is so with all lesser rebels. Nimrod and his fellows thought to erect a tower whose top should reach unto heaven, but God frustrated them. Abimelech king of Gerah sent and took Sarah unto himself, but God suffered him not to touch her (Gen. 20:6). Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness and hired himself out unto Balak to go and curse Israel, but the Lord so interposed that that prophet had to confess to his chagrin, "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it" (Num. 23:20). "Surely the wrath of man shall [be made to] praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain" (Ps. 76:10).
"The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all" (Ps. 103:19)-over the evil and the good, over the demons and those they indwell as truly as over His Church. God rules in the decisions of the senate, the tumults of the people, the fury of battle, as really as in the ragings and tides of the sea. The plotting of kings, the ambitions of aggressors, the avarice of conquerors, are fully controlled by the Most High. He presides in their counsels, determines their decisions, decides which nations they shall attack, bending their minds to comply with His eternal decrees. Unmistakably, repeatedly, uniformly, is that the teaching of Holy Writ. Note well what the Lord said of that heathen monarch who was so filled with the lust of conquest: "O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so . . . but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (Isa. 10:5, 7). The Assyrian had other designs of a more ambitious scope, but God changed the direction of his thoughts, and caused him to be His instrument of retribution in inflicting judgment upon a people who had sorely provoked Him. God employed him, unknown to himself, as "the rod of His anger: thus he was in God's hand and his actions determined by Him.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel . . . and they smote them, until they left them none remaining (v. 8). See here the utter futility and madness of fighting against the Almighty! When He "delivered them up" unto their justly deserved death, what could they do? Nothing, they were helpless, unable to escape the due reward of their iniquity. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished; but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered" (Prov. 11:21). Thus it was with Jabin and his hosts; their confederacy in evil came to naught. Their number, strength and unanimity availed them nothing now that God's hour of vengeance had arrived. Therein we have a solemn anticipation and adumbration of the judgment awaiting the world of the ungodly. The Lord has solemnly declared that He "repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them" (Deut. 7:10); and again, "Thine hand shall find out all Thine enemies: Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them" (Ps. 21:8, 9). Out of Christ there is no protection from God's justice. When He appears to judge the world, the stoutest heart will melt in terror and the most obdurate will cry to the rocks. "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:16, 17).
"And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burned their chariots with fire" (v. 9). In the flush and excitement of victory Israel's leader failed not to comply with the orders he had received from his Master, and it is blessed to see how the Holy Spirit has taken notice of and recorded the same, thereby showing us the value which God places upon obedience. Not only so, but the chronicling of these details here is for our spiritual instruction, intimating as they do once more that further victories are not to be expected by us unless we remain in complete subjection to the Divine will. The continued blessing of God on our efforts to overcome our foes is dependent upon the maintenance of lowliness and submission unto Him, for if pride or self-will is allowed, then the Holy Spirit is grieved. Humility ever expresses itself in obedience to God. What is recorded here in verse 9 explains what follows to the end of the chapter, where we are shown how Joshua's progress remained unretarded. In what particular way this "houghing" was done we are not informed, so we cannot be sure whether the horses were only rendered powerless for warfare or completely destroyed. In view of burning the chariots, it seems more likely that they would be killed, so as to prevent other Canaanites from using them; the more so since they would be of no value to Israel.
"And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burned their chariots with fire." What proof was this that "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety" (Ps. 31:16, 17)! As God can save those who are without armies, so those with them are helpless if He be against them-as was clearly demonstrated at the Red Sea. It is a striking fact that the most glorious days of military victory for Israel were when the veto of Deuteronomy 17:16, was strictly regarded by them. In addition to their remarkable exploits in the time of Joshua, we may recall their victories over Sihon and Og (Num. 21:23-26, 33-35), their overcoming of Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron (Judg. 4:3-16), and David's victory over the king of Zobah, with his thousand chariots (2 Sam. 8). On the other hand, it is equally noticeable that Israel's declension dates from their transgression of Deuteronomy 17:16 (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26), and that defeat came from the very quarter in which they foolishly placed their confidence (2 Chron. 12:2, 9 and compare Isaiah 31:1): all of which goes to show "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety [or "victory"] is of the Lord" (Prov. 21:31), It may also be pointed out that later, when Israel renounced this vain confidence, God healed their backsliding (Hos. 14:3, 4).
God and War
The title of this article may possibly shock some of our readers, thinking that "Satan and War" would be a more appropriate and accurate one. There are an increasing number today among churchgoers who repudiate the idea that God has anything to do, designedly and directly, with such calamities as tidal waves, earthquakes, or wars. Since there are such things, these people attribute them to and blame them upon the Devil. Their beliefs differ little from the religious conceptions of the ancient Persians and modern Parsees, for Zoroastrianism teaches that there are two Gods presiding over this sphere, a good and an evil one; that all blessings are to be ascribed unto the former and all our ills unto the latter. And just as that ancient system of philosophy and religion contains no definite statement as to which of the opposing deities will ultimately triumph, so these modern dualists have so little confidence in the true and living God, and are so determined to dissociate Him from the affairs of this scene, that they talk (and even write) about the likelihood of this earth being blown to smithereens by some devilish kind of bomb, instead of this world being (when it has served His purpose) destroyed by its Creator with fire (Ps. 1, 3), as He did the antediluvian world by water.
It needs to be constantly pressed upon this skeptical generation that the One who made this world is now governing it; and that not merely in a vague and general way, but most definitely and specifically. The Lord God presides over all its affairs, regulates all its events, directs all its inhabitants. If He did not, if there be some creatures beyond His control some happenings outside His jurisdiction, then there would be no guarantee that everything which transpires on earth (as well as in heaven) shall redound to His glory, and that all things are working together for good to them that love Him. Instead, all confidence in the future would be at an end, all peace of heart and tranquility of mind an empty dream. But Scripture is far too plain on this matter to be misunderstood: His kingdom ruleth over all (Ps. 103:19), who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11), "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36). So far from Satan being able to thwart Him, he could not lay a finger upon Job or any of his possessions until the Lord gave him permission to do so; and the demons could not enter the herd of swine without Christ's consent (Mark 5:12, 13). Nor can the Devil gain the slightest advantage over a saint without his own allowance, and if he resists him steadfastly in the faith, he is obliged to flee from him (Jam. 4:7).
Since "all things" are of God, then wars must not be excluded. So truly is this the case that His Word declares, "The Lord is a man of war" (Ex. 15:3): thus Deity hesitates not to assume unto Himself a militant title. And again He declares, "The Lord mighty in battle" (Ps. 24:8), which is illustrated and demonstrated again and again in the history of Israel, when He showed Himself strong in their behalf and slew their foes. "The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land" (Isa. 13:4, 5). It may be objected that these are Old Testament references, and that the spirit of the New Testament denounces all war as now being unlawful. But the New Testament is far from bearing that out; its teaching thereon is in full accord with the Old. Thus, when the soldiers came to Christ's forerunner for instruction, asking, "What shall we do?" he did not say, Fight no more, abandon your calling, but gave them directions how to conduct themselves. When the centurion came to the Savior and drew an argument from his military calling, our Lord did not condemn his profession or rebuke him for holding such an office; instead, He highly commended his faith (Luke 7:8, 9).
When foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ declared that God would send forth His armies (Matthew 22:7), so that the Roman legions were but instruments in His hands, directed by Him to effect His judgment. When examined by Pilate, our Lord said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36). Those words clearly imply that, though carnal means were then improper for advancing His spiritual kingdom, yet had not His state of humiliation precluded His assumption of the royal scepter His followers might, lawfully have fought to defend His title. Moreover, His qualifying "now suggests that such a time would come, as Revelation 19:11, plainly confirms. When the ten kings determine to make the mother of harlots desolate and burn her with fire, we are told, "For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill His will" (Rev. 17:16, 17). How entirely different is the God of Holy Writ from the fictitious one of the sentimental dreamers of this effeminate age!
In our previous comments upon Israel's fighting in Canaan, our principal emphasis has been upon the application thereof unto the spiritual warfare in which the Christian is called upon to engage, but our articles would lack completeness if we failed to devote one unto the literal side of things. Much of human history consists of a chronicling of wars, and it is a matter of no little concern and importance that we should turn the light of Scripture thereon and ascertain God's relation thereto. Is He but a far-distant Spectator thereof, having no immediate connection with the horrible carnage of the battlefield, or is His agency directly involved in the same? To speculate upon such a matter is not only useless, but impious. War is ever a frightful calamity, the more so if it be a civil one, when one part of the populace is madly fighting against another; or when many nations become involved or embroiled. At such a time the suffering and anguish experienced rudely shake the belief of many in an overruling providence; and even God's own people find it difficult to stay their minds on the Ruler of the universe and trust in His goodness and wisdom, unless they be firmly rooted in the Truth.
Those who are familiar with history know how many sad proofs it contains that human beings are often more cruel than are the beasts of the jungle. Lions and tigers kill their prey in order to appease their hunger, but men destroy their fellows only to gratify their insatiable lusts of ambition and avarice. During the course of the centuries wild animals have killed thousands of mankind, but within the last few years literally millions have been destroyed by the restless wickedness of those who cared not what immeasurable suffering would result from the meeting of their greedy desires. We cannot sufficiently deplore the depravity of human nature which has made men beasts of prey, or rather devils to one another, seeking whom they may devour. The events of this enlightened century only too plainly confirm the teaching of Scripture on the thorough corruption of fallen human nature, that in their unregenerate condition men are "hateful, and hating one another" (Titus 3:3). But let us not condemn the ferocity and wickedness of our fellows in any self-righteous spirit, but in the humbling realization that we too are clay of the same lump, and that if a spirit of benevolence now governs us, it is naught but sovereign grace which makes us to differ.
But while we contemplate with grief, shame and horror the vile works of men of the same vicious natures as our own, we must by no means overlook and ignore the place which Divine providence has in all those occurrences in which they are the actors. God is supreme, and all inferior agents are under His government, held by Him in such effectual control that they can do nothing without Him. In the most tremendous evils which they inflict, they are the ministers of His vengeance. Even when whole nations be destroyed, by whatsoever means, the hand of God is in that work of judgment. We briefly alluded unto this in our last, but deemed it necessary to supplement what was there pointed out. "I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians' and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit [courage] of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof . . . and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall reign over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts" (Isa. 19:2-4)-words which ought to cause not a few people to revise their ideas on this subject. When cities are reduced to rubble, when civil war afflicts a country, when kingdoms are destroyed, the agency of God is to be acknowledged therein.
The worst tyrants, when inflicting the greatest outrages, are the instruments of God, accomplishing His will. In Jeremiah 25:9, we find Jehovah referring to Nebuchadnezzar as "My servant"-just as He spoke of "My servant Moses" (Num. 12:7) and "David My servant" (Ps. 89:3). The king of Babylon was just as truly an instrument in effecting the Divine purpose as they were: they in delivering and building up, he in punishing and destroying. "Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord . . . and they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: . . . they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword" (Jer. 5:15, 17). God brings judgment upon a nation as surely as He gives blessing: uproots as truly as He plants. "Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs: they are terrible and dreadful" (Hab. 1:6, 7). How clearly do those words show that heathen nations are under God's control and used by Him when it serves His purpose.
The Babylonians were employed by the Ruler of this world for the chastisement of His people and commissioned by Him to carry the Jews into captivity, yet in so doing they incurred great guilt and were made to reap as they had sown. Those things may seem utterly inconsistent unto carnal reason, yet they are not so in reality, for Nebuchadnezzar acted with no thought of fulfilling the Divine decrees, but rather to satisfy his own rapacity, and therefore was his kingdom providentially destroyed by Him with an unexampled destruction. Others were sent by God to execute His vengeance on Babylon, and though they in turn were incited by their own passions, nevertheless He it was who called forth their hosts and gave them the victory. "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children" (Isa. 13:17, 18). How awful does Providence appear here! Even when savage idolators violate every dictate of humanity, they are the executors of the judgments of the Almighty. While their conduct is most horribly guilty, in the Divine sovereignty it fulfils God's will.
"The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. . . . He shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof" (Isa. 23:9-11). The demolition of Tyre by the Chaldeans was not only the fulfillment of prophecy, but was accomplished by Divine agency. God did it, yet man did it. In unconsciously doing the work of the Lord, men act quite freely, and therefore are justly accountable for doing what it was eternally predestined they should do. Philosophy cannot plumb such a depth by its own line, but Scripture clears up the mystery. Of Cyrus God declared, "Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms" (Jer. 51:20). What is there said of that mighty conqueror is equally true of all conquerors that ever lived, or shall live, on this earth. Conquerors regard themselves almost as gods, but the axes and saws with which men cut and cleave wood might with far better reason exalt themselves to the rank of human creatures. None of them can. do anything but what God's counsel determined before to be done by their hands, and therefore it is our bounden duty to give God the glory for all the judgments which are done by them, and to adore His awful providence in all the miseries they inflict upon guilty kingdoms.
It is in the light of all that has been said above that the conquest of Canaan by Israel is to be viewed. Joshua 10:30, 42, makes it quite clear that the "sword" of Joshua was the sword of the Lord-compare "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon" (Judg. 7:20). Equally so, it is in the light of various passages found in the Pentateuch that we must consider the severity of God's dealings with those whom His servant was commissioned to slay. The original inhabitants of Canaan were flagitious offenders, not only in being gross idolators, but in trampling underfoot the laws of morality and of humanity. If the reader turns to Leviticus 18:3, 27, 28, and then ponders what is recorded between verses 3 and 27, he will perceive the horrible depravity which the Amorites exhibited, for in those verses a black catalogue is supplied of the vile "abominations" of which they were guilty. Those heathen tribes were like a cankerous sore in the body politic, contaminating the surrounding nations, and therefore it was an act of mercy unto the latter, as well as a just punishment upon the former, that God ordered Joshua to destroy them root and branch. The Lord had borne long with them, but now that the iniquity of the Amorites had come to the full (Gen. 15:16) naught but summary judgment suited their case.
Not only is no apology required for the Lord in connection with His solemn works of judgment, but He is to be owned and magnified therein. "O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For Thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defensed city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee" (Isa. 25:1, 2)-as Israel did when Pharaoh and his hosts were overthrown by the waters of the Red Sea, and as the inhabitants of heaven shall exclaim "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand" (Rev. 19:1, 2). God is glorious in His works of providence as well as in His works of creation. As He made all things "good" at the creation of the world, so He doeth all things "well" in His government of it. He is to be revered and adored even of those works which He performs by the hand of His creatures. He is glorious in what He does by and through wicked men as well as by His saints: glorious in His acts of vengeance as well as in His acts of grace.
But if the balance of truth is to be preserved on this subject, clue place must be given and full regard had to another class of passages, which show that when God deals in judgment-whether it be with individuals or nations-He does so because man's sinfulness calls for it, and not because He delights therein. This is clear from Ezekiel 14, where, after announcing the "four sore judgments" which he would send upon Jerusalem, the Lord God declared, "And ye shall know that I have not done this without cause" (vv. 21-23), for as Jeremiah 22:8, 9, informs us, "And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them." How plain is the testimony of Lamentations in. 33, "For He doth not afflict willingly [from His heart] nor grieve the children of men." Equally so is Ezekiel 33:11, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Therefore are we told that judgment is "His strange work. . . . His strange act" (Isa. 28:21), for it is not as agreeable to Him as His works of mercy.
God approves of righteousness wherever it be found, and rewards the same with temporal blessings; but He ever disapproves of sin, and sooner or later visits His anger upon it (Prov. 14:34). Yet even when the dark clouds of His judgment are hanging over a kingdom or an evil system, calamity may be averted by national humiliation before God and reformation of conduct (Ex. 9:27-29; Luke 19:41-44; Rev. 2:21, 22). How much to the point are those words of the Lord in Jeremiah 18:8: "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced [judgment], turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them"-as was most definitely exemplified in the case of Nineveh. That verse has, of course, no reference to the alteration of His eternal decree, but instead enumerates one of the principles by which God governs this world, namely that He deals with nations as with individuals-according to their conduct, making them to reap as they have sown, for His judgment is ever tempered by His mercy (Judg. 3:8-10).
Now each of the two sides of our subject pointed out above was illustrated in Joshua 11: On the one hand we are told, "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses" (v. 20)-because they had filled up the measure of their iniquities and were ripe for judgment (compare Matthew 23:32; 1 Thess. 2:16; Rev. 14:7, 18). On the other hand we read that "But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only" (v. 13), by which is meant those who remained passive and fought not against Israel. So that here too in wrath God remembered mercy. That is one of several passages which show that Israel did not massacre unresisting Canaanites (cf. Deuteronomy 20:10, 11)-Joshua 24:11, shows that those in Jericho assumed a hostile attitude, and therefore we may conclude that those in Ai did so too.
14. The Final Conquest (Continued)
Joshua 11:1-12:24
The Challengers Vanquished
Our design in these articles has been to supply something more than a bare exposition of the book of Joshua, namely to point out some of the bearings which its contents have upon us today. A true understanding of God's Word is indeed of first importance, for unless its meaning be rightly apprehended, of what service will it be unto us? Yet it is the use to which we put it, the measure in which we appropriate its principles and precepts to the regulating of our daily walk, that is equally important. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17), that is the test. Thus, to spare no pains in endeavoring to arrive at the meaning of God's Word, that he may give a sound interpretation of the same, is only a part of the duty resting upon the minister of the Gospel, and especially the teacher of God's people. Another part of his work, equally necessary and exacting, is for him to make practical application unto his hearers of each passage he takes up, to point out the various lessons it inculcates, to accommodate it unto the present condition and circumstances of those to whom he ministers. Only so will he emulate the example left him by the Divine Teacher of the Church: only so will he pursue the same course that was followed by His apostles: only so will he be of greatest service unto His needy, tried and often sorely perplexed people. It is not the elucidation of mysteries or light upon prophecy that they most need, but that which will comfort, strengthen and stimulate them.
Such a policy as just intimated will indeed slow down the speed of one who undertakes to go systematically through a whole book of Scripture, or even a single chapter thereof. But so far from speed being a virtue, it is. more often a vice, as much in modern life tragically shows. "He that believeth shall not make haste". (Isa. 28:16) holds good of the "opening up" of God's Word, as it does of everything else. and must be heeded if souls are to be really edified. But though such a method will not make for swiftness, yet by God's blessing (on much prayerful meditation) it will produce something far more substantial and satisfying than the superficial generalizations which now so widely obtain. both in the pulpit and in the religious press. As the old adage says, "Slow but sure is sure to do well." Instead of seeing how quickly we could race through the book of Joshua, we have endeavored to ascertain and then point out the practical application of its contents unto ourselves and our readers. Particularly have we dwelt at length upon the many things in it which illustrate the various aspects of the Christian's spiritual warfare: the snares he must avoid. the rules he must observe, the means he must employ, in order to success therein. We have sought to call attention to the grand incentives and the real encouragements furnished by this book to "fight the good fight of faith," and to show how strength for the same is to be obtained.
In addition, we have endeavored to remove those "stumbling-blocks" (Isa. 57:14) which various types of error lay in the path of the Christian warrior. Let us now add a few words to what was said at the close of our last concerning the misleading teaching of certain sections of what is known as "the victorious life" movement. While on the one hand we heartily concur with their deploring of the carnal and worldly walk of the rank and the of professing Christians, and agree that many of God's own people are living far below their privileges in Christ; yet on the other hand we neither endorse their language nor believe the remedy they prescribe is the true one. All of their leaders are decidedly Arminianistic, which at once evinces that they are unsafe guides to follow. It is scripturally warrantable to say that some believers are living Christ-dishonoring lives and acting contrary to God's revealed will; but that is very far from justifying the oft-made assertion that He desires to do this or that in and for them, but they will not let Him. That would connote a thwarted Redeemer, and obviously a defeated Christ could not be the Leader of any "victorious" followers! Such a "Christ" is very different from Him who is no less than "the mighty God" (Isa. 9:6). Verily "the legs of the lame are not equal" (Prov. 26:7), and they who are proudest of their consistency are often the most inconsistent in their beliefs and conduct.
To contend for holiness of life is indeed praiseworthy, and to urge God's people to "possess their possessions" and enjoy now the rich heritage which is theirs in Christ is also a thing most needful; yet zeal requires to be tempered with knowledge, and if a spirit of fanaticism is to be avoided all must be tested by Holy Writ. Satan is never more dangerous than when he appears as an angel of light. To carnal reason it seems that Christ's acceptance of the Devil's challenge to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple had been an outstanding act of faith in God to preserve Him from all injury; nevertheless, His reply shows that such had been an act of presumption and contrary to Scripture. Likewise, it may strike us as most honoring to Christ to say that He is ready to do all for us if we surrender wholly to His control; but the fact is that He will no more relieve us of personally contending with our foes than He would repent and believe for us in order to our being saved. Strengthen us He will, if we seek His grace aright; yet that strength will be given for the purpose of equipping us to fight the good fight of faith. As the apostle declared, "I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (Col. 1:29). Nor is there anything in that statement the least derogatory to His glory; but very much to the contrary.
Resuming our remarks upon Joshua 11. In view of the great preponderance of Jabin's forces over Israel's, and the weighty advantage he had in being possessed of so many horses and chariots, while they were on foot, there can be no doubt that he was not only fully confident of victory, but that he considered, the initiative lay entirely in his own hands, and that there was not the least likelihood of their launching any attack upon him. Yet that was the very thing that happened. "So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them" (v. 7). Therein we behold the confidence, the obedience, the daring and the promptness of faith. Joshua's confidence lay not in his own military skill, nor in the valor of his men, but in the sure promise of the One whom he served. The assault which he now made upon the Canaanites was not dictated by caprice, feelings, or carnal reason, but was in compliance with the orders which he had received from the Lord. His falling suddenly upon Jabin and his army was not due to any impatience or anxiety for the issue to be immediately determined, but was the result of laying hold of the Lord's "to morrow" in the preceding verse. His action was not a venturesome or foolhardy one, but a daring to rely upon his God when faced with what to sight appeared a hopeless situation-as the Hebrews, and later Daniel, feared not to defy the edicts of the king of Babylon.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining" (v. 8). Thus did Israel's God make good His word through Moses (Deut. 20:1), fulfill the promise made to His servant, and vindicate the faith of Joshua. Thus was provided yet another proof of how firm is the foundation on which has rested the faith of God's people in all generations. And thus too did He demonstrate His acceptance of the impious challenge of Jabin and his fellows, and make it clear that "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord" (Prov. 21:30)-another verse, by the way, whose language is not to be taken absolutely and where an interpreter is needed to bring out its sense. As a matter of fact all the wisdom of Satan and all the policy of the unregenerate is directed, immediately and actively, against the Lord; yet all in vain. He that sitteth in the heavens laughs at the most determined and concerted projects of men against Himself and His Anointed, and fulfils His pleasure despite them (Ps. 2:1-6). As well attempt to stop the sun from shining or the ocean from moving as seek to nullify the decrees of the Almighty. All who make war with the Lamb shall most certainly be vanquished by Him (Rev. 17:14).
The total failure of Jabin's long-planned project demonstrated clearly that there is "no counsel against the Lord" which has the remotest possibility of succeeding. The best-contrived policy against Him comes to foolishness. "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness [not "ignorance "!]: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong" (Job 5:13). Pharaoh's counsel to depress the Hebrews issued in their being increased (Ex. 1:8-12). Ahithophel's counsel was befooled at the very time when "it was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God" (2 Sam. 16:23; 17:7, 14, 23, with 15:31). Ahab's attempt to falsify God's word by seeking to ward off the threatened stroke against his life (1 Kings 22:30-34), Athaliah's deep-laid plot to exterminate the family of David and thereby frustrate the Divine promise (2 Kings 11:1), the blatant boast and wicked design of Sennacherib against Judah (2 Chron. 32:21; Isaiah 30:31), the strong and repeated efforts of the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin to prevent their building of the temple (Ezra 4:6), and later the craft of Sanballat to oppose the erecting of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah), the determination of Haman to slay all the Jews (Esther 3), Herod's seeking to kill the infant Savior (Matthew 2)-all came to naught, as inevitably they should do when opposing the decrees of heaven.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel" (v. 8), thereby fulfilling the promise which He had given unto Joshua the day previously (v. 6). Blessed is it to learn from this, and many other passages, that the wicked, equally with the righteous, are in the hands of Him who made them and are entirely at His sovereign disposal. One of the chief designs of Scripture is to reveal unto us the several relations which God sustains unto His creatures. He is not only their Creator, but their Lawgiver and Ruler, their King and Governor, and, ultimately, their Judge, to whom they must yet render an account of their deeds. Since the reprobate as well as the elect are represented as clay in the hands of the Divine Potter determining their eternal destiny (Rom. 9:21-24), then certainly He has full control of them and their actions while they be in a time state. This is a very real and substantial part of the believer's consolation, that his God "doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Dan. 4:35), and therefore that neither Satan nor any of his children can make the least move against one of the Lord's people without His express permission and the removing of His providential hindrances.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel." What a commentary was that upon "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect" (Ps. 33:10)! Not only are the wicked the subjects of God's government, but their every action is controlled by Him and made subservient to His eternal purpose, yet without His having any part in their wickedness. Was it not so in the cases of Pharaoh and Judas? And is it possible to select more extreme ones? If then the greatest of all rebels fulfilled the purpose of the Almighty (though quite unwittingly so far as they were concerned), then think it not strange that it is so with all lesser rebels. Nimrod and his fellows thought to erect a tower whose top should reach unto heaven, but God frustrated them. Abimelech king of Gerah sent and took Sarah unto himself, but God suffered him not to touch her (Gen. 20:6). Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness and hired himself out unto Balak to go and curse Israel, but the Lord so interposed that that prophet had to confess to his chagrin, "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it" (Num. 23:20). "Surely the wrath of man shall [be made to] praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain" (Ps. 76:10).
"The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all" (Ps. 103:19)-over the evil and the good, over the demons and those they indwell as truly as over His Church. God rules in the decisions of the senate, the tumults of the people, the fury of battle, as really as in the ragings and tides of the sea. The plotting of kings, the ambitions of aggressors, the avarice of conquerors, are fully controlled by the Most High. He presides in their counsels, determines their decisions, decides which nations they shall attack, bending their minds to comply with His eternal decrees. Unmistakably, repeatedly, uniformly, is that the teaching of Holy Writ. Note well what the Lord said of that heathen monarch who was so filled with the lust of conquest: "O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so . . . but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (Isa. 10:5, 7). The Assyrian had other designs of a more ambitious scope, but God changed the direction of his thoughts, and caused him to be His instrument of retribution in inflicting judgment upon a people who had sorely provoked Him. God employed him, unknown to himself, as "the rod of His anger: thus he was in God's hand and his actions determined by Him.
"And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel . . . and they smote them, until they left them none remaining (v. 8). See here the utter futility and madness of fighting against the Almighty! When He "delivered them up" unto their justly deserved death, what could they do? Nothing, they were helpless, unable to escape the due reward of their iniquity. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished; but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered" (Prov. 11:21). Thus it was with Jabin and his hosts; their confederacy in evil came to naught. Their number, strength and unanimity availed them nothing now that God's hour of vengeance had arrived. Therein we have a solemn anticipation and adumbration of the judgment awaiting the world of the ungodly. The Lord has solemnly declared that He "repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them" (Deut. 7:10); and again, "Thine hand shall find out all Thine enemies: Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them" (Ps. 21:8, 9). Out of Christ there is no protection from God's justice. When He appears to judge the world, the stoutest heart will melt in terror and the most obdurate will cry to the rocks. "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:16, 17).
"And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burned their chariots with fire" (v. 9). In the flush and excitement of victory Israel's leader failed not to comply with the orders he had received from his Master, and it is blessed to see how the Holy Spirit has taken notice of and recorded the same, thereby showing us the value which God places upon obedience. Not only so, but the chronicling of these details here is for our spiritual instruction, intimating as they do once more that further victories are not to be expected by us unless we remain in complete subjection to the Divine will. The continued blessing of God on our efforts to overcome our foes is dependent upon the maintenance of lowliness and submission unto Him, for if pride or self-will is allowed, then the Holy Spirit is grieved. Humility ever expresses itself in obedience to God. What is recorded here in verse 9 explains what follows to the end of the chapter, where we are shown how Joshua's progress remained unretarded. In what particular way this "houghing" was done we are not informed, so we cannot be sure whether the horses were only rendered powerless for warfare or completely destroyed. In view of burning the chariots, it seems more likely that they would be killed, so as to prevent other Canaanites from using them; the more so since they would be of no value to Israel.
"And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burned their chariots with fire." What proof was this that "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety" (Ps. 31:16, 17)! As God can save those who are without armies, so those with them are helpless if He be against them-as was clearly demonstrated at the Red Sea. It is a striking fact that the most glorious days of military victory for Israel were when the veto of Deuteronomy 17:16, was strictly regarded by them. In addition to their remarkable exploits in the time of Joshua, we may recall their victories over Sihon and Og (Num. 21:23-26, 33-35), their overcoming of Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron (Judg. 4:3-16), and David's victory over the king of Zobah, with his thousand chariots (2 Sam. 8). On the other hand, it is equally noticeable that Israel's declension dates from their transgression of Deuteronomy 17:16 (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26), and that defeat came from the very quarter in which they foolishly placed their confidence (2 Chron. 12:2, 9 and compare Isaiah 31:1): all of which goes to show "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety [or "victory"] is of the Lord" (Prov. 21:31), It may also be pointed out that later, when Israel renounced this vain confidence, God healed their backsliding (Hos. 14:3, 4).
God and War
The title of this article may possibly shock some of our readers, thinking that "Satan and War" would be a more appropriate and accurate one. There are an increasing number today among churchgoers who repudiate the idea that God has anything to do, designedly and directly, with such calamities as tidal waves, earthquakes, or wars. Since there are such things, these people attribute them to and blame them upon the Devil. Their beliefs differ little from the religious conceptions of the ancient Persians and modern Parsees, for Zoroastrianism teaches that there are two Gods presiding over this sphere, a good and an evil one; that all blessings are to be ascribed unto the former and all our ills unto the latter. And just as that ancient system of philosophy and religion contains no definite statement as to which of the opposing deities will ultimately triumph, so these modern dualists have so little confidence in the true and living God, and are so determined to dissociate Him from the affairs of this scene, that they talk (and even write) about the likelihood of this earth being blown to smithereens by some devilish kind of bomb, instead of this world being (when it has served His purpose) destroyed by its Creator with fire (Ps. 1, 3), as He did the antediluvian world by water.
It needs to be constantly pressed upon this skeptical generation that the One who made this world is now governing it; and that not merely in a vague and general way, but most definitely and specifically. The Lord God presides over all its affairs, regulates all its events, directs all its inhabitants. If He did not, if there be some creatures beyond His control some happenings outside His jurisdiction, then there would be no guarantee that everything which transpires on earth (as well as in heaven) shall redound to His glory, and that all things are working together for good to them that love Him. Instead, all confidence in the future would be at an end, all peace of heart and tranquility of mind an empty dream. But Scripture is far too plain on this matter to be misunderstood: His kingdom ruleth over all (Ps. 103:19), who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11), "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36). So far from Satan being able to thwart Him, he could not lay a finger upon Job or any of his possessions until the Lord gave him permission to do so; and the demons could not enter the herd of swine without Christ's consent (Mark 5:12, 13). Nor can the Devil gain the slightest advantage over a saint without his own allowance, and if he resists him steadfastly in the faith, he is obliged to flee from him (Jam. 4:7).
Since "all things" are of God, then wars must not be excluded. So truly is this the case that His Word declares, "The Lord is a man of war" (Ex. 15:3): thus Deity hesitates not to assume unto Himself a militant title. And again He declares, "The Lord mighty in battle" (Ps. 24:8), which is illustrated and demonstrated again and again in the history of Israel, when He showed Himself strong in their behalf and slew their foes. "The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land" (Isa. 13:4, 5). It may be objected that these are Old Testament references, and that the spirit of the New Testament denounces all war as now being unlawful. But the New Testament is far from bearing that out; its teaching thereon is in full accord with the Old. Thus, when the soldiers came to Christ's forerunner for instruction, asking, "What shall we do?" he did not say, Fight no more, abandon your calling, but gave them directions how to conduct themselves. When the centurion came to the Savior and drew an argument from his military calling, our Lord did not condemn his profession or rebuke him for holding such an office; instead, He highly commended his faith (Luke 7:8, 9).
When foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ declared that God would send forth His armies (Matthew 22:7), so that the Roman legions were but instruments in His hands, directed by Him to effect His judgment. When examined by Pilate, our Lord said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36). Those words clearly imply that, though carnal means were then improper for advancing His spiritual kingdom, yet had not His state of humiliation precluded His assumption of the royal scepter His followers might, lawfully have fought to defend His title. Moreover, His qualifying "now suggests that such a time would come, as Revelation 19:11, plainly confirms. When the ten kings determine to make the mother of harlots desolate and burn her with fire, we are told, "For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill His will" (Rev. 17:16, 17). How entirely different is the God of Holy Writ from the fictitious one of the sentimental dreamers of this effeminate age!
In our previous comments upon Israel's fighting in Canaan, our principal emphasis has been upon the application thereof unto the spiritual warfare in which the Christian is called upon to engage, but our articles would lack completeness if we failed to devote one unto the literal side of things. Much of human history consists of a chronicling of wars, and it is a matter of no little concern and importance that we should turn the light of Scripture thereon and ascertain God's relation thereto. Is He but a far-distant Spectator thereof, having no immediate connection with the horrible carnage of the battlefield, or is His agency directly involved in the same? To speculate upon such a matter is not only useless, but impious. War is ever a frightful calamity, the more so if it be a civil one, when one part of the populace is madly fighting against another; or when many nations become involved or embroiled. At such a time the suffering and anguish experienced rudely shake the belief of many in an overruling providence; and even God's own people find it difficult to stay their minds on the Ruler of the universe and trust in His goodness and wisdom, unless they be firmly rooted in the Truth.
Those who are familiar with history know how many sad proofs it contains that human beings are often more cruel than are the beasts of the jungle. Lions and tigers kill their prey in order to appease their hunger, but men destroy their fellows only to gratify their insatiable lusts of ambition and avarice. During the course of the centuries wild animals have killed thousands of mankind, but within the last few years literally millions have been destroyed by the restless wickedness of those who cared not what immeasurable suffering would result from the meeting of their greedy desires. We cannot sufficiently deplore the depravity of human nature which has made men beasts of prey, or rather devils to one another, seeking whom they may devour. The events of this enlightened century only too plainly confirm the teaching of Scripture on the thorough corruption of fallen human nature, that in their unregenerate condition men are "hateful, and hating one another" (Titus 3:3). But let us not condemn the ferocity and wickedness of our fellows in any self-righteous spirit, but in the humbling realization that we too are clay of the same lump, and that if a spirit of benevolence now governs us, it is naught but sovereign grace which makes us to differ.
But while we contemplate with grief, shame and horror the vile works of men of the same vicious natures as our own, we must by no means overlook and ignore the place which Divine providence has in all those occurrences in which they are the actors. God is supreme, and all inferior agents are under His government, held by Him in such effectual control that they can do nothing without Him. In the most tremendous evils which they inflict, they are the ministers of His vengeance. Even when whole nations be destroyed, by whatsoever means, the hand of God is in that work of judgment. We briefly alluded unto this in our last, but deemed it necessary to supplement what was there pointed out. "I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians' and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit [courage] of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof . . . and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall reign over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts" (Isa. 19:2-4)-words which ought to cause not a few people to revise their ideas on this subject. When cities are reduced to rubble, when civil war afflicts a country, when kingdoms are destroyed, the agency of God is to be acknowledged therein.
The worst tyrants, when inflicting the greatest outrages, are the instruments of God, accomplishing His will. In Jeremiah 25:9, we find Jehovah referring to Nebuchadnezzar as "My servant"-just as He spoke of "My servant Moses" (Num. 12:7) and "David My servant" (Ps. 89:3). The king of Babylon was just as truly an instrument in effecting the Divine purpose as they were: they in delivering and building up, he in punishing and destroying. "Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord . . . and they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: . . . they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword" (Jer. 5:15, 17). God brings judgment upon a nation as surely as He gives blessing: uproots as truly as He plants. "Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs: they are terrible and dreadful" (Hab. 1:6, 7). How clearly do those words show that heathen nations are under God's control and used by Him when it serves His purpose.
The Babylonians were employed by the Ruler of this world for the chastisement of His people and commissioned by Him to carry the Jews into captivity, yet in so doing they incurred great guilt and were made to reap as they had sown. Those things may seem utterly inconsistent unto carnal reason, yet they are not so in reality, for Nebuchadnezzar acted with no thought of fulfilling the Divine decrees, but rather to satisfy his own rapacity, and therefore was his kingdom providentially destroyed by Him with an unexampled destruction. Others were sent by God to execute His vengeance on Babylon, and though they in turn were incited by their own passions, nevertheless He it was who called forth their hosts and gave them the victory. "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children" (Isa. 13:17, 18). How awful does Providence appear here! Even when savage idolators violate every dictate of humanity, they are the executors of the judgments of the Almighty. While their conduct is most horribly guilty, in the Divine sovereignty it fulfils God's will.
"The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. . . . He shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof" (Isa. 23:9-11). The demolition of Tyre by the Chaldeans was not only the fulfillment of prophecy, but was accomplished by Divine agency. God did it, yet man did it. In unconsciously doing the work of the Lord, men act quite freely, and therefore are justly accountable for doing what it was eternally predestined they should do. Philosophy cannot plumb such a depth by its own line, but Scripture clears up the mystery. Of Cyrus God declared, "Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms" (Jer. 51:20). What is there said of that mighty conqueror is equally true of all conquerors that ever lived, or shall live, on this earth. Conquerors regard themselves almost as gods, but the axes and saws with which men cut and cleave wood might with far better reason exalt themselves to the rank of human creatures. None of them can. do anything but what God's counsel determined before to be done by their hands, and therefore it is our bounden duty to give God the glory for all the judgments which are done by them, and to adore His awful providence in all the miseries they inflict upon guilty kingdoms.
It is in the light of all that has been said above that the conquest of Canaan by Israel is to be viewed. Joshua 10:30, 42, makes it quite clear that the "sword" of Joshua was the sword of the Lord-compare "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon" (Judg. 7:20). Equally so, it is in the light of various passages found in the Pentateuch that we must consider the severity of God's dealings with those whom His servant was commissioned to slay. The original inhabitants of Canaan were flagitious offenders, not only in being gross idolators, but in trampling underfoot the laws of morality and of humanity. If the reader turns to Leviticus 18:3, 27, 28, and then ponders what is recorded between verses 3 and 27, he will perceive the horrible depravity which the Amorites exhibited, for in those verses a black catalogue is supplied of the vile "abominations" of which they were guilty. Those heathen tribes were like a cankerous sore in the body politic, contaminating the surrounding nations, and therefore it was an act of mercy unto the latter, as well as a just punishment upon the former, that God ordered Joshua to destroy them root and branch. The Lord had borne long with them, but now that the iniquity of the Amorites had come to the full (Gen. 15:16) naught but summary judgment suited their case.
Not only is no apology required for the Lord in connection with His solemn works of judgment, but He is to be owned and magnified therein. "O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For Thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defensed city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall the strong people glorify Thee" (Isa. 25:1, 2)-as Israel did when Pharaoh and his hosts were overthrown by the waters of the Red Sea, and as the inhabitants of heaven shall exclaim "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand" (Rev. 19:1, 2). God is glorious in His works of providence as well as in His works of creation. As He made all things "good" at the creation of the world, so He doeth all things "well" in His government of it. He is to be revered and adored even of those works which He performs by the hand of His creatures. He is glorious in what He does by and through wicked men as well as by His saints: glorious in His acts of vengeance as well as in His acts of grace.
But if the balance of truth is to be preserved on this subject, clue place must be given and full regard had to another class of passages, which show that when God deals in judgment-whether it be with individuals or nations-He does so because man's sinfulness calls for it, and not because He delights therein. This is clear from Ezekiel 14, where, after announcing the "four sore judgments" which he would send upon Jerusalem, the Lord God declared, "And ye shall know that I have not done this without cause" (vv. 21-23), for as Jeremiah 22:8, 9, informs us, "And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them." How plain is the testimony of Lamentations in. 33, "For He doth not afflict willingly [from His heart] nor grieve the children of men." Equally so is Ezekiel 33:11, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Therefore are we told that judgment is "His strange work. . . . His strange act" (Isa. 28:21), for it is not as agreeable to Him as His works of mercy.
God approves of righteousness wherever it be found, and rewards the same with temporal blessings; but He ever disapproves of sin, and sooner or later visits His anger upon it (Prov. 14:34). Yet even when the dark clouds of His judgment are hanging over a kingdom or an evil system, calamity may be averted by national humiliation before God and reformation of conduct (Ex. 9:27-29; Luke 19:41-44; Rev. 2:21, 22). How much to the point are those words of the Lord in Jeremiah 18:8: "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced [judgment], turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them"-as was most definitely exemplified in the case of Nineveh. That verse has, of course, no reference to the alteration of His eternal decree, but instead enumerates one of the principles by which God governs this world, namely that He deals with nations as with individuals-according to their conduct, making them to reap as they have sown, for His judgment is ever tempered by His mercy (Judg. 3:8-10).
Now each of the two sides of our subject pointed out above was illustrated in Joshua 11: On the one hand we are told, "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses" (v. 20)-because they had filled up the measure of their iniquities and were ripe for judgment (compare Matthew 23:32; 1 Thess. 2:16; Rev. 14:7, 18). On the other hand we read that "But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only" (v. 13), by which is meant those who remained passive and fought not against Israel. So that here too in wrath God remembered mercy. That is one of several passages which show that Israel did not massacre unresisting Canaanites (cf. Deuteronomy 20:10, 11)-Joshua 24:11, shows that those in Jericho assumed a hostile attitude, and therefore we may conclude that those in Ai did so too.