The Last Days Succeeding The Death Of Joshua, And The Elders

by JAS. HURST | Category: Lessons From The Last Days | Apr 1962

"And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old" (Joshua 24.99).

This brief obituary marks the passing of one of Israel's warriors, one to be counted great in every age. If Joshua's name does not shine in the galaxy of patriarchs and ancient worthies of Hebrews chapter 11, it is perhaps because the man himself is eclipsed by the brilliance of his deeds. Here a glorious orb set behind the hills of Ephraim in Israel's historic sky, in which clouds of unbelief and apostasy were soon to gather. We know that the fragrance of his good words and deeds survived his death, and the writer who records his departure and burial adds the best testimony that could be set over his grave

"And Israel served the LORD alt the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that He had wrought for Israel" (Joshua 24.81).

Joshua was a great man and his influence was therefore correspondingly great and so was that of those elders. They could say, as One far greater said in His day, "We speak that we do know, and bear witness of that we have seen" (see John 3.11). What wonderful examples had Israel in these godly, faithful men! Let us also look to those of our own day who have been our spiritual fathers and teachers.

Remember them that had the rule over you, which spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issues of their life, imitate their faith"

(Hebrews 13.7).

We leave the book of Joshua and its records of Israel's trials and triumphs, conflicts and conquests. It was a strong and sturdy race of fighting men who had passed over Jordan to do battle with the enemy, and take possession of the land. It was then that Israel was truly "Holiness unto the LORD," a time, similar to that when God said at a later date,

"I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown" (Jeremiah 2.2). But as the elders, one after another passed away, not having any longer the inspiring influence of these stalwarts, Israel fell into a state of apathy. They had forgotten Him who was the source of their strength, and entered a period of gloom and failure which prevailed throughout the times of the Judges. They were no longer a power in the earth, the dread of the nations. We may ask, Why should it be so? What was the cause of this great change, from being a nation of soldiers to such an abject state, that the question is asked : " Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" (Judges 5.8).In attempting to find the cause, we go back to one of Joshua's last utterances when he sought to warn them of the rock on which many thousands are today making shipwreck of their lives, a sinful and unwarrantable ignoring of God and His word. "If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you evil, and consume you" (Joshua 24.20). Their falling-away began in a small way; they failed utterly to drive out the inhabitants of the land, and the LORD'S condemnation followed

"Ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars: but ye have not hearkened unto My voice" (Judges 2.2).

Let us take heed to that which happened unto them by way of example and for our admonition!

The religious world today is seeking a compromise; but the people of God must not surrender one tenet of the truth of God.

"What agreement hath a temple of God with idols? ... Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord" (2 Corinthians 6.14-18).

Before very long we see a growing darkness and rapid apostasy, which began in that they hearkened not to the voice of the LORD (Judges 2.2). Then

"they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them" (Judges 2.12).

How much we need the exhortation of Hebrews 3.12!

"Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God" (Hebrews 3.12).

The darkness deepened in Israel until their decline seemed complete when it was written of them,

"There was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21.25).

Who was to stem this lawlessness ? What of the priests ? but alas! it was as in a later day, "Like people, like priest" (Hosea 4.9). Those who should have been guiding the people forsook their responsibility. "The rulers ceased in Israel" (Judges 5.7). Apathy had taken hold of them. Early leaders of God's people in this dispensation were warned by Paul, "Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20.28). Yet Israel's sky was not all darkness in those far off days. There were men and women whose faith and courage made them shine as the stars of the firmament. Judges were raised up by God, "which saved them out of the hand of those that spoiled them" (Judges 2.16): men and women whose work shall have its reward.

They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever"

(Daniel 12.8). Among these was a woman whose faith shone out clearly amidst the darkness of the nation's apostasy, whilst men failed to fill their place at the head of the nation, and whilst fear gripped the hearts of the people because of Sisera's hosts. (Sisera was captain of the hosts of Jabin King of Canaan into whose hand God had sold Israel because of their sin.) God raised up Deborah as prophetess and judge. To her God revealed His mind to deliver Israel, and she told forth far and wide the purposes of Jehovah, rallying all to Barak the son of Abinoam. Barak's heart quailed as he thought of the tremendous task, but what a change was wrought in him by the words of this great woman! "Up ... is not the LORD gone out before thee?" Her presence with him strengthened his hand. Then the leaders took the lead, and the people offered themselves willingly. Jehovah came down on the side of Israel; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, arrows from the Almighty's quiver were driving into the faces of the broken chariots of Canaan, the elements of nature became confederate with Barak, and a great victory was gained. Sisera, the man whom they had feared, died, not on the field of battle, but at the hand of a woman, whose opportunity to serve God and His people came to her in her tent, for there she slew Sisera with a tentpin and a hammer. Her name is engraved in divine records.

Blessed above women shall Jael be...

Blessed shall she be above women in the tent"

(Judges 5.24).

How many more women will have their names in the records of heaven, who have served the LORD in their own sphere in their own day? Let sisters take courage from these mothers in Israel whose children would rise up and call them blessed.

Hebrews 11 tells the secret of Barak's success as he is named among God's mighty men:

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms ... from weakness were made strong, wared mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens."

Forty years of rest, and Israel did again "that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years" (Judges 6.1).

The LORD had His eye upon Gideon, a young man who had to fight against fearful odds, not only the enemy without, but also the evil within. We might do well to imitate this young man. He had no great estimation of himself. He said, " I am least in my father's house" and "my family is the poorest in Manasseh." Here was a man God could use, a man of a humble and contrite heart. "For I say," wrote Paul, "through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" (Romans 12.3). God's estimation of Gideon is seen in how the angel of the LORD addresses him:

Thou mighty man of valour" (Judges 6.12).

"The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD is riches, and honour, and life" (Proverbs 22.4).

In a day of faintheartedness Gideon dared to defend the honour of the God of his fathers when he threw down the altar of Baal, even against the opposition of his own people, and by him God did save Israel.

"Time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah," men who because of the darkness of the day shone the brighter in their exploits as God used them for the deliverance of His people (Hebrew 11. 82). Israel waxed worse and worse until the gross wickedness of the days of Eli. We should ponder the sad story of that day and, if we are wise, learn from the mistakes of Israel and of Eli. The Philistines had come against Israel at Ebenezer (which means 'Hitherto hath the LORD helped us'), but there was no help for Israel that day. The fearful judgement of God resulted in about four thousand Hebrew sons being left dead on the blood-sodden plains by the retreating hosts. "Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us today before the Philistines ?" the elders asked (1 Samuel 4.8).

Then they remembered the ark of God, the pledge and symbol of victories in times past, both at Jericho and at Jordan. But the God of the ark was no longer in their midst, when Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, brought the sacred chest into the camp. Perhaps the old priest and judge, the guardian of the temple and the ark, because of his years, his sightless eyes, and his shattered frame, could only follow to the gate, where he seated himself, uttering perhaps with trembling lips a benediction. There would be mingled thoughts in the old man's breast, as his dull ears caught the last sound of retreating steps. " For his heart trembled for the ark of God (1 Samuel 4.18). Could he ever forget the solemn night when Samuel, then a little child, uttered in the name of God a message of doom against his house, which when carried out would make the ears of everyone that heard it tingle? For the LORD had said, "I will judge his (Eli's) house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not" (1 Samuel 3.18). Eli was the cause of divine judgement. But for his parental neglect he might have transmitted an unsullied name from generation to generation, his children rising up and calling him blessed. The failure in Eli's whole character was carelessness in matters pertaining to the holiness demanded of those who serve the LORD (Psalm 93.5).

Sad it is to see the life of a great and good man terminate in trouble and sorrow, to see the sun go down mantled in lowering clouds of gloom and darkness! Such was the closing scene in the life of Eli. A haggard messenger, a fugitive from the battle, with sad news, told of thirty thousand of the beauty of Israel slain in the field of carnage and blood, to leave the thousand Rachaels weeping and refusing to be comforted; the two sons of Eli slain; and the ark of the LORD taken. Each item is sadder than the one before, the tidings rising to a terrible climax

"And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years" ((Samuel 4.18).

The Glory had departed from Israel, for the Ark of God was taken.

JAS. HURST | Apr 1962
Lessons From The Last Days