33. Adoni-bezek Slain. Disobedience of the Israelites.

Joshua xv. 14-19; Judges i.-iii. 6.

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel 'asked the Lord, saying, "Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?" And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hand." And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot." So Simeon went up with Judah; and 'the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they slew at "Bezek ten-thousand men. They found Adoni-bezek, in Bezek, and they 'cut off his thumbs and great toes. And Adoni-bezek said, "Three-score-and-ten kings,-having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table; as I have done, so 'God hath requited me." And they brought him to Jerusalem,32 which was at this time retaken from the Jebusites, and there he died. The 'Anakims were subdued, and ** Hebron and several other cities of the Canaanites were afterwards taken. Caleb 'promised to give his daughter, Achsah, to the man who should take the strong city, "Debir. Othniel, the nephew of Caleb, went up against the city, and took it. Achsah asked Caleb to give her the water-springs, after he had given her a south land; so Caleb gave her the upper and the nether springs. The tribes of Israel did not drive out all the Canaanites from the cities they took, but they dwelt among them, and in some of the cities they made the Canaanites tributaries. An angel of the Lord came from Gilgal30 to Bochim and reproved them; saying, "I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant21 with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars; but ye have not obeyed my voice; why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as 'thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." When the angel spake these words the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

About fourteen years after the death of Joshua, the Israelites began to worship the idols of the Canaanites. They forsook God, and served 'Baal and Ashtaroth, and God delivered them into the hands of spoilers and they were oppressed. They also intermarried with the Canaanites, which God had forbidden. (See Deut. vii. 3,4.)

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Bezek-a city of the Canaanites, of which Adoni-bezek was a king; it came into the possession of the tribe of Judah. Hebron-anciently called Kirjath-arba, or "the city of Arba," who was the father of Anak. This city had been taken by Joshua, (Les. 31) but it seems the Anakims afterwards possessed themselves of it. Caleb took the city and drove thence the three sons of Anak, who probably retired among the Philistines. Debir-'oracle'; is supposed to have been a seat of learning among the Canaanites;

it was anciently called Kirjath-sepher, which means city of books.' Bochim-'weepers'; a place supposed to be the same as Shiloh, or near to it; it is only mentioned as the place of weeping at which the Israelites were reproved.

PRECEPTIVE

It appears from this lesson that doubtful questions are to be submitted to God in prayer; "in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God"; and although answers so direct as those which Israel received are not to be expected, yet in answer to prayer we shall get the strength and consolation we need. The powerful tribe of Judah did not despise the services of the weaker tribe of Simeon, we thus learn not to undervalue the help of our poorer or less gifted brethren; "the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee." We see in the condition and confession of Adoni-bezek how a wicked nation is weakened by civil wars, and how injustice and cruelty will eventually be requited. Even this cruel man acknowledged the equity of God in the punishment of his own offences. We may also learn a lesson from the slothfulness or cowardice of Israel in suffering the Canaanites to dwell among them-hence idolatry crept in and ruin followed.

34. Micah's Idolatry. The Idolatry of the Danites, &c.

66

Judges xvii.-xxi.

There was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah; he 'stole from his mother 'eleven-hundred shekels of silver which she had 'saved. She cursed the robber of her treasures in her son's hearing. After a time, Micah, stung by conscience, restored the money to his mother; whereupon she said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. . . . .I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD... to make a 'graven image and a molten image." So she took 'two-hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah. And Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and 'teraphim, and consecrated 'one of his sons, who became his priest. Micah afterwards obtained 'a Levite of **Bethlehem-judah to be his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The tribe of Dan sent out five men to seek an inheritance; they came to the house of Micah, and asked the Levite, whom they knew, whether their way should be prosperous. The Levite 'told them to 'go in peace; so they proceeded to "Laish. At Laish the people lived 'carelessly, and without feeling 'shame for their 'misdeeds. The Danites returned to their tribe, and told their brethren that at Laish there was no want of anything that was in the earth. Six-hundred men were then sent to Laish; on their way they went into Micah's house,and took away his idols and his priest. They smote the inhabitants of Laish, with the edge of the sword. Having changed the name of the city to Dan; they brought in Micah's graven image, and set it up, and appointed Jonathan, the Levite, to be their priest. A Levite of Ephraim was returning home with his 'concubine. He entered into the city of Gibeah, in Benjamin. The inhabitants abused her, and she died. The Levite sent to all the tribes; and they assembled at Mizpeh. The Benjamites would not give up their wicked brethren. War was declared against the tribe of Benjamin by the other tribes, and it was defeated with the loss of 25,100 valiant men. Only 600 men of Benjamin, who had fled to the rock **Rimmon, were left. The other Israelites had sworn not to give their daughters in marriage to the men of Benjamin. The city of Jabesh-gilead was taken, because its inhabitants had not gone against the Benjamites ;-all the people were put to the sword, except the young women who were taken as wives by the Benjamites.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Mount Ephraim-the hilly part of the territory allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.
Bethlehem-judah-the same place as Bethlehem, it was also called "Bethlehem
Ephratah": it was always a small but celebrated town. (Les. 36.)
Laish or Dan-was a city and small territory in the northern extremity of Canaan;
it was near the foot of Lebanon, and near the springs of the River Jordan.
Gibeah-'a hill'; a city of Benjamin, it was sometimes called "Gibeah of Ben-

jamin," it was the birth-place of Saul, hence it was called "Gibeah of Saul." Mizpeh-high place'; a city of Benjamin, near Jerusalem, at which the Israelites

often held their national assemblies. At this place Saul was anointed king. Rimmon-the rock Rimmon is the most elevated summit of the ridge called the mountains of Ephraim which are situated in the centre of Canaan. Jabesh-gilead-a city in eastern Manasseh, at the foot of one of the mountains of Gilead, Les, 13.

PRECEPTIVE LESSONS.

Many people like Micah's mother, make silver their god; such treasures are "riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt." The religion of the Israelites in those days seems to have been image worship mixed with the recognition of the True God; their morals were as corrupt as their religion. The mother of Micah hoarded silverit was stolen-she cursed the robber-her own son, who had stolen it, stung by conscience restored it-she rejoiced-but she did not rebuke him;-they made an image, an ephod, teraphim-and finally, Micah consecrated one of his sons to be the priest;a Levite afterwards became the priest of their idolatry;-the Danites, on an invading expedition, robbed them of the idols, and engaged the Levite-thus provided they set up a corrupt religion in the north of the land, at a place which afterwards became a permanent seat of idolatry. Every step they took was wrong, and we thus see the danger of commencing a course of sin, not knowing whither it may lead us, or what it may lead to.

35. Servitudes and Deliverances of Israel.

Jndges iii. 7.-v. 31.

The children of Israel did evil 'in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baal. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he 'caused them to be oppressed for eight years by Chushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamial0; but when they repented and cried unto God, he raised up Othniel to deliver them. Othniel was the first judge of Israel.

For forty years the Israelites served God, but for twenty-two years after, they again did evil, and sixty-two years after their former deliverance, God allowed Eglon, the king of Moab,28 to oppress them for eighteen years; after that he raised up Ehud to deliver them. Ehud slew Eglon, at Gilgal,30 and the Israelites slew 10,000 Moabites at the Fords of Jordan,30 near Moab. The Philistines afterwards were permitted to oppress Israel; but God raised up Shamgar, who 'slew six-hundred Philistines with an ox-goad, and thus delivered them.

God then permitted Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in "Hazor, to oppress the Israelites twenty years. They cried unto the Lord, and he 'raised up Deborah, a prophetess, and Barak, a valiant man of **Naphtali, to deliver them. Barak pursued the host of Sisera, Jabin's captain, and destroyed them. Sisera fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the 'Kenite. Jael 'gave him milk to drink, and he lay down to sleep in her tent. While he slept she took a nail of the tent, and a hammer, and 'smote the nail into his temples, and he died. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. Thus the children of Israel were delivered from their fourth servitude; and Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise to God for the deliverance of Israel. In this song, they rehearsed the deeds of those who had helped valiantly, spake of the special blessing of Jael, saying, "Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent"; they also recited the manner of Sisera's death, and the supposed impatience of the mother of Sisera for her son's return loaded with spoil. They concluded their song thus, "So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD; but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." And the land had rest forty years.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Fords of Jordan-shallow passages across the river, which could be waded through at certain seasons, both by men and cattle. The Jordan, between Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, is sixty miles in length; but the level of the Dead Sea is nearly 1,000 feet lower than that of Lake Tiberias. The general course of the river is consequently very rapid. See 'Jordan,' Les. 30. Hazor-a city in the north of Canaan, near the waters of Merom, of which Jabin, the powerful king, had been conquered by Joshua. In the time of Deborah and Barak another king, Jabin, of Hazor, oppressed the Israelites. (Les. 32.) Naphtali-one of the most fertile and beautiful provinces of Canaan, it abounded in timber and fruits. It was bounded on the north by Lebanon, west by Asher, and east by the Jordan and the sea of Chinnereth.