CHAPTER VIII. 427 the thumbs and great toes of threescore and ten kings, and made them gather meat under his table; Verse 7. 33. Q. Did the Israelites driveall theCanaanites 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. Judges ii. 3, 21. and iii. 1 -4. 35. Q. What were the most common sins that Israel was guilty of after their settlement in Canaan ? A. They fell to idolatry, or worshippingthe gods of the nations round about then after Joshua was dead, and the elders of the people of that age that outlived Joshua ; Judges ii. 6, 7, 10-15. SECT. 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 judges, magistrates, and officers, according to the appointment of Moses; Ex. xviii. Dent. 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; Ex. xviii. Moses says to the people, as take ye wise men, &c. Deut. i. 13. The seventy or seventy-two elders were the gravest and most venerableof 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; Num. 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 sup- posed to be chiefly skilled in the law, especially if he were an elderly man. 'l'he common priests and levites were also assistants to the judges by way of copnsel, and in deciding controversies in every tribe ; Dent. xviii. 9-12. But still the executive power was vested in the judges of each tribe, and God himself was their king, and the centre of union and government. But when, throughtheir idolatry and wickedness, God for- sook the people, and officers and judges neglected their duty, $e2
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