A. They mourned humbly before God, they sought out the person who had stolen this accursed thing, and stoned him and his family to death, Josh. vii. 6. 13, 14. 24.

16 Q. How did they take the city of Ai at last?

A. By counterfeiting a flight, as on the former day; and when the men of Ai were drawn out of the city, the Israelites who lay in ambush entered and burnt it, Josh. viii. 13-29.

17 Q. How did the Gibeonites deceive the people of Israel, and save themselves from death?

A. They sent ambassadors, with old sacks upon their asses, and old garments and mouldy bread, to prove that they came from a far country; and the men of Israel rashly made peace with them, and swore to it, Josh. ix. 4—15.

18 Q. What did Joshua do when he found that they dwelt in the midst of Canaan ?

A. He let them live, because the elders had sworn to them but he made them hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the Altar of the Lord, ver. 27.

19 Q. How did Israel conquer the king of Jerusalem with his four allies?

A. God helped Israel, by casting great hailstones from Heaven upon their enemies. Josh. x. 10, 11. 20 Q. What remarkable thing did Joshua do that day?

A. He bid the Sun and Moon stand still to lengthen out the day for his victory, and they obeyed him, Josh. x. 12—24.

21 Q. What did Joshua do with the five kings when he took them?

A. He called the captains of Israel to set their feet on their necks, and then he slew them, and hanged them upon five trees before the Lord, Josh. x. 24. 26.

22 Q. Did Joshua proceed to conquer the whole country?

A. The Israelites under the conduct of Joshua,

on till they had slain one and thirty kings, and then the people rested from war for a season, Josh. xi. 23, and xii. 24.

23 Q. Where was the tabernacle first set up after they came to Canaan ?

A. In Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim, at some distance from Jerusalem, and there it tarried above three hundred years, even to the days of Samuel, Josh. xviii. 1. 1 Sam. i. 13.

24 Q. How came it to be set up there?

A. By the appointment of God; for it is said, He set his name first in Shiloh, Jer. vii. 12. See Deut. xii. 5-16.

25 Q. How was the land of Canaan divided among the people?

A. Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, had their inheritance given them by Moses on the other side Jordan, and Joshua cast lots for the rest of the tribes before the Lord in Shiloh, Numb. xxxii. Josh. xiii. 7, 8. and xviii. 10.

26 Q. Did not the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half Manasseh, go to help their brethren in destroying the Canaanites?

A. Yes; by the appointment of Moses, they went over Jordan to assist their brethren, till they were settled in the land, Numb. xxxii. 16–33. and Josh. i. 12-18.

27 Q. What memorial did these two tribes and an half leave in the land of Canaan, that they belonged to the nation of Israel ?

A. They built a great altar upon the borders of Jordan, not for a Sacrifice, but merely as a memorial of their interest in the God of Israel, in the Tabernacle, and in the worship thereof, Josh. xxii.

28 Q. Where was the tribe of Levi disposed of? A. Being devoted to the service of the Tabernacle and religion, they were not fixed in one spot of ground, but had a share in the inheritance of every

tribe, that they might teach every city the laws of God and their duty, Josh. xxi. 3.

29 Q. What did Joshua do just before his death? A. He summoned the people together, and made a most solemn covenant with them, that they should serve the Lord, Josh. xxiii. and xxiv. 1-28.

30 Q. Did the Israelites go on to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan after the death of Joshua? A. Yes, by the appointment of God, the tribe of Judah went up against Bezek, Judg. i. 1-4.

31 Q. What did the Israelites do to Adonibezeck, (or the king of Bezek) when they took him?

A. They cut off his thumbs and great toes, Judg.

i. 6.

32 Q. What remark did he make upon it?

A. He confessed the justice of God in his punishment, for he had cut off the thumbs and great toes of threescore and ten kings, and made them gather meat under his table, ver. 7.

33 Q. Did the Israelites drive all the Canaanites out of the land?

A. No, for there were some left for several hundred years after Joshua's death: the Jebusites and the Philistines continued till the days of David, 2 Sam. v. 6. 17.

34 Q. Why did not God assist Israel to drive them all out?

A. Because Israel did not obey the commands of God, and some of the Canaanites were left to prove Israel, whether they would obey the Lord, and to be as thorns in their sides, to punish them for their sins, Josh. xxiii. 12, 13. Judg. ii. 3. 21. and iii. 1-4.

35 Q. What were the most common sins that Is rael was guilty of after their settlement in Canaan?

A. They fell to idolatry, or worshipping the gods of the nations round about them, after Joshua was dead, and the elders of the people of that age that outlived Joshua, Judg. ii. 6, 7. 10—15.

SECTION II.

Of the Government of Israel by Judges.

36 Q. WHO governed the people of Israel after Joshua's death?

A. God was always the king and ruler of Israel, and under him the several tribes probably chose their own magistrates and officers, according to the appointment of Moses, Exod. xviii. Deut. i. 13. Josh. xxiv. 1.

Note, These officers, or judges, which were set over the people by Moses at the advice of Jethro, were at first chosen by the people in their several tribes, just after they came out of Egypt. Exod. xviii. Moses says to the people, take ye wise men, &c. Deut. i. 13. The seventy or seventy-two elders, were the gravest and most venerable of these officers, six out of every tribe; for God says to Moses, gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be officers over them, Numb. xi. 16. These were to meet together, and consult upon extraordinary occasions, as when a sort of sedition was raised by the murmurings of the people, Numb. xi. or in such like cases of danger.

The high-priest was the chief counsellor, and sometimes a judge: for the oracle of God was with him, and he was supposed to be chiefly skilled in the law, especially if he were an elderly man.

The common priests and Levites were also assistants to the judges, by way of council, and in deciding controversies in every tribe, Deut. xvii. 9-12. But still the executive power was vested in the judge of each tribe, and God himself was their king, and the centre of union and government.

But when, through their idolatry and wickedness, God forsook the people, and the officers and judges neglected their duty, the people sustained the miseries and confusions of an anarchy, as it is several times

expressed in the book of Judges; there was no king in Israel, and every one did what was right in his own eyes.

And by their disunion, and want of government they were weakened, and became an easy prey to their enemies round about them; but at particular seasons God raised them up extraordinary judges, to recover them from slavery, and to restore government among them. And these had a dominion over many, or all the tribes, being raised up eminently by God himself.

That this was the original and appoiuted method of the government of Israel, as I have described it, we may learn partly from Deut. i. 13. where the officers are chosen, and Deut. xvii. 8—12. and xix. 16–18. where Moses appoints the business of the priests and the judges; and partly from 2 Chron. xvii. 7-9. and xix. 5-11. where Hezekiah makes a reformation throughout the land and appoints the judges to be executors of justice, the priests and Levites to be the teachers of the people, and counsellors to the judges, and the high-priest to be the chief counsellor ; and sometimes he was a judge also, as was before intimated.

37 Q. Was not the high-priest the ruler under God?

A. The high priest seems to be appointed by God and Moses, to be the chief counsellor in declaring the laws and statutes of God, as the other priests were also counsellors; but the executive power of government was rather vested in those who were called Judges whether they were ordinary or extraordinary, Deut. xvii. 9—12.

38 Q. Did these ordinary officers do justice, and maintain good order in the land after the days of Joshua?

A. We have very little account of them; but it is certain they did not fulfil their duty, because there was sometimes great wickedness among the people, without restraint; much idolatry and mischief, both public and private, and that for want of government, Judg. xvii. 6. and xxi. 25.