A. Because ministering in holy things,

was their inheritance.'

"the Lord

Q. To what particular purpose were six of the cities of the Levites devoted?

A. They were made cities of refuge or sanctuaries, for the safety of individuals by whom murder was undesignedly committed.†

Q. Of what are the cities of refuge typical?

A. Of Christ, the refuge of perishing sinners.‡
Q. What became of the tabernacle ?

A. By Divine appointment it was set up in Shiloh, ¶ in the tribe of Ephraim.

Q. Did all Israel dwell on the west of Jordan?

A. No the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, dwelt on the east side of that river, whither their troops returned with great spoil after the conclusion of the Canaanitish war. On passing the Jordan, they set up a large altar of witness.

Q. What was the consequence?

A. The other tribes deeming this an open avowal of idolatry, assembled an army in Shiloh against them; but first sent Phinehas and ten of the princes to remonstrate with them. The Gileadites, however, solemnly declaring that the altar was designed to be merely a memorial to posterity of their right to participate in the religious privileges of Israel, the congregation was fully satisfied, and disbanded the troops.

• Numb. xviii. 20.-24. Josh. xiii. 33.

Q. How did Joshua show his concern for the welfare of Israel?

A. Having assembled the people together, he reminded them of all that the Lord had done for them; warned them of the sad consequences of apostacy; and urged them to keep the commands of the Lord.

Q. What appeal did he make to them concerning the faithfulness of God?

A. He said, "Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."

Q. What proposition did he make to the people?

A. He said, "If it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood,* or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.""The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey."†

Q. How was this determination commemorated?

A. Joshua set up a large stone under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD, as a witness unto the people.

*The Euphrates.

Josh. xxiv. 15, 16, 24.

Q. At what age did Joshua* die ?

A. At the age of one hundred and ten years: he was buried in Mount Ephraim.

Q. Where did the Israelites bury the bones of Joseph ?† A. In a parcel of ground which Jacob had purchased in Shechem.

Q. How long did the Israelites keep the commandments of God?

A. During the days of Caleb, and of the elders that survived Joshua.

Q. Did the Israelites prosecute their conquests in Palestine?

A. Yes they captured many places, but did not succeed in expelling all the Canaanites.

Q. By whom was Jerusalem taken ?

A. By the children of Judah. Adonibezek, the king, who had cut off the thumbs and great toest of seventy princes, was himself requited in like manner, and died soon after.

Q. By whom was Kirjath-sephir captured?

A. By Othniel, whose valour Caleb rewarded by giving him his daughter to wife.

* Joshua is usually considered as the author of the book which bears his name, although some passages in it may have been added by Samuel, Ezra, or some other authorized scribe.

+ From Acts vii. 15, 16. it has been inferred that the bones of the other patriarchs also were carried to Canaan.

This mutilation totally incapacitated them for running swiftly, a desirable accomplishment in an ancient warrior. 2 Sam. ii. 18. 1 Chron. xii. 8.

Q. Which tribe appears to have first apostatized ? A. The tribe of Dan,* who set up a graven image, which continued in the city of Dan until the captivity of the land.†

Q. What flagrant wickedness was committed, about the same time, in Gibeah of Benjamin ?

A. The concubine of a Levite was treated with such brutal cruelty by some Benjamites, that she died.

Q. How did the Levite seek redress?

A. He divided the dead body into twelve parts, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, with an account of the circumstance. In consequence of this, the whole nation, from Dan to Beersheba, with one consent,

* The setting up of Micah's image in Dan, Judges xviii. 30. and the maltreatment of the Levite's concubine, happened in the days of the elders that overlived Joshua: for in those days "there was no king in Israel,” xvii. 6. xviii. 1. xix. 1. the Danites had not yet obtained all their inheritance, xviii. 1. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, who had been cotemporary with Moses, ministered before the ark of God, xx. 28. and by the elders the contumacious Benjamites were adjudged to punishment, xx. 2. xxi. 16.

+ By the captivity of the land some understand the captivity under Tiglath-pileser, 2 Kings xv. 29. others, that under Shalmaneser, 2 Kings xvii. 6. or that under the Philistines, 1 Sam. iv. 10, 11. The last conjecture is probably correct, for some commentators, instead of ha-aretz, the land, read ha-aron, the ark, xviii. 30, which is agreeable to v. 31, where the continuation of Micah's image in the city of Dan, is limited to the time the ark remained in Shiloh, to which place it did not return after its capture by the Philistines.

Dan and Beersheba were the oppsite extremities of the land.

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assembled at Mizpeh, and having heard the story from the mouth of the Levite, they resolved not to separate until they had avenged the deed.

Q. What measures were adopted against the Benjamites?

A. As they refused to give up the delinquents, the Israelites summoned every man of their tribes, on pain of death, to join their camp; and took an oath not to give their daughters in marriage to the children of Benjamin, against whom they declared war. "'

Q. What was the amount of their respective armies? A. The Israelites had four hundred thousand men, and the Benjamites only twenty-six thousand seven hundred; but of these seven hundred were left handed, and could sling stones at a hair's breadth, and not miss.

Q. What was the issue of the war?

A. In the first and second battles the Israelites were defeated with the loss of forty thousand men but in the third conflict, the Lord gave the Benjamites into the hands of Israel, who slew of them twenty-five thousand one hundred men and then, passing through their territory, they smote man and beast, and all that came to hand, and set their cities on fire. Six hundred Benjamites however escaped, and fled to the rock Rimmon in the wilderness, where they remained four months.

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2. Was this victory a cause of triumph to the tribes ? A. No it was contrarywise a source of much lamentation; for they regretted the oath they had taken, fearing the extinction of the tribe. They therefore began to devise means to supply with wives the remnant that had escaped.

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