Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10. Then Joshua commanded etc It may be doubted…
10. Then Joshua commanded etc It may be doubted whether or not this proclamation was made after the spies were sent, and of course on their return. And certainly I think it not only probable, but I am fully convinced that it was only after their report furnished him with the knowledge he required, that he resolved to move his camp. It would have been preposterous haste to hurry on an unknown path, while he considered it expedient to be informed on many points before setting foot on a hostile territory. Nor is there anything novel in neglecting the order of time, and afterwards interweaving what had been omitted. The second chapter must therefore be regarded as a kind of interposed parenthesis, explaining to the reader more fully what had happened, when Joshua at length commanded the people to collect their vessels.
After all necessary matters had been ascertained, he saw it was high time to proceed, and issued a proclamation, ordering the people to make ready for the campaign. With the utmost confidence he declares that they will pass the Jordan after the lapse of three days: this he never would have ventured to do, without the suggestion of the Spirit. No one had attempted the ford, nor did there seem to be any hope that it could be done. There was no means of crossing either by a bridge or by boats: and nothing could be easier for the enemy than to prevent the passage. The only thing, therefore, that remained was for God to transport them miraculously. This Joshua hoped for not at random, nor at his own hand, but as a matter which had been divinely revealed. The faith of the people also was conspicuous in the promptitude of their obedience: for, in the view of the great difficulties which presented themselves, they never would have complied so readily had they not cast their care upon God. It cannot be doubted that He inspired their minds with this alacrity, in order to remove all the obstacles which might delay the fulfillment of the promise.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the…
Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
Ver. 10. Then Joshua.] After the spies were returned. {Jos 2:23}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Joshua, being settled in the government, immediately applies himself…
Joshua, being settled in the government, immediately applies himself to business; not to take state or to take his pleasure, but to further the work of God among, the people over whom God had set him. As he that desires the office of a minister (Ti1 3:1), so he that desires the office of a magistrate, desires a work, a good work; neither is preferred to be idle.
I. He issues out orders to the people to provide for a march; and they had been so long encamped in their present post that it would be a work of some difficulty to decamp. The officers of the people that commanded under Joshua in their respective tribes and families attended him for orders, which they were to transmit to the people. Inferior magistrates are as necessary and as serviceable to the public good in their places as the supreme magistrate in his. What could Joshua have done without officers? We are therefore required to be subject, not only to the king as supreme, but to governors as to those that are sent by him, Pe1 2:13, Pe1 2:14. By these officers, 1. Joshua gives public notice that they were to pass over Jordan within three days. These orders, I suppose, were not given till after the return of the spies that were sent to bring an account of Jericho, though the story of that affair follows, ch. 2. And perhaps that was such an instance of his jealousy, and excessive caution, as made it necessary that he should be so often bidden as he was to be strong and of a good courage. Observe with what assurance Joshua says to the people, because God had said it to him, You shall pass over Jordan, and shall possess the land. We greatly honour the truth of God. 2. He gives them directions to prepare victuals, not to prepare transport vessels. He that bore Egypt upon eagle's wings would in like manner bear them into Canaan, to bring them to himself, Exo 19:4. But those that were desirous to have other victuals besides the manna, which had not yet ceased, must prepare it and have it ready against the time appointed. Perhaps, though the manna did not quite cease till they came into Canaan (Jos 5:12), yet since they had come into a land inhabited (Exo 16:35), where they might be furnished in part with other provisions, it did not fall so plentifully, nor did they gather so much as when they had it first given to them in the wilderness, but decreased gradually, and therefore they are ordered to provide other victuals, in which perhaps was included all other things necessary to their march. And some of the Jewish writer, considering that having manna they needed not to provide other victuals, understand it figuratively, that they must repent of their sins, and make their peace with God, and resolve to live a new life, that they might be ready to receive this great favour. See Exo 19:10, Exo 19:11.
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II. He reminds the two tribes and a half of the obligations they were under to go over Jordan with their brethren, though they left their possessions and families on this side. Interest would make the other tribes glad to go over Jordan, but in these it was an act of self-denial, and against the grain; therefore it was needful to produce the agreement which Moses had made with them, when he gave them their possession before their brethren (Jos 1:13): Remember the word which Moses commanded you. Some of them perhaps were ready to think now that Moses was dead, who they thought was too hard upon them in this matter, they might find some excuse or other to release themselves from this engagement, or might prevail with Joshua to dispense with them; but he holds them to it, and lets them know that, though Moses was dead, his commands and their promises were still in full force. He reminds them, 1. Of the advantages they had received in being first settled: "The Lord your God hath given you rest. He has given your minds rest; you know what you have to trust to, and are not as the rest of the tribes waiting the issue of the war first and then of the lot. He has also given your families rest, your wives and children, whose settlement is your satisfaction. He has given you rest by giving you this land, this good land, of which you are in full and quiet possession." Note, When God by his providence has given us rest we ought to consider how we may honour him with the advantages of it, and what service we may do to our brethren who are unsettled, or not so well settled as we are When God had given David rest (Sa2 7:1), see how restless he was till he had found out a habitation for the ark, Psa 132:4, Psa 132:5. When God has given us rest, we must take heed of slothfulness and of settling upon our lees. 2. He reminds them of their agreement to help their brethren in the wars of Canaan till God had in like manner given them rest, Jos 1:14, Jos 1:15. This was, (1.) Reasonable in itself. So closely were all the tribes incorporated that they must needs look upon themselves as members one of another. (2.) It was enjoined them by Moses, the servant of the Lord; he commanded them to do this, and Joshua his successor would see his commands observed. (3.) It was the only expedient they had to save themselves from the guilt of a great sin in settling on that side Jordan, a sin which would one time or other find them out, Num 32:23. (4.) It was the condition of the grant Moses had made them of the land they were possessed of, so that they could not be sure of a good title to, or a comfortable enjoyment of, the land of their possession, as it is here called (Jos 1:15), if they did not fulfil the condition. (5.) They themselves had covenanted and agreed thereunto (Num 32:25): Thy servants will do as my Lord commandeth. Thus we all lie under manifold obligations to strengthen the hands one of another, and not to seek our own welfare only, but one another's.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,.... The…
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,.... The same word is used in Deu 16:18; where it seems to design such officers that attended on the judges, and executed their orders; but one would think it should here rather signify officers in the army, as captains, and the like; unless it should design a sort of heralds, who were to make proclamation throughout the camp, each of the orders issued by Joshua, immediately upon his having the above directions and instructions from the Lord:
saying; as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The officers of the people - These who commanded…
The officers of the people - These who commanded under Joshua, in their respective tribes and families, attended him for orders, which they were to transmit to the people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Commanded the officers] שטרים shoterim. These were…
Verse 10. Commanded the officers] שטרים shoterim. These were different from the שפטים shophetim, who were judges among the people, and whose business it was to determine in all civil cases. The shoterim have been supposed to be subordinate officers, whose business it was to see the decisions of the shophetim carried into effect. Calmet conjectures that the shoterim here may have been the heralds of the army like those so often met with in Homer, who were called the messengers both of the gods and men; who bore sceptres, and whose persons were ever held sacred. See on De 1:13-16.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 1:10-11. The officers of the people — Those…
Jos 1:10-11. The officers of the people — Those who commanded under Joshua, in their respective tribes and families, attended him for orders, which they were to transmit to the people. Prepare you victuals — For although manna was given them to supply their want of ordinary provisions in the wilderness; yet they were allowed, when they had opportunity, to purchase other provisions, and did so, Deu 2:6; Deu 2:28. And now, having been some time in the land of the Amorites, and, together with manna, used themselves to other food, with which that country plentifully supplied them, they are warned to furnish themselves therewith for their approaching march. Within three days — These words, though placed here, seem not to have been delivered by Joshua till after the return of the spies, such transpositions being frequent in Scripture. And hence it is, that these three days, mentioned here, are again repeated below, after the history of the spies, Jos 3:2.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Officers - The “scribes.” (See the Exo 5:6 note,…
Officers - The “scribes.” (See the Exo 5:6 note, and Deu 16:18.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Princes. Shoterim may denote both judges and heralds, such…
CHAPTER I.
Princes. Shoterim may denote both judges and heralds, such as those mentioned in Homer, the messengers of gods and men, whose persons were deemed sacred. They bore a wand or sceptre, as a mark of their authority.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people--These were…
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people--These were the Shoterim (see on Exo 5:6; Deu 20:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH, Jos_1:10-11.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE MARCH, Jos_1:10-11.
[10. Officers of the people — Shoterim; subordinate magistrates or scribes among the Israelites, and more or less intimately associated with the administration of justice. They assisted the Egyptian taskmasters in apportioning and supervising the work of the Israelitish bondmen, (Exo_5:10; Exo_5:14-15,) were associated with the elders (Num_11:16) and with the judges, (Jos_8:33,) acted as overseers of levies, (Deu_20:5,) and from this verse, compared with Jos_3:2, and Jos_8:33, it seems to have been a part of their work to notify the tribes of any public order, and prepare them for action in any emergency.]
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10–18. The Command of Joshua to the People
10–18. The Command of Joshua to the People
10. the officers] Or, Shoterim. The word denotes (1) literally a “writer,” or “scribe;” then (2) an overseer, in whose office were combined various duties, including enrolments, orders &c., also genealogies; (3) a magistrate, prefect, leader of the people, especially, as here, the leaders, officers, of the Israelites in Egypt and in the desert. Comp. Num_11:16; Num_31:14; Num_31:48; Deu_1:15; Deu_16:18; Deu_20:5; Deu_20:8-9; Deu_31:28. Their duties were at once civil and military.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain JOSHUA’S FIRST ORDERS (Jos_1:10-15).
JOSHUA’S FIRST ORDERS (Jos_1:10-15).
(10) Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people.—Joshua’s first orders to the people were to prepare for the passage of Jordan within three days. We may compare this event, in its relation to Joshua, with the giving of the law from Sinai to Moses. Both were preceded by a three days’ notice and a sanctification of the people. Both were means employed by God to establish the leaders whom He had chosen in the position which He designed for them. (Comp. Exo_19:9; Exo_19:11 with Jos_1:11; Jos_3:7; Jos_4:14.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people. The…
JOSHUA"S COMMAND TO THE PEOPLE,
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people. The Shoterim, a term derived from the same root as an Arabic word signifying "to write." Different ideas have been entertained of their duties. Keil, Jahn (Hebrew Commonwealth), and others believe that they were genealogists; but it seems more probable that their original duties were to keep processes and minutes, and that, like our Indian "writers" and the "Master of the Rolls" at home, they exercised some kind of judicial functions, with which, moreover, active duties were sometimes combined. The idea that they were genealogists is contrary, as Gesenius shows, to the context in many places. Thus in Exo_5:6-19, they seem to have had to see that the specified tale of bricks was delivered up; and we know from the recently deciphered Egyptian inscriptions that very accurate registers of such matters were kept. In Deu_1:16 (cf. Deu_16:18 Jos_8:33 Jos_23:2 Jos_24:1, etc.) they appear to have exercised judicial functions in connection with the "princes" (not "captains, as in our version, which would lead to the idea that they were military officers). In Num_11:16 they are connected with the elders. In 1Ch_26:29 they seem again to have exercised judicial functions, whereas in 2Ch_26:11 their duty appears to have been to keep the muster rolls. In Pro_6:7 we find them once more with active duties as in the text. The LXX equivalent; grammateuv , is rendered in Act_19:35 by "town clerk," an officer with active as well as merely secretarial duties. Here they seem to have acted as officers of the commissariat, civil and military functions being naturally largely interchangeable in the then condition of the Israelitish people, just as they were in the early days of our Indian empire.
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Vers. 10-15. Joshua"s command to the people.
I WE MUST WORK WITH THE GRACE OF GOD. All these promises of God were not intended to supersede human effort. God had promised to be with Joshua, but Joshua must act on the promise. He had promised to plant the people in the Holy Land, but not without exertion on their part. Where their own action was impossible, as in crossing the Jordan, He did all for them. When a sign of His presence with them was necessary, as at Jericho, He did likewise. But in the rest of their warfare He did but prosper their own endeavours. So we are both to pray and work, save in cases where to work is denied us, and then our weapon must be prayer alone.
II WE NEED PROVISION FOR THE WAY. Without meat we should "faint by the way." But we have "meat to eat" that the world "knows not of," even the flesh and blood of Christ. And this we must "prepare;" that is, we must take pains to obtain it. "This kind goeth not forth but by prayer and fasting," and by endeavours to serve Christ. Whether in the sacrament of His love, or in any other way in which He vouchsafes to impart His humanity to us, there needs on our part
(1) an earnest petition for the gift;
(2) steady self denial in our lives;
(3) steadfast efforts to do His will.
It is remarkable that the miraculous provision failed as soon as there was no more need for it. So exceptional provision for our spiritual needs is withdrawn so soon as we find ourselves within reach of the means of grace. These we must use with due diligence and forethought if we would derive benefit from them.
III WE FIGHT, NOT FOR OURSELVES ALONE, BUT FOR OTHERS. The two tribes and a half had received their inheritance, yet they were not allowed to settle down in it. They had been solemnly bound to help their brethren. Nor may we Christians sit down in the exclusive possession of religious privileges, but must impart them to our brethren, whether
(a) by nature, as the heathen, or
(b) by grace, as in the case of Christians less favoured than ourselves.
We cannot cease our labour till they are as well off as we. Thus the duty is incumbent upon us of cooperating in every good work, whereby the temporal or spiritual benefit of others is attained.
IV EACH HAS HIS APPOINTED TASK. As Christ gave to His disciples to set before the multitude, (Joh_6:11, etc.) so Joshua "commands the officers" to "command the people." All are not apostles or prophets, but each has his proper office in God"s Church. Some are set over the flock to guide and exhort them, while others have to listen and carry out the voice of exhortation. They were to go up chamushim, in battle array (ver. 14), with van and rear, with wings and centre, each in his appointed rank. And we, too, shall only throw the army of Jesus into disorder if we fail to keep the place which God"s providence has assigned us.
V SOME, BY THEIR POSITION, ARE DENIED A PART IN THE GENERAL CONFLICT. As Christ forbade the demoniac to attach himself to His person, but bade him "go home to his friends", (St. Mar_5:19) so there are those, like the women and children here, whose work for Christ is the simple discharge of domestic duties, whom Christ has not called to any more public efforts in His cause.
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE Vers. 10-18. Joshua and the Reubenites.
The Reubenites and Gadites had already settled on the banks of the Jordan. They were at rest; they had not to await the ordeal of the conquest. As far as they were concerned, they had already received the promise. And yet they were not to be allowed to remain in idleness, and in selfish enjoyment of their own good. They were not to forget their brethren. "Ye shall pass before your brethren armed," said Joshua, "and help them." "And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do." Such was the response of these valiant and true hearted men. We have here an admirable illustration of the great bond of solidarity which makes all the people of God one.
I IN REALITY, NO SECTION OF GOD"S PEOPLE CAN LIVE AN ISOLATED LIFE. It would he vain for the Reubenites to dream that they could rest at ease under their vines and fig trees. The defeat of their brethren would recoil upon them, and should the Canaanites be victorious the Reubenites would quickly find themselves driven out of the land. And it is the same with the Churcheach for all, and all for each; this is the Church"s motto. Therefore it is that all should rally round the great standard of the army.
II FOR ANY SECTION OF GOD"S PEOPLE TO ISOLATE THEMSELVES in their prosperity is not only the sure way to impoverish and ultimately to ruin themselves, but it is TREASON TO THE KING OF THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM; for it implies that the first object of desire is prosperity for themselves, not the glory of the King; that he is loved, not with a pure, but with a selfish love.
III SUCH ISOLATION HARDENS THE HEART. It is a violation of the first law of the kingdom the law of love. Its tendency is, as far as possible, to obliterate that law. It ignores the fact that we receive only to give again. Let us fully grasp, then, this great truth, that every blessing received is a trust placed in our hands only that we may diffuse it among our brethren. The applications of this great precept of Christian love are innumerable. Do we possess in large measure the good things of this world? It is that we may communicate to our less favoured brethren. Are we rich in spiritual gifts? It is that we may impart to those less privileged and of fewer opportunities than ourselves. And as we are indebted to the Church, so are we also to humanity, for are we not all one flesh? Hence the claim of missions, both at home and abroad, as a means of imparting the gifts of God already received by us to those who as yet are ignorant of them. Nor is this all. After having won the victory for ourselves, we have to begin the battle over again, and to suffer in sympathy with those who have yet the Jordan to cross. Let us never forget Him who left the blessedness of heaven to undertake our cause, and who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. E. DE P.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.
Jos_1:10-11
Within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.
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Three days pause
I. What this pause meant. Three days is a recognised period in Scripture for death and resurrection. But there was another and deeper reason for the delay, which closely touches one of the greatest principles of the inner life. When Israel reached its banks, the Jordan was in flood, and overflowing the low-lying lands on either side of its bed. Across the river stood Jericho, embosomed in palms and tamarisks, in a very paradise of exquisite vegetation, its aromatic shrubs and gardens scenting the air. But as the people beheld it, all their cherished hopes of taking it by their own energy or courage must have been utterly dissipated. What could they do in face of that broad expanse of rushing, foaming, turbulent waters? Multitudes have come to the brink of that river, and have been left there, waiting on its banks, that they might consider the meaning of those impassable waters, and carry away the sentence of death in themselves. Abraham waited there for more than twenty years face to face with the apparent impossibility of ever having a son. David waited there for almost as long, and it must have seemed that the kingdom foretold to him as a youth lay on the other side of insurmountable difficulties. Many a saint since then has been brought down to these same banks, and has stood to witness these flowing streams. What though the promise of God has offered all manner of blessedness and delight! That river! That flooded, fordless, bridgeless, boatless river! Are you there now? Do not hasten from it. Stand still and consider it until the energy and impetuosity of your self-life lies down. You can never reach the blessed life by resolutions, or pledges, or forms of covenant; your good self is as powerless now as your bad self was formerly; you must learn that your strength is to sit still, and that the rich blessings of God stored in Christ for you are an absolute gift to be received by the outstretched hand of faith.
II. How this pause was spent. During this space of three days events transpired which are both interesting and typical. Amongst other things Jericho was entered by the two spies.
1. Jericho may fitly stand for the world of men over which judgment is impending, but which goes on its way unheeding. Rahab, the poor outcast of Jericho, who had such strange faith in God, entered in with the people to possess the land that flowed with milk and honey. She is thus the type of Gentile-sinners who are permitted to share in the unsearchable riches of Christ, to sit with Him in the heavenlies, to form part of that new race which is gathering around the true Joshua, the Lord from heaven.
2. During this brief pause Joshua also had an opportunity of ascertaining the feelings of the two tribes and a half. Are not these the type of Christians to whom the land of promise is as freely open as to others, and who make an incursion into it with no thought of remaining? They are willing to meet and measure their strength with the seven nations of Canaan, but they are not prepared to abandon the strong facinations of the world, and to settle down to a life hidden with Christ in God. The end of such is but too clearly suggested by the fate of those Eastern tribes. They had their much grass, but they became gradually cut off from the corporate life of Israel. They gave few great names to the roll of saints and heroes emblazoned on Israels story. They fell first beneath the invasions of Assyria, and were swept into captivity, from which they never returned.
III. How the pause ended. On the third day the hosts seem to have come nearer the rivers brink, and their tents were pitched for the night within close proximity to the hurrying waters. It was then that Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, &c. From which it would seem that the wonder-working power of God is dependent upon the sanctification of His people. Why art Thou as a mighty man that cannot save? He could do no mighty works there, because of their unbelief. We all want to see wonders wrought by God--in our own characters, that the fir-tree may replace the thorn and the myrtle the briar; in our homes, that the desert places may blossom with roses; in our Churches, that they may arise and put on their beautiful garments. Oh! for another Pentecost! Oh! to see converts fly as doves to their windows! And why is it that we strain our eyes for them in vain? Is it not because we have not sanctified ourselves? Sanctification means the cleansing of the soul, and the putting on of the white robes of purity and humility. We are not clean enough for God to use us. We are not humble enough to bear a great success. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Crossing the Jordan
Many good people daily pray against sudden death, and there are legitimate reasons for so doing; but to a child of God it is of small consequence, for death will never find him unprepared if he is living in communion with God. We will enter into the joy of our Lord, and be for ever with Him. When Gods children have their candle lighted for them, and they know that it is time to go upstairs, they feel glad to end their pilgrimage, and rest in Jesus. We are all of us much nearer home than we think. It will be greatly wise to talk with our last hours, and to anticipate that time when the message shall come, Within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.
I. Observe the tenor of this notice. Notice that there are three leading words in it: prepare, pass over, possess. The first word that came to them was, Prepare. Be in journeying order. The soldier carries his rations with him when he has to make a quick march: Prepare you victuals. Children of God, be ready to go from this world. But inasmuch as he said, Prepare you victuals did he not mean Begin to feed on food of that sort upon which you are henceforth to live? The manna would cease in three days, and never fall again. After they crossed the Jordan, they would feed on the corn of the land. Feed on Christ, feed on spiritual food, feed on the pure truth of Gods Word, and feed your souls on nothing else. Know the taste of what you eat, and let it be as clear and definite as that of butter and honey, that so you may steadily refuse the evil and choose the good. Joshua meant--Stand ready, for the time is getting very short. There is not long to wait. Soon you will have traversed the stream, and landed on the hither shore. How would you feel if you knew that within three days you must die? The exhortation given in verse 13 is one which may be useful also to us: Remember the word. It is a grand help for going over Jordan if we will remember the word of the Lord. Our faith enables us both to live and to die on the promise of God. But then he said also, Sanctify yourselves (Jos_3:5). If we knew we were to die in three days, should we not wish to put our hearts, our thoughts, our families, into a better state? Since we may die suddenly, let us purify ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. The next word was, Pass over this Jordan. They were not called to linger on the brink, nor to sit with their feet in the stream, but to cross over it. Israel had been forty years in the wilderness, and surely that was long enough. He who hath served his God with all his heart will not wish to linger a moment after his life-work is done. You are not called to linger on the bed of sickness for ages, but to pass over to your rest. And notice, the call was not to go down into the Jordan to stop there. Blessed be God, we are not going down into the grave to be lost there; but we make use of it as an opened door to paradise. The third word was possess. They were to pass the river to possess the land which God had given them. We possess nothing here. Those goods which we think we possess melt away like an icicle from a hot hand. But we have on the other side of Jordan treasures worth owning. By a covenant of salt, God has given us in Christ Jesus everlasting rest, triumph, happiness, glory.
II. Observe the sequel of this notice, or what followed upon the summons. The first thing that happened to Israel was this, a singular faith was bestowed. I can hardly believe that the people under Joshua were the children of those unbelieving Jews whose caresses fell in the wilderness; for throughout the early chapters of Joshua it is recorded that they believed Joshua, whatever he said to them. He had strange and strong things to utter, but they did not doubt or demur. Now, when the children of God come to die, those of them who have been poor, trembling things before, receive new courage and unwonted strength, and even minister comfort to those who are stronger than themselves. It is brave to see how Mr. Ready-to-halt puts his crutches away when he is going over Jordan. Mr. Feeble-mind bids them bury his feeble mind in a dunghill, for it would be of no use to anybody. The Lord will give us more grace, and we shall wonder at ourselves that we could have been aforetime so distrustful. At eventide it shall be light. Next, a special assurance was given: To-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you (Jos_3:5). The Lord is always working marvels; but when we come to cross the Jordan we shall see His wonders in the deep. Next, note that the people had with them a conquering leader. Joshua was at their head, to encourage and direct them. When you and I shall pass over Jordan we shall have Jesus with us. He says, Be of good cheer. Because I live, ye shall live also. But what next? The Israelites had a clear guidance afforded them (Jos_3:4). You have been through many experiences, but to die will be a new one. Once for all, you must cross this Jordan, therefore the Divine presence shall go before you, and show you the way. Oh, yes, you shall have Divine direction when the darkness gathers about you! With Israel a forerunner led the way. So our great High Priest has tasted death for every man. Nor did the forerunner quit the scene, for the Divine presence remained. The priests went on till they came to the river-bed, and descended the hollow, going on to the very centre of it. There they stopped till all the host had passed over. The Lord Jesus will go before you as your great High Priest, your propitiation and your covenant; and He will abide with you in the last solemn article until you are safe landed on the shore of the land of promise. In consequence of the priests going down into the river the stream was dried up. Wonderful sight it must have been to behold the waters roll back, and stand in a congealed heap. Thus there was a broad passage-way for the multitudes of Israel to go marching through, and to effect the crossing rapidly. Suppose, when you come to die, the Jordan should turn out to be no river at all. What if you should go over dry-shod? Why should it not be so? Death is a pints prick to many. Death hath lost its terrors. The sting of death is sin, and that is forgiven. The strength of sin is the law, and that is fulfilled. The black waters have failed; we pass over Jordan dry-shod. Then notice, the people were very quick in crossing. Death is short work. After all, what is the act of death? What! cries one, is there not a terrible amount of pain connected with death? I answer, No. It is life that has the pain; death is the finis of all pain. You blame death for a disease of which he is the cure. You imagine a thing called death which does not really exist. In the twinkling of an eye we shall be up and away! Therefore, because you will haste to pass over, you need not be alarmed at so short a trial, which will actually turn out to be no trial at all. We read in (Jos_4:9) that the Israelites in traversing the Jordan left a memorial behind. You also will bear your testimony in departing: you will set up your memorial for your children after you, and they shall say, Our father died in sure and certain hope of being with Jesus. Even if your death-bed should not be so bright as some, even its clouds may not be without their effect. A holy man had prayed much for his boys and girls, but never saw them converted, and this, with the troubles which grow out of their waywardness, made his last hours to be sadly clouded. But mark how the Lord wrought! They buried their father, and when they were met together, the eldest son turned to his brothers and remarked, If our father, who was so good a man, was so troubled in death, what will become of us when we die? This most reasonable remark was the means of the conversion of the brothers. I would like to die in the dark if it would bring all my people to the Saviour. Would not you? One thing more: they also raised a memorial on the other shore. They piled twelve stones upon each other in Canaan. You and I, when we get to heaven, shall take our memorials with us, and pile them up. We will make known to angels and principalities and powers the manifold wisdom and goodness of God to us in life and death. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jordan at hand
I. The first feeling excited by the announcement must have been that of joy and triumph. It was not alone on the contrast between its fountains and depths springing out of valleys and hills, and the arid desolation of the great howling wilderness, that the thoughts of the Hebrew rested, but on the contrast of its repose. The sorest trials of his life had not probably been the hunger and the thirst, the laborious journey and the tumult of the battle, but the ceaseless motion--the movement ever on and on. Rest, rest! rest anywhere, but, above all, in the land that flowed with milk and honey, must have been the innermost desire of his heart. Is not all this applicable to ourselves? It is not the great sorrows of our experience that constitute, after all, the weariness of life; but it is its change, its sense of uncertainty, the consciousness that we keep nothing, call nothing absolutely our own.
II. There must have blended with it a great trial of faith. The chosen land was indeed close at hand. It seemed as if they could almost touch the shore. Just beyond gleamed in the sunshine the towers of Jericho, and blue in the distance were the hills of Judaea. But, close as they seemed, Jordan rolled between, and they could not but ask how they were to cross it. What, then, of that other Jordan, which we all must cross? that death we must all die some time or other, and through which alone we can enter into our Canaan? Let us make sure that what awaits us beyond on the other shore is heaven, and not the darkness. With the act of dying we have nothing whatever to do. It is in Gods hands, not ours, and there we must leave it. Has not the ark gone before?
III. An act of preparation needed: Prepare you victuals. There is nothing actually corresponding to this in the experience of the Christian when he is called to cross into the better land. Special preparation for heaven, the Christian needs none. If he be in Christ, that is enough; he is safe. If he be a believer, he can have no less; and though he were the highest of saints that ever caught the light of the face of God, he could have no more than to be found in Him, not having his own righteousness, &c. For myself I can conceive nothing more blessed than for a saint to pass at once from the midst of his work for his Master into the enjoyment of his Masters presence. Yet I admit that the near sight of so great a change could not but very solemnly affect us, were the warning given to ourselves. There would be an intense revival of faith and hope, and in that close sight of heaven a flinging away of all earthly and temporal ties. (E. Garbett, M. A.)
Prepare you victuals
Sometimes we have heard words like these fall from Christian workers: I have faith to believe that God will provide the means necessary to carry on this work, and straightway they assume liabilities and enter into engagements, and incur debts, in violation of the plain command, Owe no man anything; yea, they even sometimes accuse their brethren of lack of faith because they cannot do Gods work in this way. This is not good. To obey is better than to profess great faith; and to hearken than sentimental unthinking zeal. What would we have thought of Joshua if after he had received the Divine order to march forward he had said, I have faith to believe that God will provide the food necessary for victualling the army all through the campaign; our commissariat is absolutely safe, for it is in Divine hands. God has promised to be with me as He was with Moses, I have no need to think of these things. All I have got to do is to hasten forward. Nay, nay! Joshua manifested his faith in a much more Divine fashion. Prepare you victuals, he said; do not expect that miraculous supply which has been granted for forty years, now that you are in a position to do without it. You are no longer helpless children, but grown men able to provide for yourselves. The battle is the Lords, and He will not fail us nor forsake us, but we must use all reasonable foresight in carrying on His work. We dare do nothing, we dare omit nothing, out of harmony with His ways. (A. B. Mackay.)
Self-help necessary
Joshua reminds us of the famous order attributed to Cromwell, Trust in God, and keep your powder dry. His piety was very unlike that of a certain Duke of Parma, of whom it is written that, in a great crisis, while he had been praying, and nothing more, the English had been praying, and something more. He acted in the spirit of the proverb, God helps those who help themselves. (T. W. M. Lund, M. A.)
Ye shall pass over
Oh, but they might have said, we cannot pass over Jordan, because there is Jericho right in front of us, and of course the inhabitants will call in the Jebusites, who are not far off, at Jerusalem, and these will fetch in the Hivites, and the Amorites, and all the other nations; and these will hotly dispute the passage of the river, and it will be out of the question to force our way through that torrent, and fight up the other bank against such foes. Such a fear would be most natural. When Caesar tried to land in England, what did the Britons do? They rushed into the water off Dover to meet the Romans, and they fought with them in the surf of the sea. It was natural that brave men should fight the invaders in the water, and not suffer them to tread their soil. Do you suppose that the Canaanites were less brave than the ancient Britons? Had there not been a spell upon them, they would have pressed back Israel in the river itself, and would not have allowed them to enter the land. Yet Israel passed over Jordan at the appointed time. God had said, Ye shall go over, and they did go over; and no Canaanite, Hivite, or Jebusite dared to molest them. So the poor child of God sighs, Alas! when I come to die, Satan will meet me, temptations and doubts and fears will rush upon me. We read in chap. 3:16, And the people passed over right against Jericho. Fear not, O, trembling heart. God can so deal with evil spirits, and with the doubts of your own spirit, that they shall be still as a stone till you have passed over. No demon shall dare to peep or mutter. No doubt or fear shall venture near. We read, All the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. Not an arrow or a stone came from over the walls of Jericho. Glory be to the name of the Lord, He made the hearts of Israels enemies to melt, so that no more courage remained in them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain CHAPTER VI. JOSHUA'S CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE. Jos_1:10-18.
CHAPTER VI. JOSHUA'S CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE. Jos_1:10-18.
GOD has spoken to Joshua; it is now Joshua's part to speak to the people. The crossing of the Jordan must be set about at once, and in earnest, and all the risks and responsibilities involved in that step firmly and fearlessly encountered.
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And in the steps taken by Joshua for this purpose we see, what we so often see, how the natural must be exhausted before the supernatural is brought in. Thus, in communicating with the people through the shoterim, or officers, the first order which he gives is to "command the people to prepare them victuals." "Victuals " denotes the natural products of the country, and is evidently used in opposition to ''manna." In another passage we read that ''the manna ceased on the very morning after they had eaten of the old corn of the land " (Jos_5:12). This may have been a considerable time before, for the conquest of Sihon and Og would give the people possession of ample stores of food out of the old corn of the land. The manna was a provision for the desert only, where few or no natural supplies of food could be found. But the very day when natural stores become available, the manna is discontinued. One cannot but contrast the carefully limited use of the supernatural in Scripture with its arbitrary and unstinted employment in mythical or fictional writings. Often in such cases it is brought in with a wanton profusion, simply to excite wonder, sometimes to gratify the love of the grotesque, not because natural means could not have accomplished what was sought, but through sheer love of revelling in the supernatural. In Scripture the natural is never superseded when it is capable of either helping or accomplishing the end. The east wind helps to dry the Red Sea, although the rod of Moses has to be stretched out for the completion of the work. The angel of God knocks Peter's chains from his limbs and opens the prison gates for him, but leaves him to find his way thereafter as best he can. So now. It is now in the power of the people to prepare them victuals, and though God might easily feed them as He has fed them miraculously for forty years, He leaves them to find food for themselves. In all cases the co-operation of the Divine and the human is carried out with an instructive combination of generosity and economy; man is never to be idle; alike in the affairs of the temporal and the spiritual life, the Divine energy always stimulates to activity, never lulls to sleep.
A little explanation is needed respecting the time when Joshua said the Jordan must be crossed - '' within three days." If the narrative of the first two chapters be taken in chronological order, more than three days must have elapsed between the issuing of this order and the crossing of the river, because it is expressly stated that the two spies who were sent to examine Jericho hid themselves for three days in the mountains, and thereafter recrossed the Jordan and returned to Joshua (Jos_2:22). But it is quite in accordance with the practice of Scripture narrative to introduce an episode out of its chronological place so that it may not break up the main record. It is now generally held that the spies were sent off before Joshua issued this order to the people, because it is not likely that he would have committed himself to a particular day before he got the information which he expected the spies to bring. In any case, it is plain that no needless delay was allowed. Half a week more and Jordan would be crossed, although the means of crossing it had not yet been made apparent; and then the people would be actually in their own inheritance, within the very country which in the dim ages of the past had been promised to their fathers.
Yes, the people generally; but already an arrangement had been made for the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh on the east side of the river. How, then, were they to act in the present crisis? That had been determined between them and Moses when they got leave to occupy the lands of Sihon and Og, on account of their suitableness for their abundant flocks and herds. It had been arranged then that, leaving their cattle and their children, a portion of the men likewise, the rest would cross the river with their brethren and take their share of the toils and risks of the conquest of Western Canaan. All that Joshua needs to do now is to remind them of this arrangement. Happily there was no reluctance on their part to fulfil it. There was no going back from their word, even though they might have found a loophole of escape. They might have said that as the conquest of Sihon and Og had been accomplished so easily, so the conquest of the western tribes would be equally simple. Or they might have said that the nine tribes and a half could furnish quite a large enough army to dispossess the Canaanites. Or they might have discovered that their wives and children were exposed to dangers they had not apprehended, and that it would be necessary for the entire body of the men to remain and protect them. But they fell back on no such after thought. They kept their word at no small cost of toil and danger, and furnished thereby a perpetual lesson for those who, having made a promise under pressure, are tempted to resile from it when the pressure is removed. Fidelity to engagements is a noble quality, just as laxity in regard to them is a miserable sin. Even Pagan Rome could boast of a Regulus who kept his oath by returning to Carthage, though it was to encounter a miserable death. In the fifteenth psalm it is a feature in the portrait of the man who is to abide in God's tabernacle and dwell in His holy hill, that he "sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not."
One arrangement was made by these transjordanic tribes that was perfectly reasonable - a portion of the men remained to guard their families and their property. The number that passed over was forty thousand (Jos_4:13), whereas the entire number of men capable of bearing arms (dividing Manasseh into two) was a hundred and ten thousand (Num_26:7; Num_26:18; Num_26:34). But the contingent actually sent was amply sufficient to redeem the promise, and, consisting probably of picked men, was no doubt a very efficient portion of the force. The actual fighting force of the other tribes would probably be in the same proportion to the whole; and there, too, a section would have to be left to guard the women, children, and flocks, so that in point of fact the labours and dangers of the conquest were about equally divided between all the tribes.
Here, then, was an edifying spectacle: those who had been first provided for did not forget those who had not yet obtained any settlement; but held themselves bound to assist their brethren until they should be as comfortably settled as themselves.
It was a grand testimony against selfishness, a grand assertion of brotherhood, a beautiful manifestation of loyalty and public spirit; and, we may add, an instructive exhibition of the working of the method by which God's providence seeks to provide for the dissemination of many blessings among the children of men. It was an act of socialism, without the drawbacks which most forms of socialism involve.
God has allowed many differences in the lots of mankind, bestowing on some ample means, for which they toiled not neither did they spin; bestowing, often on the same individuals, a higher position in life, with corresponding social influence; setting some nations in the van of the world's march, bestowing on some churches very special advantages and means of influence; and it is a great question that arises - what obligations rest on these favoured individuals and communities? Does God lay any duty on them toward the rest of mankind?
The inquiry in its full scope is too wide for our limits; let us restrict ourselves to the element in respect of which the transjordanic tribes had the advantage of the others - the element of time. What do those who have received their benefits early owe to those who are behind them in time?
The question leads us first to the family constitution, but there is really no question here. The obligations of parents to their children are the obligations of those who have already got their settlement to those who have not; of those who have already got means, and strength, and experience, and wisdom to those who have not yet had time to acquire them. It is only the vilest of our race that refuse to own their obligations here, and this only after their nature has been perverted and demonized by vice. To all others it is an obligation which amply repays itself. The affection between parent and child in every well-ordered house sweetens the toil that often falls so heavily on the elders; while the pleasure of seeing their children filling stations of respectability and usefulness, and the enjoyment of their affection, even after they have gone out into the world, amply repay their past labours, and greatly enrich the joys of life.
We advance to the relation of the rich to the poor, especially of those who are born to riches to those who are born to obscurity and toil. Had the providence of God no purpose in this arrangement? You who come into the world amid luxury and splendour, who have never required to work for a single comfort, who have the means of gratifying expensive tastes, and who grudge no expenditure on the objects of your fancy: - was it meant that you were to sustain no relation of help and sympathy to the poor, especially your neighbours, your tenants, or your workpeople? Do you fulfil the obligations of life when, pouring into your coffers the fruits of other men's toil, you hurry off to the resorts of wealth and fashion, intent only on your own enjoyment, and without a thought of the toiling multitude you leave at home? Is it right of you to leave deserving people to fall peradventure into starvation and despair, without so much as turning a finger to prevent it? What are you doing for the widows and orphans? Selfish and sinful beings! let these old Hebrews read you a lesson of condemnation!
They could not selfishly enjoy their comfortable homes till they had done their part on behalf of their brethren, for wherever there is a brotherly heart a poor brother's welfare is as dear as one's own.
Then there is the case of nations, and pre-eminently of our own. Some races attain to civilization, and order, and good government sooner than others. They have all the benefit of settled institutions and enlightened opinion, of discoveries in the arts and sciences, and of the manifold comforts and blessings with which life is thus enriched, while other nations are sunk in barbarism and convulsed by disorder. But how much more prone are such nations to claim the rights of superiority than to play the part of the elder brother! We are thankful for the great good that has been done in India, and in other countries controlled by the older nations. But even in the case of India, how many have gone there not to benefit the natives, but with the hope of enriching themselves. How ready have many been to indulge their own vices at the cost of the natives, and how little has it pained them to see them becoming the slaves of new vices that have sunk them lower than before. Our Indian opium traffic, and our drink traffic generally among native races - what is their testimony to our brotherly feeling? What are we to think of the white traders among the South Sea islands, stealing and robbing and murdering their feebler fellow-creatures? What are we to think of the traffic in slaves, and the inconceivable brutalities with which it is carried on? Or what are we to think of our traders at home, sending out in almost uncountable profusion the rum, and the gin, and the other drinks by which the poor weak natives are at once enticed, enslaved, and destroyed? Is there any development in selfishness that has ever been heard of more heartless and horrible? Why can't they let them alone, if they will not try to benefit them? What can come to any man in the end but the well- merited punishment of those who out of sheer greed have made miserable savages tenfold more the children of hell than before?
We pass over the case of the early settlers in colonies, because there is hardly any obligation more generally recognised than that of such settlers to lend a helping hand to new arrivals. We go on to the case of Churches. The light of saving truth has come to some lands before others. We in this country have had our Christianity for centuries, and in these recent years have had so lively a dispensation of the gospel of Christ that many have felt more than ever His power to forgive, to comfort, to lift us up and bless us. Have we no duty to those parts of the earth which are still in the shadow of death? If we are not actually settled in the Promised Land, we are as good as settled, because we have the Divine promise, and we believe in that promise. But what of those who are yet "without Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world"? Have we no responsibility for them? Have we no interest in that Divine plan which seeks to use those who first receive the light as instruments of imparting it to the rest? Infidels object that Christianity cannot be of God, because if Christianity furnishes the only Divine remedy for sin it would have been diffused as widely as the evil for which it is the cure. Our reply is, that God's plan is to give the light first to some, and to charge them to give it freely and cordially to others. We say, moreover, that this plan is a wholesome one for those who are called to work it, because it draws out and strengthens what is best and noblest in them, and because it tends to form very loving bonds between those who give and those who get the benefit. But what if the first recipients of the light fold their hands, content to have got the blessing themselves, and decline to do their part in sending it to the rest? Surely there is here no ordinary combination of sins! Indolence and selfishness at the root, and, with these, a want of all public spirit and beneficent activity; and, moreover, not mere neglect but contempt of the Divine plan by which God has sought the universal diffusion of the blessing. Again we say, look to these men of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. They were not the elite of the race of Israel. Their fathers, at least in the case of Reuben and Dan, were not among the more honoured of the sons of Jacob. And yet they had the grace to think of their brethren, when so many among us are utterly careless of ours. And not only to think of them, but to go over the Jordan and fight for them, possibly die for them; nor would they think of returning to the comfort of their homes till they had seen their brethren in the west settled in theirs.
And this readiness of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to fulfil the engagement under which they had come to Moses, was not the only gratifying occurrence which Joshua met with on announcing the impending crossing of the Jordan. For the whole people declared very cordially their acceptance of Joshua as their leader, vowed to him the most explicit fidelity, declared their purpose to pay him the same honour as they had paid to Moses, and denounced a sentence of death against any one that would not hearken to his words in all that he commanded them.
Joshua, in fact, obtained from them a promise of loyalty beyond what they had ever given to Moses till close on his death. It was the great trial of Moses that the people so habitually complained of him and worried him, embittering his life by ascribing to him even the natural hardships of the wilderness, as well as the troubles that sprang directly from their sins. It is the unwillingness of his people to trust him, after all he has sacrificed for them, that gives such a pathetic interest to the life of Moses, and makes him, more than perhaps any other Old Testament prophet, so striking an example of unrequited affection. After crossing the Red Sea, all the marvels of that deliverance from Pharaoh of which he had been the instrument are swallowed up and forgotten by the little inconveniences of the journey. And afterwards, when they are doomed to the forty years' wandering, they are ready enough to blame him for it, forgetting how he fell down before God and pled for them when God threatened to destroy them. Moreover, his enactments against the idolatry they loved so well made him anything but popular, to say nothing of the burdensome ceremonial which he enjoined them to observe. The time of real loyalty to Moses was just the little period before his death, when he led them against Sihon and Og, and a great stretch of fertile and beautiful land fell into their hands. Moses had just gained the greatest victory of his life, he had just become master of the hearts of his people, when he was called away. For Moses at last did gain the people's hearts, and those to whom Joshua appealed could say without irony or sarcasm, ''According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee."
In point of fact a great change had been effected on the people at last. Moses had laboured, and Joshua now entered into his labours. The same thing has often occurred in history, and notably in our own. In civil life how much do we owe to the noble champions of freedom of other days, through whose patriotism, courage, and self-denial the hard fight was fought and the victory won that enables us to sit under our vine and under our fig tree. In ecclesiastical life was it not the blood of the martyrs and the struggles of those of whom the world was not worthy, who wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, that won for us the freedom and the peace in which we now rejoice? What blessings we owe to those that have gone before us! And how can we better discharge our obligations to them than by hastening to the aid of those who have but emerged from the period of struggle and suffering, like the Christians of Madagascar or of Uganda, whose fearful sufferings and awful deaths under the merciless rule of heathen kings made Christendom stand aghast, and drew a wail of anguish from her bosom?
The unanimity of the people in their loyalty to Joshua is a touching sight. So far as appears there was not one discordant note in that harmonious burst of loyalty. No Korah, Dathan, or Abiram rose up to decline his rule and embarrass him in his new position. It is a beautiful sight, the united loyalty of a great nation. Nothing more beautiful has ever been known in the long reign of Queen Victoria than the crowding of her people in hundreds of thousands to witness her procession to St. Paul's on that morning when she went to return thanks for the rescue of her eldest son from the very jaws of death. Not one discordant note was uttered, not one disloyal feeling was known; the vast multitude were animated by the spirit of sympathy and affection for one who had tried to do her duty as a queen and as a mother. It was a sight not unlike to this that was seen in the streets of New York at the centennial celebration of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States. One was thrilled by the thought that not only the multitude that thronged the streets, but the representatives of the whole nation, gathered in their churches throughout the land, were animated by a common sentiment of gratitude to the man whose wisdom and courage had laid the foundation of all the prosperity and blessing of the last hundred years. Are not such scenes the pattern of that spirit of loyalty which the entire race of man owes to Him who by His blood redeemed the world, and whose rule and influence, if the world would but accept of it, are so beneficent and so blessed? Yet how far are we from such a state! How few are the hearts that throb with true loyalty to the Saviour, and whose most fervent aspiration for the world is, that it would only throw down its weapons of rebellion, and give to him its hearty allegiance! Strange that the Old Testament Joshua should have got at once what eighteen hundred years have failed to bring to the New Testament Jesus! God hasten the day of universal light and universal love, when He shall reign from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth!
"One song employs all nations, and all cry 'Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us'! The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy, Till nation after nation taught the strain Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jos_1:11. Prepare you victuals] Herein speaks both the prophet…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Jos_1:11. Prepare you victuals] Herein speaks both the prophet and the soldier. As God’s prophet, Joshua anticipates the cessation of the manna, and prepares the people for the new phase of life on which they must soon enter (chap. Jos_5:12). As a soldier, he looks with his keen military forecast to the busy hours of the march, and to that closer massing of the people, which would be unfavourable for gathering their usual food. Within three days] Perhaps the best solution is indicated by Knobel, “The three days mentioned in chap. Jos_3:2, are identical with the three days here in Jos_1:11.” The march from Shittim to Jordan would, in this case, have been made during the absence of the spies, the events of chap. 2, on the one hand, and of chap. Jos_3:1, on the other, being concurrent. Thus taken, the spies would rejoin the host, not at Shittim, from whence they went out, but immediately before Jordan.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jos_1:10-11
THE GIFTS OF GOD
Some gifts we possess already, as the Israelites did the manna; how are they to influence us? Some gifts are as yet only promised, as the land of Canaan was to Israel; how are we to regard them? Some gifts are not promised at all, excepting by implication, as strength and help to cross the Jordan in the face of a warlike foe. How far may we go onward, depending on promises which are not written, but merely implied? In a word, what influence are the gifts of God which we do possess, the gifts which through promise we hope to possess, and the gifts which though not specified in any promise we absolutely require, to exert on us in our daily life? How far may we relax personal efforts, and rest in mercies which we have, because we have them? How far may we look on promised mercies, and go on in the strength of them, as though they were in hand already? Yet again, in what measure may we reckon that our very necessities guarantee to us the help of our heavenly Father, even where no actual promise defines some visible emergency before us? These are some aspects of a great question, about which, and through Joshua, God is here seen impressing His mind on the early and plastic life of this young nation. The principles of the teaching are deep, and important, and wide-reaching.
I. The gifts of God are to be held with a wise regard to the surroundings of our life. “Prepare you victuals.” But the manna was yet falling (chap. Jos_5:12): probably the people had gathered of it that very morning. Here they are told to prepare other food, perhaps of the corn and cattle already taken as spoil in the border-land. Would not the manna do for the next three days? No. Joshua the soldier looks on, and sees that in the marching and closer massing of the people, their enemies moreover being near at hand, there will be no opportunity and no time for this usual occupation. Joshua the prophet may know that the manna is soon to cease, and be preparing the people for their new form of life. Joshua the godly man sees that other supplies can be obtained now, and seems to be emphatically saying, “Do not depend idly on food from heaven, now that you are where your own arms can serve you in gathering the supplies of earth. In the wilderness your own toil could do nothing; here it can. ‘Prepare you victuals.’ “Prepare, for you must, on account of the marching order necessary in front of your foes; prepare, for you can, as you have spoil by you; prepare, for you ought to, God’s gifts being never bestowed to supersede your own efforts.
1. When we rest on God’s help, we should know for what times and for what places in our life that help has been promised. Even God has no manna for fat lands. Some food and some kinds of help are only for life in the desert. Christian people sometimes try their faith by praying for things and by expecting things that God will probably never give them, (a) Sometimes men stand in fertile places, and plead promises which were meant only for help in a wilderness. Think of a man free from trial pleading Isa_41:10; Isa_41:13; Isa_41:17-18, and saying, “I want to feel that, to hear God’s voice thus, and to see such wonders of His love and power.” Men pray in fruitful lands for help which is good only for the desert, and then, when prayer is unanswered, think the promises are vague. It is we who are vague. The martyrs, the reformers, the very poor, the terribly tempted, may ask and get help that would curse other Christians. Our expectation of God’s gifts should be appropriate. (b) Sometimes earnest men cry out for visible interpositions of God. They want some unmistakable manifestation, and “they seek after a sign.” So long as their outcry is after God, they think it must be scriptural. But God gives visions only in the night-time; the old prophets had them, but think of the terrible times in which they lived. The man who cries, “I only am left,” may have an angel to speak with him in his despair; probably none will ever come to us, pray earnestly and long as we may. The cessation of miracles and signs must not be taken as an arbitrary arrangement which can no longer happen because prophets are gone and apostles are no more; the visible signs are gone because of increased light, and not because of extinct apostles. What we can bear, it is best we should bear. It is to Mary Magdalene in her simple, ardent, absorbing love, and her unquestioning faith, that the Saviour says, “Touch me not.” The other women in the same hour may hold Him by the feet, and worship Him; to the timid ten Christ will say, the same evening, “Handle me and see;” to the doubter the same pitying compassion will say, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands,” etc.; to Mary, whose greater love is as greater light, Christ virtually says, “Future contact with me is to be spiritual, and you can best bear to first learn this hard lesson.” It is as our day is that we may look for our strength to be. Thus we should “Rejoice in the Lord always,” whether the signs of His presence with us are great or not. Suppose Israel had said in the days of Gideon, “God cannot be with us as He was with our fathers; manna does not fall for us as it did for them;” the answer would have been, “You are not in the wilderness.” It does not follow that God is not with us, because we cannot see so much of Him as some one else has seen, or does see. Spurgeon, and Müller, the heavily bereaved, and the very poor, need a measure of help which might hinder many.
2. True piety will consider how far God’s promises and gifts are practicable. The manna was a very elastic gift. It was always sufficient for necessity, would not bear accumulation in the week, and yet kept wholesome over the Sabbath. But even the manna was unsuitable for a march in front of an enemy. Do not Christians sometimes plead for gifts which in the very nature of things, they could not have?
3. Then the question of need comes up in this other light—How far CAN we do to-morrow without the things which we really need to-day? It will curse us to possess as a gift what we can get from our own labour. Manna in Canaan would have tended to make a fertile land not only as the wilderness, but worse. Think of decaying vegetation. In the miracles of the Saviour, Divine power never undertakes to do what human hands could accomplish. Men can fill the six waterpots with water; gather the loaves and fishes already in possession of some in the multitude; roll away the stone from the grave of Lazarus. That which men can do, Christ will not do for them. Superhuman help only begins where human power fails.
II. The gifts which God’s people have had should assure them concerning all other gifts which they really need, whether these are promised or not. “In three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.” It does not appear that at this time Joshua had received any specific promise of help for the passage. That came later; chap. Jos_3:7-8. How, then, was this mighty host to cross a deep and rapid river? They knew nothing of pontoon bridges, and had no engineers. How were they to cross if their warlike enemies should dispute the passage? Who could say that the Canaanites would not defend this watery pass? If they would fight anywhere, surely here, where “the swellings of Jordan” would help them. Spartans fight desperately at Thermopylæ; and Britons off Dover go even into the sea to get vantage blows at the bearers of Cæsar’s eagles. There seems to have been no promise yet about the passage of the Jordan. Faith reads enough of help in the very necessity, and says with unwavering words, “Ye shall pass over.”
1. All our actual need is to be referred to the heart and character of God. God’s heart and arm have each a history; the one, of gracious kindness, the other of invincible power. It is because of what God is, and because of being in the way of God’s commandments, that Joshua is able to speak so confidently of making the other shore in so short a time.
2. To the godly man, not only the letter of the law, but the letter of the promises also, is ever superseded by the spirit. There seems to be no declaration that the manna shall cease, and yet Joshua says, “Prepare ye victuals.” We read of no promise which certifies a passage within three days, nevertheless he says, “Ye shall pass over.”
3. Our sweetest readings of God’s love and of the Scriptures are often the outcome of our greatest emergencies. But for our wildernesses and rivers and enemies, our lives would have been without many a rich strain which we could have learned nowhere else. The Jews in Babylon cried, “How shall we sing the Lord’s songs in a strange land? “They might not be able to do that, but they learned many a new one there which made sweet music for them and for others after their return home. Some one has said of our poets—
“They learn in suffering what they teach in song,”
and it is much the same with the Church of God. But for the wilderness, and the Jordan, and the Canaanites, we had never had this rich reading of trust and holy fear. Here is fear thinking of hunger, and saying, “Prepare you victuals; for although the manna falls now, you must not depend on God for food when you can get it yourselves;” and here, too, is faith, which says, “Though the river be wide and deep, and the enemy may be fierce and numerous, and no actual promise bridges the difficulty, within three days ye shall pass over.” Let these God-taught men of the old world teach us. Let them cheer us with their unquestioning and yet suspicious trust.
“Mortal! they softly say,
Peace to thy heart.
We too, yes, mortal,
Have been as thou art:
Hope-lifted, doubt-depressed,
Seeing in part;
Tried, troubled, tempted,
Sustained as thou art.”
III. All our temporal gifts from God belong to us, at most, for this life only. The manna was not even for a lifetime, and the land was only given to them for as long as they could “possess it.” When death took away the power of possessing this gift of God, it could be theirs no longer. That is the tenure of all our earthly holdings. Men try to hold and control their earthly estates for generations after they are gone. The law of entail and primogeniture; curious wills; trust deeds for charitable and religious purposes. The “pious founder” of the past is perpetually hampering the action of pious men in the present. Some trust-restrictions may be and must be made; but surely it is hardly right to tie down a future generation to matters of detail suggested to us by our probably poorer light. If a Christian man is subject to the accident of wealth during his life, is he therefore at liberty to provide a detailed creed for thousands for the next ten or twenty generations? In any case, our earthly holdings must soon be laid down. They are only ours while we can possess them. Are we holding them wisely, and for God? Have we any possession in Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners? That inheritance only can we hold for ever.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The First General Order Of Joshua
The First General Order Of Joshua
v. 10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
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v. 11. Pass through the host and command the people, for as keepers of the genealogical records they were also superintendents of the mustering and were primarily concerned with any order pertaining to the mobilizing of the army, saying, Prepare you victuals, food for a journey or campaign; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, along whose eastern banks their encampment extended, to go in to possess the land which the Lord, your God, giveth you to possess it. This order went forth on the seventh of Nisan, Jos 4:19.
v. 12. And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh spake Joshua, saying,
v. 13. Remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, this being the usual manner in which he is now referred to, commanded you, saying, The Lord, your God, hath given you rest, having permitted them to settle in peace, and hath given you this land, they had their possession on the east side of Jordan.
v. 14. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, fully equipped and arrayed in battle order, all the mighty men of valor, and help them,
v. 15. until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as He hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord, your God, giveth them. Then ye shall return unto the land of your possession and enjoy it, make use of all the owners’ privileges, which Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun-rising. Cf Num 32:17-27.
v. 16. And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go, a fine expression of allegiance and loyalty, of obedience and brotherly love.
v. 17. 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. With this assurance and guarantee they were ready to follow Joshua anywhere.
v. 18. 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, a call with which the two and one half tribes intended to give Joshua the assurance which he needed at the beginning of his difficult work that he could depend upon the people whom the Lord had given into his charge. In the New Covenant it is also the will of God that His children help one another in the severe spiritual battles which they must fight, giving one another all possible encouragement at all times. They are assured, even now, of eventual entrance into their rest. "He who follows the Word of God acts wisely and happily, but he who follows his own reason acts unwisely and to no profit. " (Luther. )
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Go through the camp and command the people, 'Prepare…
Go through the camp and command the people, 'Prepare ... possess.'
Embedded quotes can be expressed as indirect quotes. AT: "Go through the camp and command the people to prepare provisions for themselves. In three days they will cross over this Jordan and go in and possess the land that Yahweh their God is giving them to possess." (See: Quotes Within Quotes)
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the people
This refers to the people of Israel. AT: "the people of Israel" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
In three days
Here Joshua was counting his present day as day one. AT: "Two days from now" or "On the day after tomorrow"
cross over this Jordan
"cross over" refers to going to the opposite side of the river. AT: "travel to the other side of the Jordan River" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
command
Jordan River
possess
Yahweh
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:10 commanded: Joshua now began leading God’s people.
1:10 commanded: Joshua now began leading God’s people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.