hat all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him, after the judgment of Urim, before the LORD; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation.

And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

The earnest prayer which Moses made to GOD, that he might be permitted to enter the promised land, shews that his not being allowed to do so, was a grievous disappointment to him; but we find that the LORD, to soften it, vouchsafed to give him a sight of Canaan ; strengthening his eye to take in the extensive prospect. It must have been a great consolation to Moses in hislatter end, to be assured that the people would soon be in possession of such a fruitful and pleasant country; and we may reasonably suppose, that he was indulged with hopes of a more glorious prospect, and permanent possessions in Heaven, or the view of Canaan would only have served to mortify and vex him; he might have thought it hard, that he should be excluded from what had been the object of forty years toilsome pursuit; and he would have had reason to complain of the severity of the sentence he received, for the crime he committed in striking the rock.

The

The great affection which Moses entertained for the people of Israel, made him very solicitous to appoint a successor. Joshua had signalized himself by his valour and fidelity, and by his humility in ministering to, and waiting upon Moses.

Moses was commanded to lay his hands on Joshua,. as a token of transferring the government to him; and, as a sign of God's granting to Joshua the assistance of his Holy Spirit. Moses is said to have put some of his honour upon Joshua; by which is meant, that during the short remainder of Moses' life, he should make him a kind of partner in his authority; that the people, being used to obey him whilst Moses lived, might the more willingly submit to him afterwards. Joshua received a charge to consult the high priest on all important occasions: in this particular, he was inferior to Moses, who had permission to address GOD himself.

Moses we find was not ambitious to advance the interest of his own family, though we read that he had sons: submission to the will of GOD, and a steady and · fervent zeal for the honour of the LORD, and the good of the people, were the first principles of his actions.

SECTION XXIV.

MOSES' EXHORTATION TO THE ISRAELITES.

From Deut. Chap, i. and Sequel.

THESE be the words which Moses spake unto all

Israel, on this side Jordan in the wilderness,

After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites,

which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei.

On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD GoD of your fathers giveth you.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy GOD hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God, are alive every one of you this day.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my GOD commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

Keep therefore and do them: for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what nation is there so great, who hath GOD So nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes: and judgments so righteous, as all this law which I set u before you this day?

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul dili gently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes › have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy

son's sons,

Specially

Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lond thy GoD in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

And ye came near, and stood under the mountain: and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds,, and thick darkness.

And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice.

And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more; and he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

And the LORD commanded me at that time, to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the eartn, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,

even all the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to wor ship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy GOD. hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

Take heed unto yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing which the LORD thy GOD hath forbidden thee.

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous GoD. When thou shalt have children, and children's children, and shalt have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven. image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it: ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood, and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy

GOD,