2.  It has already been shown (Chap. 15, No. 7) that the books of Kings and Chronicles contain only selections from a large mass of materials.  The same is probably true of the books of Judges and Samuel.  The sacred writers did not propose to give a detailed account of all the events belonging to the periods over which their histories extended, but only of those which were specially adapted to manifest God’s presence and guidance in the affairs of the covenant people.  The history of some persons is given very fully; of others with extreme brevity.  But we may say, in general, that this divine history, extending over a period of a thousand years, is the most condensed in the world, as well as the most luminous with the divine glory.  The student rises from the perusal of it with such clear views of God’s presence and supremacy in the course of human affairs, as cannot be gained from all the ponderous tomes of secular history.  Each book, moreover, presents some special phase of God’s providential movements, and contains, therefore, its special lessons of instruction.  With few exceptions, the authors of the historical books are unknown.  We only know that they were prophetical men, who wrote under the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I. JOSHUA.

3.  This book records the conquest of the land of Canaan by the Israelites under Joshua, and its distribution by lot among the tribes that received their inheritance on the west side of the Jordan.  It connects itself, therefore, immediately with the Pentateuch; for it shows how God fulfilled his promise to Abraham that he would give to his posterity the land of Canaan for an inheritance (Gen. 17:8), a promise often repeated afterwards, and kept constantly in view in the whole series of Mosaic legislation.  The book naturally falls into two parts.  The first twelve chapters contain the history of the conquest itself, with the movements preparatory thereto.  Joshua, who had been previously designated as the leader of the people (Numb. 27:15-23), receives a solemn charge to pass over the Jordan and take possession of the promised land; the people prepare themselves accordingly; two spies are sent out to take a survey of Jericho; the Israelites pass over the Jordan dry-shod, its waters having been miraculously divided; they encamp at Gilgal, and are there subjected to the rite of circumcision.  Chaps. 1-5.  Then follows an account of the overthrow of Jericho, the trespass of Achan with the calamity which it brought upon the people, the conquest of Ai, the ratification of the law at mount Ebal with the erection of the stones on which the law was written, the artifice of the Gibeonites by which they saved their lives, the overthrow of the combined kings of the Canaanites at Gibeon, and the conquest, first of the southern and afterwards of the northern kings of Canaan.  Chaps. 6-12.