title: A guide to Bible study ...
text: feapffciasiwii J\ 0«id«te B«fc<w i ' r ltte0«^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Chap. Copyright No. Shelf.ZBS-.t05' -H3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Che Bethany e. £. Ijand-ftooR Series : (J. Z. TYLER, General Editor.) CONSISTING OF A SERIES OF SMALL BOOKS ALONG THE LINES OF BIBLE STUDY, THE STUDY OF MISSIONS, AND THE STUDY OF THE HISTORY AND PURPOSES OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST; DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETIES, AND PREPARED UNDER THE APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY CONVENTION. .'. .'. .*. .'. .\ .*. FIRST SERIES : i. Rand-book for Bible Study BY J. W. McGARVEY, President of the College of the Bible in Kentucky University. ii. Rand-book Concerning the Disciples BY B. B. TYLER. Author of the History of the Disciples of Christ in the American Church History Series. in. Rand-book of missions BY A. McLEAN, Corresponding Secretary of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society. / , IjanMooR Series for the / Bethany €. €. Reading Courses 8B H Guide to Bible Study BY J. W. McGARVEY, President College of the Bible in Kentucky University. EDITED BY HERBERT L. WILLETT LEADER OF BIBLE STUDY IN THE BETHANY C. E. READING COURSES. /v as Published by tbe Reading Course Committee m Republic Street Cleveland, Obio 3Sfcor Copyright, 1897, By J. Z. TYLER, Chairman. Printed by the Julia A. Andrews Fund. The National Convention of the Disciples of Christ, held in Springfield, Illinois, October 16-23, 1896, adopted the following recommendations : " 1. That this convention approve the idea of adding, within certain limits, the educational feature to the Christian Endeavor Societies among us. This added educational feature shall include helps for the systematic reading of the Bible, a selected course of reading concerning missions in general, and our own missions in particular, and thorough instruction as to the origin, the prin- ciples, and the history of our own movement for the restoration of New Testament Christianity. 2. That this convention approve of the pur- pose to provide a series of hand-books for our young people covering the field not already satis- factorily covered." INTRODUCTION. The indications of a revival of interest in the study of the Bible are numerous and encouraging. They are to be found in the increase of private and devotional reading of the Scriptures, the improve- ment of lesson helps for the Sunday School, the more conscientious preparation of the lesson among teach- ers in such schools, the increase of exegetical preach- ing, the organization of courses of Bible study in young people's societies in nearly all religious bodies, the increase of correspondence Bible work, the crea- tion of Biblical departments in colleges and univer- sities, the establishment of Biblical instruction in connection with state universities, and the organiza- tion of clubs and circles for the study of Biblical liter- ature as possessing equal attractiveness with English and other literatures. The study of the Bible is absolutely necessary to the development of the Christian life. The facts 8 INTRODUCTION. which the Scriptures present are basis of faith in the Christ and in the whole series of providential events which prepared the way for his final disclosure of the life and purposes of God. Only by acquaintance with these facts and the prophetic, devotional and horta- tory discourses and meditations to which they gave occasion is one able to understand the Old and New Testaments as the records of our holy faith. The necessity of a daily return to the Scriptures as a means of spiritual nourishment and culture is the more ap- parent when one notes the fact that a great part of our religious life is made up of activities. This is true of the young people, whose organizations with their various committees and departments lay empha- sis on service; it is true of the maturer members of the church, before whom is constantly placed the re- sponsibility for the active ministries to which the gospel calls; and particularly is this true of mission- ary workers, pastors, teachers and others whose lives are consecrated to Christian service. Where the vis- ible ministries of the church are so largely devoted to the expenditure of spiritual vitality there must be some means of nourishment and recuperation. This is provided in the reading and study of the Word of God, and the atmosphere of prayer in which these privileges should be enjoyed. The nourishment of the Scriptures is as necessary to the spiritual life as that of food to the body. INTRODUCTION. ;. 9 This hand-book is designed to afford suggestion and assistance to those who desire a fuller and more accurate knowledge of the Bible. It gives a brief summary of facts regarding the making and the pur- pose of the Bible; its chief divisions; short sketches of the various books, serving as introductions to their study; and various other material of an interesting and helpful sort to the reader and student of the Bible. The book has its purposes and its limitations. The former have been noted. The latter were set by the desire to put all the material into such a brief and convenient form that the little volume could be in reality what its name implies, a hand-book, con- stantly kept at hand for reference and suggestion. A few suggestions as to a method of Bible read- ing and study may be found profitable. i . Use the Revised Version of the Bible if pos- sible. It is much superior to the Authorized or King James Version, not only because of its better inter- pretation of particular words and passages, but be- cause the translators of 1881-1884 availed themselves of many principles of interpretation unknown to those of 161 1. The Revised Version is not perfect, but it is a long advance over its predecessor and is gradually coming to take its place with those who desire to possess the best version of the Scriptures. There may be a feeling of reluctance on the part of those who have long used the older translation at 10 INTRODUCTION. the thought of giving up its familiar phrases, but one who has before him the most of his career as a Bible student cannot afford to deprive himself of the advantages resulting from the use of the Revised Version. 2. The Bible should be studied with a good map at hand for constant reference showing the localities, which were the scenes of the events recorded. If possible some good work on Biblical Geography should be at hand. One is never able so thoroughly to realize any event of which the Bible speaks, i. e. to make it real to himself, as when he visits the spot in person, or by the assistance of a good description of the place, or possesses even a map to show its loca- tion and relation to other localities. Almost any good edition of the Bible, either of the Authorized or the Revised Version, contains a set of maps. They should be constantly used till the student is thor- oughly acquainted with Biblical localities. 3. Some general plan of Biblical chronology should be used for frequent reference. No system thus far devised is altogether satisfactory, because the writers of the Bible were not particularly concerned about dates and give them usually in relation to other events, so that one is often able only to approximate the real time of an event. The chronology employed in the margin of the Authorized Version was that of Archbishop Ussher, and has been found quite unsatis- INTRODUCTION. 11 factory in many particulars as judged by light thrown, especially on Old Testament events, by recent re- searches among the records of nations with which Israel came into contact. An outline chronology of the leading periods and events in the Biblical history is given in the appendix to this handbook. Exact- ness of date is neither possible nor necessary in many cases, but a plan of dates relatively correct should be mastered by every student. 4. The gradual character of the Biblical revela- tion should be firmly impressed in the beginning of any study of the Scriptures. The divine purposes were disclosed only as they could be understood. A nation was chosen to be the channel of that revela- tion, and its education was to that end; not for its own sake, but for the world. The Old Testament is the record of that national discipline. Not every- thing could be taught at once, but only step by step could advance be made. Progress is seen through the whole of the Old Testament dispensation in the dis- closure of truth and its embodiment in character, in preparation for the appearance of the Christ. The New Testament is the record of his manifestation to the world; of the gradual spread of the Gospel, and of the helps to the progressive realization of the Christian life. 5. The student should seek such familiarity with the books of the Bible that their names, groupings 12 INTRODUCTION. and contents can be instantly recalled. These items are all important. The knowledge of the names of the books of the Bible in their order is indispensable and easily acquired. To assist in the possession of this knowledge, and to render it still more accurate and detailed, it should be remembered that the Old Testament books fall into three groups, which, speak- ing in general terms, may be called (I) historical, 17; (II) poetical, 5 ; (III) prophetic, 17 ; 39 in all. In the New Testament there are also three groups; (I) his- torical, the Gospels and Acts, 5 ; (II) didactic, the Epistles, 21 ; (III) apocalyptic, Revelation, 1 ; 27 in all, a total of 66 in the Bible. Then in the study of a par- ticular book its plan and contents must be secured. The ability to "think through' ' a book, i. e., to recall the general line of thought through its chapters, is the only knowledge that can satisfy the real Bible student. 6. The memorizing of portions of Scripture is a practice that should be followed, and whose results will be most satisfactory both as a means of a better understanding of the Bible and as aids to the religi- ous life. The habit of committing to memory a pas- sage of Scripture daily is easily acquired, and pres- ently the mind is stored with the most precious utterances of the ages. 7. References in the New Testament to passages in the Old Testament should be carefully searched INTRODUCTION. 13 out, and incidents narrated in different places should be compared. This may usually be done with the aid of the references found in the Authorized Version, but unfortunately the system there adopted often runs to fantastic lengths, references being sometimes given on the basis of quite superficial resemblance. One's own references, neatly set down on the margin of his Bible in the light of careful study, will always be found the most helpful. 8. In short, the ability to do one's own study and come upon one's own results is the goal of all methods. Notes of work done should be made. Condensations and paraphrases of passages may be made with profit. " A lead pencil is the best of all commentators." A note-book should be in constant use. Results may be written on the margin of the Bible page in ink. Many systems of * 'Bible mark- ing" have been devised. Few are of any value except to those who devise them ; but any good method of preserving results, worked out by the student himself, will prove of value. 9. The use of any helps that may be within reach is advisable. But they should be used as helps, and not usurp the place of the Bible itself. After all, it is the Bible we are to study, and no mere study of books can compensate for a failure to study first and constantly the Book. 10. The use to be made of this hand-book will 14 INTRODUCTION. suggest itself to every student. In taking up the study of any book, read that book carefully. Then read the material on that book in the following pages. After this read the material on the other books of the same group, that the surroundings of the particu- lar book may be obtained. From these readings a knowledge of its date, or that of its events, will be secured, which may be supplemented by the chrono- logical material furnished in the appendix. Then read the book through at a single sitting if possible, to get its leading ideas. After this make an outline of its contents, and lastly turn to the questions on the book in the appendix and write out full answers to them. The results of such a use of this little book will render it of value to every one so using it, and will amply justify its preparation. HERBERT Iv. Wm,ETT. CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction 7 I. Definitions 17 II. Divisions of the Old Testament 19 III. The Original Text and its Preservation 22 IV. Outline of the Pentateuch 24 V. Israel's History from the death of Moses to that of David 33 VI. The Reign of Solomon and the Divisions of the King- dom 43 VII. The Two Kingdoms 46 VIII. The Kingdom of Judah Continued 53 IX. Other Pre-Exilian Prophetic Books 58 X. The Poetical Books 66 XI. The Books of Exile 76 XII. The Post-Exilic Books 80 XIII. Divisions of the New Testament 91 XIV. The Gospels and Acts 92 XV. The Epistles of Paul 104 XVI. The Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse 123 XVII. A Brief Review 134 XVIII. Questions 140 APPENDIX. I. Early Translations of the Scriptures ■ 150 II. Translations of the Scriptures into English 151 III. Extra Canonical Books 152 IV. Outline of the History of Israel 153 V. Leading Prophets of the Old Testament 154 VI. Important Events in the Life of Christ 155 VII. Outline of the Journeys and Labors of the Apostle Paul 156 VIII. Chronological Order of the Books of the New Testa- ment 159 A Guide to Bible Study. CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS. The word Bible is derived from the Greek word biblos y which means book. Used as a title it means The Book, so called by way of pre-eminence. This title is not found in the Bible itself; but it came into use among be- lievers after the Bible was completed. The titles, Old Testament and New Testa- ment, also came into use after the completion of the Bible. The books which pass under the latter title contain a new covenant which God made with men, while those under the former contain the old covenant which he made with Israel at Mount Sinai (Heb. viii: 6 i3;Jer. xxxi: 31-34). In the Latin Bible the word for covenant is translated Testamentum; and from 18 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. this, at a time when the Latin Bible was the most read in Europe, the title Testament came into its present use. The title Scriptures, sometimes with the prefix Holy, is a New Testament title for the books of the Old Testament. In II Peter iii: 16 it is also applied by implication to the Epistles of Paul; and it soon came into use as a title for the whole Bible. The word means writ- ings, and in its first sense it could be applied to any writings; but as the expression, The Book, came to mean one particular book, so the expression, The Scriptures, came to mean The Writings in the Bible. When the term Holy is prefixed, this still further distinguishes these writings. The apostles Paul and Peter both use the title "Oracles of God," for the Old Testament books, and Stephen calls them "The Living Oracles" (Rom. iii: 2; Heb. v: 12; I Pet. iv: 11; Acts vii: 38). By oracles is meant utterances of God; and these books were so called, because they contain utterances of God through in- spired men. They are called living oracles; because of their abiding power in contrast with the deadness of heathen oracles. But if the Old Testament books are worthy of this title, still more are those of the New Testament; DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 19 and consequently Papias, a Christian writer of the second century, applies it to Matthew's book, saying " Matthew wrote the Oracles/' This is especially true of Matthew, because more than half of his book is composed of speeches made by Jesus. It is entirely proper then to speak of the whole Bible as The Oracles of God, or The Living Oracles. CHAPTER II. DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Every intelligent person knows that the Bible is not one continuous book, but it is made up of a number of books, differing from one another in subject matter and literary form. Some are books of history, some of prophecy, some of precept or doctrine, and some of poetry. They are also distinguished with ref- erence to the time in which they were written, and the purposes which they were intended to serve. In order to read them intelligibly it is necessary to take notice of all these distinctions. The first five books (let the reader here commit their names to memory if he has not 20 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. already done so), are commonly grouped under the title, The Pentateuch, 1 a Greek word which means a five-fold book. Next we have twelve historical books, con- taining a connected history of Israel from the death of Moses to the restoration after the Babylonian captivity. The reader should com- mit their names to memory. Two of these, First and Second Chronicles, repeat large por- tions of the history given in other books, but they also furnish much additional information. In the middle of our Bible, next after the books last mentioned, we find five books, mostly poetry (commit their names to memory), which are placed without regard to their time of composition. In our Lord's classification of the Old Testament as "the law, the prophets and the psalms," they are included under the latter title, because the book of Psalms was the best known of the five. It is now quite common among scholars to include Job, Prov- erbs, and Ecclesiastes under the title, Wis- dom Literature, because of the prominence given in them to questions about wisdom and folly. These five books are grouped together 1. Another arrangement includes in one group the first six books. 'I his group, Genesis to Joshua, is usually called the Hexateuch.— W. DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 21 because a likeness in subject matter and liter- ary form distinguishes them from the others. It should be observed that the arrangement of the books in the Bible is the work of unin- spired editors and publishers, and not of the inspired authors. The last division of all is composed of seventeen books which are styled prophetical (commit their names to memory). These, like the preceding division, are grouped to- gether, because of their likeness in subject matter. Some of them were written after the Babylonian exile, and some long before it. They follow one another on the pages of the Bible without regard to the order of time. Nearly every one indicates in the opening verses the time of its composition by giving the names of the kings under whom its author lived and prophesied. This classification of the books of the Old Testament, if remembered, as it must be by all who wish to become proficient in Scripture knowledge, will enable the student at any time to readily turn to the part he wishes to read, whether law, history, poetry, or prophecy. Every part has its own peculiar value both for instruction and edification; and no part should be neglected. 22 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. CHAPTER III. THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS PRESERVATION. The books of the Old Testament were all written, with unimportant exceptions to be mentioned hereafter, in the Hebrew tongue, which was the native tongue of the Hebrew na- tion. As the earliest of them were written more than three thousand years ago, and the latest more than two thousand years ago, it is proper to inquire, what assurance we have that our present books are the same as those in the original collection, and that they contain the same words. To give a full answer to these questions would require a whole volume as large as this, but we can give the principal facts in the case in a few lines. During the period from the first writing of the books till the invention of printing, all copies were made with the pen, and it has been found impracticable to cop}' books in this way without making some mistakes. These occur chiefly in the spelling of words, and in the omission or insertion of words not essential to the meaning of a sentence ; but a few occurred which affect the sense, and which sometimes introduce contradictions of a book THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS PRESERVATION. 23 with itself, or with another book. Especially is this last the case with names and numbers, in which the copyist had no train of thought to guide him. This accounts for the discrep- ancies in numbers which every thoughtful reader has noticed between certain passages in Chronicles and the corresponding passages in the books of Samuel and Kings. After this process had continued until the errors of copyists attracted the serious atten- tion of Jewish scholars, a company of them drew up some very stringent rules to prevent such errors in the future. They counted the number of words in every book by sections, and marked the middle word of every section. Then they required every copyist, when he had copied to the middle word, to count back and see if he had the right number of words. If he had, there was good assurance that he had omitted none and added none. If he had not, the part written was to be thrown away and a new copy made. These rules were adopted in the second century after Christ, and from that time forward no errors worth considering crept into the Hebrew Scriptures. When printing was invented, which was in the year 1448, and the Hebrew Old Testament was published in this form, which was in 1477, 24 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. no more copies were written by hand, and the making of mistakes by copying came to an end; for when the types for a book are once set up correctly, all copies printed from them are precisely alike. The question whether any of the original books have been lost, or others added, is settled by the fact that a Greek translation of the Old Testament was made, beginning in the year 280 before Christ, which has come down to our day, and it contains the same books. There can be no reasonable doubt, therefore, that we now have the Old Testament substantially the same as when its several books were originally written. CHAPTER IV. OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH. (a) Genesis. It is a singular fact that many of the titles of the Hebrew books are Greek words. This grew out of the circumstance that the ancient Hebrews were not accustomed to giving titles to their book^, but w r hen they were translated into Greek, the translators, according to the custom in that language, gave OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH. 25 titles to them. The title Genesis (creation) was given to the first book, because it begins with an account of creation. Starting with a brief account of creation, the first general division of this book gives a very few incidents in the history of our race till the birth of Abraham. This division in- cludes the first eleven chapters. The events which it records are chiefly connected with the increasing wickedness of men by which God was constrained to destroy all except Noah's family in the waters of a flood. After the account of the flood there follows an ex- tremely brief account of the re-peopling of the earth by the descendants of Noah, and of their unwilling dispersion into different communities through the confusion of tongues. In the course of this brief record, we find two gene- alogies — that of Noah, which is traced back to Adam, and that of Abraham, which is traced back to Noah; and by means of the two we trace back to Adam the ancestry of Abraham. At the close of chapter eleven the narrative changes from a general history of men, to a biography of a single man. This biography of one man, who lived only one hundred and seventy-five years, occupies one and a half times as much space as the previous history of all 26 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. men. We thus discover that the author's main theme thus far is his account of Abraham, and that the preceding portion was intended chiefly as an introduction to this. The story of Abraham contains much that is interesting and edifying; and it should be studied in connection with the many references to it in the New Testament, which are all pointed out on the margin of any good refer- ence Bible; but the chief interest in it to the mind of the author of Genesis, seems to be centered upon certain promises made to him by God. One was, that he would give to him and his seed the land of Canaan, in which he was then living as a stranger; another was, that his posterity should be as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands on th # e sea- shore; and another, that in him and in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. In connection with the second of these, he was commanded to circumcise all the males born in his house, or bought with his money, and was told that this ordinance should be observed by his posterity forever. This rite served to distinguish his posterity among men, so that it might be seen in subsequent generations that God's promise was kept. These promises necessarily looked forward, OUTLINE OP THE PENTATEUCH. 27 and the author kept them in mind as he wrote the remainder of this and the other books of the Pentateuch. In connection with the first of these prom- ises, God told Abraham that before his seed should possess the promised land, they should be in bondage in a foreign land four hundred years, but should come out a great nation, and then take possession of Canaan. The rest of the book is taken up with the various fortunes of his descendants, many of which are thrill- ingly interesting, till his grandson Jacob, with a family of sixty-eight living descendants, is led by a mysterious chain of providences to take up his abode in Egypt, preparatory to the fulfillment of the last mentioned prediction. The book closes with the death of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, through whose instru- mentality the family had been brought into Egypt, and who in dying spoke of the prom- ised return to Canaan, and gave his brethren charge to carry his bones with them for final burial in that land. A glance backward will now show the reader that the main design of the author of Genesis was to give the history of Abraham's family down to the migration into Egypt; that the previous account of the whole world was 28 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. preparatory to this; and all this was prepara- tory to an account yet to be given of the ful- fillment of predictions and promises made to Abraham. We find that the author goes over in this short book nearly 2,500 years of the world's history; and yet the book, if printed by itself, would be only a small pamphlet. (b) Exodus. This book is called Exodus (going out), because a prominent event in it is the departure of Israel out of Egypt. The name, like Genesis, is Greek. The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first traces the steps by which the Hebrews, whose coming into Egypt was warmly welcomed by the king, were finally brought into bondage; and those by which, under the leadership of Moses, they were delivered after a residence in that land of four hundred and thirty years. Nearly the whole world had at that time fallen into idolatry; and the method which God chose for the deliverance of Israel was also in- tended to make himself once more known to the Egyptians and the surrounding nations, while it also made him much better known to his own people. Moses was the first great mis- sionary to the heathen. The second part shows the wonderful way in which God sus- OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH. 29 tamed the people in the wilderness; how he led them to Mt. Sinai; and how he there entered into a covenant with them, and gave them a set of laws, civil and religious, to govern them as a nation. The third part describes a sanc- tuary, or place of worship which he caused them to erect, and which could be easily moved with them through all of their subsequent journeys. By these events was fulfilled the promise to Abraham, "That nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance;" for the fulfillment of the various promises to Abraham runs like a thread through all the subsequent history of his people. (c) Leviticus. This book is filled with a set of laws, regulating the sacrifices and purifica- tions which were connected with the worship at the sanctuary, together with a few ethical pre- cepts intended to cultivate holiness and right- eousness among the people. It is because these ceremonies were to be administered by the priests the sons of Aaron and other Le- vites, that the book was named by the Greek translators, Leviticus. (d) Numbers. This name was given from the circumstance that the numbering of Israel twice by the command of God is recorded in it, 30 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. the first numbering near the beginning, and the second near the close. The book gives an ac- count of the journeyings and other experiences of Israel, during the period of about thirty- eight years, in which they were wandering from Mt. Sinai to the eastern bank of the river Jordan, whence they finally crossed over into Canaan. Many of their experiences were of the most thrilling character, rendering this a most interesting book. In the course of these events many new laws were given, God hav- ing reserved these to be given in connection with events which seemed to call for them, and to thus make the enactment of them more im- pressive than it otherwise could be. It was a time of wonderful divine discipline, in the course of which the whole generation of grown persons who crossed the Red Sea perished, with the exception of two, and a new genera- tion was brought up under the training of the Lord. These could be expected to serve God in their new home more faithfully than their fathers would have done. Even Moses and Aaron were among those who died in the wilderness. God had now, according to the promise to Abraham, broueht them out of their bondage in Egypt and judged that nation, (e) Deuteronomy. This name means the sec- OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH. 31 ond law. It was given because the Greek translators found in it a repetition of some laws previously given, and the enactment of some new laws. The main body of the book is made up of three discourses delivered by Moses in the plain of Moab over against Jeri- cho, beginning on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, or just two and a half months before the dose of forty years since the start out of Egypt (i: 3). The first discourse, beginning with i: 6, and closing with iv: 40, would be called, in our modern style, a historical sermon ; for it consists in a rehearsal of all the leading events of the previous forty years, with practical lessons drawn from them, and exhortations based on them. It is an ad- mirable specimen of that kind of preaching, and it should be studied as such by the preach- ers of the present day. This discourse is followed by a brief state- ment about the cities of refuge east of the Jor- dan, and this by a kind of introduction to the second discourse. The second discourse be- gins with chapter fifth, and closes with chap- ter twenty-sixth. In it Moses rehearses many of the laws which had been given in the pre- vious years of the wanderings, beginning with the ten commandments; adds a few new stat- 32 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. utes; and warmly exhorts the people to keep them all and to teach them diligently to their children. In this discourse, much more than in any other part of the Pentateuch there is a constant appeal to the love of God as the one great motive to obedience; and the ground of that love is pointed out repeatedly in the un- exampled goodness of God toward Israel. The third discourse, beginning with the twenty-seventh chapter and closing with the thirtieth, is prophetical; proclaiming a long and fearful list of curses which would befall the people if they should depart from the serv- ice of Jehovah, and of the blessings if they should be faithful to him. The last four chapters are occupied with the announcement of the approaching death of Moses; a formal charge to Joshua as his suc- cessor; a statement about his committing the law to writing and charging the Levites with its preservation; two poems; an account of his death; and some comments by a later writer on his career. These discourses and poems, like the ex- hortion which ends a long sermon, bring the Pentateuch to a most fitting conclusion; for they gather up and concentrate upon the heart of the reader all the moral power of the event- ISRAEL'S HISTORY. 33 ful history from Adam down, by way of ex- alting the name of Jehovah and filling the hearts of his people with gratitude. Especially was this so with the Israelites wlio saw in the past the unfolding of God's gracious pur- poses toward them as declared in his prom- ises to their father Abraham. When Moses disappeared from among them he left them with nothing but the narrow channel of the Jordan between them and the land of promise to which God had now, af f er dreary centuries, brought them in exact fulfillment of his word. The teaching of that fulfillment constitutes the unity of the Pentateuch. The time covered by the Pentateuch, ac- cording to the figures given on its pages, is 2,760 years. This is nearly twice as much time as is covered by all the rest of the Bible. CHAPTER V. ISRAEL'S HISTORY FROM THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THAT OF DAVID. While the twelve historical books which follow the Pentateuch give us, as we have said in a former chapter, an almost continuous 34 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. history down to the close of the Old Testament period, the study of this history is facilitated by considering it according to the several dis- tinct periods into which it naturally divides itself. We chose first, as best suiting our present purpose, the one named at the head of this chapter, and we shall set it forth by giving outlines of the several books in which the history is found. (a) Joshua. This book is so called, not because Joshua wrote it, although it is possible that he did so, but because it is he who figures most conspicuously in the transactions which it records. The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first, beginning where the Penta- teuch left off with Israel on the east bank of the Jordan, describes their miraculous passage of the swollen river, and their conquests, in two great campaigns, of the whole land of Canaan, with the exception of a few tribes who were so weakened as not to hinder the settlement of the country by the Hebrews. This brought to a final fulfillment the promise to Abraham that God would give him this land as an inheritance for his posterity. This part includes the first twelve chapters. The second part, including chapters thir- ISRAEL'S HISTORY. 35 teen to twenty-two, gives the location of the several tribes, chiefly by naming the cities within their respective lots. These chapters might be called the Biblical Geography of Pales- tine. The student should here take up a good map and learn the location of every tribe, and of all the principal cities, mountains, plains, and waters. The closing part, twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters, is occupied with two farewell addresses delivered by Joshua, one to the civil office-holders of all Israel, and the other to a mass meeting of the whole people, and with a very brief account of the death and burial of Joshua, and of Eleazer the priest. It also mentions the burial of the bones, or mummy, of Joseph, which had been brought up out of Egypt. Israel is now settled as a nation in the promised land, and the promises respecting that land which had been made to Abiaham and repeated to Isaac and Jacob, are fulfilled (b) Judges. This book opens with an ac- count of the separate actions of the several tribes in driving out the Canaanites who were left in their territories after the death of Joshua, though it also contains a repetition of one con- quest by the tribe of Judah which had been achieved before Joshua died. Then, in a kind 36 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. of preface, the author occupies the rest of the first two chapters with a brief statement of the alternate apostasies and deliverances which make up the history in the rest of the book. These two chapters may be styled Part First. Then follows Part Second, chapters three to sixteen, in which sometimes one tribe and some- times many fall into idolatry; are subdued or greatly harassed by their enemies until they repent and call upon God; are then delivered under the leadership of a Judge raised up by the Lord for the purpose; are kept in the fear of God until the Judge dies, when the same round of events is repeated to the twelfth time. There was no central government ; but to answer the purposes of such when necessity required, Judges were providentially raised up and the accounts which we have of them here gave the name Judges to this book. The third part of the book, chapters seven- teen to twenty-one, gives two incidents which had been passed over by the writer to avoid an interruption of the main thread of the history. The one shows how an idolatrous worship which was set up at Dan, and continued there for several centuries, was first inaugurated; and the other shows how the whole nation came together at an early day to punish a great Israel's history. 37 crime, when the city and the tribe within which it had been committed refused to do so. The general design of the book of Judges seems to be to exhibit the working of both civil and religious law during the first three or four hundred years of Israel's experi- ences under it. In both respects there had been a comparative failure, as is also true in the history of every nation both ancient and mod- ern; but under this divine discipline many men and women of eminent virtues were de- veloped. (c) Ruth. The romantic incidents of this beautiful story occurred while the Judges ruled in Israel (i: i), and one of its purposes, the only one that appears till the closing paragraph brings out another, is to present a better phase of life under the Judges than we find in the book of Judges. This it does in a most charm- ing manner. But at the close we ascertain that it was also intended to show that a woman of Moab was among the maternal ancestors of David, and to trace the interesting circum- stances by which this was brought about. It could scarcely have been written before the reign of David; for it was David's reign that gave public interest to his genealogy. (d) First Samuel. This book begins with 38 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. the last of the Judges and closes with the death of the first king. It contains, therefore, an account of the change in the form of govern- ment. It shows how the political and re- ligious degeneration, which had been going on in the latter part of the rule of the Judges, sank to its lowest point in the moral corrup- tion of the priesthood, when the people came to abhor the sacrifices of Jehovah on account of the wickedness of the priests who offered them. It shows also that political degrada- tion reached its lowest point with the degrada- tion of religion; and that then the ark of the covenant, which was the symbol of God's pres- ence with Israel, was captured and taken away by their old enemies, the Philistines. This in- troduced an irregularity in the worship on the part of those who continued to serve God, and it led to a demand on the part of the people for a king to rule over them. This demand was treated as a sin of the people, because it was their own sins, and not an inherent defect in the form of government which God had given them, that brought about the failure. Never- theless, God had foreseen this result, and had provided beforehand for it, and consequently he gave them a king in the person of Saul the son of Kish. In the meantime the prophet ISRAEL'S HISTORY. 39 Samuel had brought about a great religious reformation among the people, and if Saul had proved to be a faithful servant of God, the affairs of the whole nation would in every way have been greatly improved. But though Saul was a skillful warrior, and fought many victor- ious battles, he turned away from God in many things, and his career ended in death on the battlefield. His reign closed, as did the rule of the Judges, in a defeat which left the peo- ple once more in subjection to the Philistines, once more illustrating the rule that righteous- ness exalteth a nation, while sin is a disgrace to any people. This is the lesson most strik- ingly taught by this portion of Israel's history. The book also shows how God prepared an- other man in the person of David to take the place of Saul, and to reign more worthily than he did. It also strikingly exhibits the career of the greatest prophet who had thus far ap- peared in Israel since the days of Moses; for Samuel was not only an eminently good man, but he was also a successful ruler, and even a king-maker, seeing that under God he selected and anointed as kings both Saul and David; and until his death, which was mourned by the whole nation, both these men and all the peo- ple looked to him for counsel in every great 40 A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY. crisis. From this time forward the special of- ficers raised up from time to time to represent God are prophets, as under the preceding period they had been Judges. (e) Second Samuel. In the Hebrew Bible our two books of Samuel are but one; and in the English the history goes on from the one into the other without a break. The division was made for convenience in making refer- ences and in finding particular passages. 