Chapter 5 FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL

WE now come to the time when the Israelites were settled in the land of Canaan, Moses and Joshua being dead. This period of Bible history, from the death of Joshua to the time of Saul, their first King, is about four hundred years. And, seeing the miracles and wonders performed in behalf of God's chosen people, in the times of Moses and Joshua, we might reasonably expect that the same care would be continued towards them in succeeding generations.

But, on the contrary, during the time the different Judges presided over them, nothing but disasters and confusion prevailed; and if their history is to be credited, it must appear as if Jehovah had nearly given them up as a prey to his and their enemies.

Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about Moses being the author of the first five Books, including the Jewish worship, with the laws, ceremonial and moral, it does not appear that the contents of those Books were known and obeyed by the generations that followed after his death; for it is recorded in the Book of Judges, ii., 10, that after the death of Joshua, "there arose another generation after them; which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." If the mighty works had been done in behalf of God's chosen people, which are recorded, it is impossible to believe that they should have been forgotten or disregarded. Can we suppose, that, in a few years, the Declaration of our Independence on the 4th of July, 1776, together with the name of Washington, and the heroism of his brave companions in arms, can be forgotten? No; it is impossible. It is then clear, that the Books said to have been written by Moses were not known; or if known, they were not believed in by the people.

After the land of promise had been divided among the tribes of Israel, instead of Jehovah's setting up some permanent form of government, and causing his name to be adored, so as to make his chosen people happy and prosperous, they were, to all appearance, left in the most confused and unsettled state: and hence it is often said, "In those days there was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes." It is not too much to infer, that for hundreds of years after the death of Moses and Joshua, the Jewish God, as if he had forgotten his engagements with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their posterity, became indifferent to their happiness altogether.

We will now refer to their situation. As it respects government, they had none; it was accidental; and, although it is recorded that their God fought for them, and caused both sun and moon (as the phrase is) to stand still, to give them time to destroy their enemies, Jehovah's conduct was so altered that he seemed to enjoy the troubles of his once chosen people. With all these facts, Christian ministers prate of an unchangeable God! We read of Jehovah's stirring up heathen Kings against his people; and to such a deplorable state were they reduced, that an old woman was their Chief-Justice, and also General of their army. At that time, to say the least of it, no nation under heaven was in so degraded a state. At times, upstart Judges arose; the Lord was with them; and, for a while, all things appeared prosperous. At their death, however, the troubles were renewed. Such was their situation at one time, that they had no weapons of war, nor smiths to repair their ploughs or harrows. Then they cried unto the Lord, and he sanctioned them in every dishonorable way to out-wit or murder their oppressors.

In such a state of subjugation were the tribes to their foes when Saul was made King, that only two swords could be found in Israel; and the "Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share and his coulter, and his axe and his mattock." What folly, then, to suppose, that after all that had been done for God's favorite people, they should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing but slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise! What madness, to believe that the Author of the Universe should permit such carnage, and his whole attention seem to be directed to the foolish quarrels of an unfortunate race, who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider their nation as his peculiar choice!

And as to their religion, by what is recorded, it seems that their proneness to worship the gods of their neighbors, is what brought on the chastisements of Heaven. This is but a poor excuse, and dishonorable to the God of the Universe, to urge on nations to make war on his people, because he was displeased with them for worshipping strange gods. It appears strange, passing strange, that Jehovah could not convert his own people. But only substitute the term Priest, instead of the Lord, and reject altogether the idea of God's having any thing to do with their theology, and the matter is plain and clear. Admitting, however, that the Lord of Hosts had so rebellious a race, and was a spectator of all their departures from his laws, he must be as great a sufferer as the Jews, because he was forever punishing; for, if anger is to a God a punishment equal to what human beings feel under its influence, then it follows that the God of the Jews is the greatest sufferer. Oh! ye ministers of grace you have preached up an angry God until you have brutalized the human race; and your intolerant spirit has ever been, and will ever continue to be, a burning coal taken from the altar of an angry, vengeful God, to be rekindled when power is united to your impositions.

That the reader may form correct ideas of the Lord's fighting for Israel, and delivering their enemies into their hands, and also of the Lord's giving the land or towns to his favorite people that they had taken in war, it should be observed, that it was the manner of expressing the results of a victory among the Jews, and also with other nations. They all claimed for themselves the interference of their respective gods, and to them they gave sacrifice and thanks. As a key, to understand how God fought for his favorite people, it is recorded in Judges i., 19, "And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron," The same idea is to be carried out in explaining such passages as the following:-"And the angel of the Lord appeared to [such an one] in a dream"--"Thus saith the Lord," &c.

Now, all that can be made of this is, that the person mentioned, dreamed that he saw an angel, and that he said this or that. Again, it is often repeated, that the word of the Lord came unto Moses, saying. Common sense will inquire, how came the word? who brought it? Words do not pass through the air like birds. Suppose it should be reported, that the word of the President of the United States came to some person in New York, saying, do this or that, or something uncommon and unheard of, and the inquiry be made, who brought this word, and an answer should be required? No reasonable one could be given. It must fill the Christian reader with astonishment to find, that during the time the Judges presided over Israel, (some hundreds of years,) that neither the name of Moses nor his laws are ever mentioned. On the contrary, his laws, both moral and ceremonial, were either suspended or departed from. Neither the Sabbath nor the Passover was observed, and the moral law said to have been given by Jehovah, from Mount Sinai, was broken by the worship of graven images.

If we turn to Judges, chapter xvii., we there find, that after the death of Samson, who judged Israel twenty years, a young man (a Jew) stole from his mother eleven hundred shekels of silver, which she had put by to make a god for herself and her son's household,-a worship contrary to the express command of Jehovah, as given in the second commandment; and when her son heard his mother curse most bitterly, he returned it to her. She then loaded him with blessings, and with a part of the silver, and gave the rest to the founder, or artist, and a graven image was made and erected as their god, and a priest hired to perform worship. In the 13th verse of the same chapter, her son exults, and says, "Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest."

To conclude this account of worship, the Levite asked counsel of God, (the image,) and received a gracious answer. This image-worship was the religion of the Danites until they were carried away captive. This, then, is proof positive, that the five Books said to have been given by Moses, were then unknown; and without this admission, it is not possible to account for the silence regarding Moses and his writings for so many hundred years. Not only were the five Books of which Moses is the reputed author, written many hundreds of years after his death, but also the Book of Judges could not have been written till after Kings bad reigned in Israel; because, it is often repeated in that Book, "And there was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes"; for until the end of the Judges, no King was ever mentioned, or thought of, among the tribes. It was in consequence of the injustice of the sons of Samuel, that the seed of Abram demanded a King, in order to get just judgment; and in his person to secure a leader in time of war.

The foolish story of Samson, which commences in Judges, chapter xiii., deserves no notice, but for its being ascribed to Jehovah, the God of Israel. The whole silly account, when it is fathered on the God of the Universe, will not fail to convince every man of a sane mind, how human beings have been imposed upon, in ascribing to the Sovereign Ruler of all worlds such contemptible trash. After the Israelites had for forty years been subjected to the Philistines, Jehovah determined to deliver his chosen people from bondage, by raising up a man (then unborn) to war against their enemies. Samson was the person chosen for this business. The story is as follows:-

The mother of Samson had for years lived with her husband, Manoah, but remained childless. Her sorrow, on that account, so prevailed with the Lord, that an angel came down from Jehovah, whom Christians believe to be the allwise Governor of the Universe, and informed her that she should have a son that would war against the oppressors of Israel, and that particular care on her part must be taken during her pregnancy. She was to drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean; and no hair must on any account be taken from his head. The woman told her husband the good tidings, and he was over-joyed, and prayed to the Lord that the angel would again descend. This request was granted, and the angel repeated to the husband what had been told to his wife. When these instructions, given by the angel, were ended, out of gratitude to the heavenly messenger, this joyful pair proposed to dress a kid, and invited the angel to partake of it This request was not complied with, but Manoah and his wife were told to sacrifice to the Lord; which they did, and as the flame ascended, the angel went up with it, after refusing to make known his name.

In a few months, Sampson was born; and his parents were particular in observing all things commanded, as it respected the child, until his arrival to manhood; when, behold! this Samson, the gift of the Lord, who was to deliver his countrymen out of bondage, from the galling yoke of the Philistines-this Samson commenced his life by going down to the Philistines, and taking up with different women. Some he took as wives, and with others he carried on any thing but a respectable intercourse; and in all his actions he sought a quarrel with the enemies of Israel. All unknown to his parents, it is recorded that he possessed strength superior to human beings, and that this strength resided in the hair of his head. His enemies discovered this strength, and bribed his wives and concubines to discover how he could be bound, so that they could destroy him. After lying, and submitting to be bound, he betrayed the secret to one of his favorite women. His head was shaved, his eyes put out and he was cast into prison.

In the course of his revels among his ladies, he was waring continually with his wives' countrymen; and such was his dexterity, that he caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail, and turned them into the standing corn and burnt up their harvest. At another time, when pursued by his enemies, it is recorded that he slew a thousand men with, the jaw-bone of an ass; and so mighty was his strength, that the gates of a city were by him carried away with ease, and placed on the top of a mountain; and so terrific was his strength, that his favorite woman, by bribery, at last found out that his almost almighty power was in his hair, which had been from his birth untouched and unshorn; but as soon as his hair was taken off, Jehovah withdrew his strength, and his foes bound him with care, put out his eyes, and cast him into prison. At length, his hair grew again on his head, and his mighty strength returned. He then prayed to Jehovah to enable him to lift up the mighty building in which the Lords of the Philistines were; and having succeeded, down it came with a dreadful crash, and Samson, with all that were within, perished in the ruins.

Now, this is the man who is recorded to have been raised up to restore to the seed of Abram their lost power; whose whole life was a scene of folly and madness. Can any man, in the full exercise of his reason, believe that the Ruler of all worlds would employ such a contemptible creature to bring about his plan of redeeming his favorite people from bondage? Let us take a bird's-eye view of Samson's life; and first, we will inquire, what end was to be answered by raising up this mighty man? Secondly, did Samson perform the intention of Jehovah towards his chosen race?

We proceed to the first inquiry, What end was to be answered by raising up Samson? His whole life was one continued scene of folly and licentiousness; shedding of blood was his practice; and the mighty strength given him by Jehovah, was employed in doing the most wanton mischief, such as none but a madman would perform. The object of so much murder and bloodshed, we are informed, was to deliver the Israelites from Philistine subjugation; in doing which, he fell a victim to his own folly, in destroying the enemies of the Lord. Can it be possible that the Ruler of all worlds raised up such a madman to carry out his plans? If a story of this kind should be recorded in any other book than the Bible, no credit would be given to it. But when it is recorded as making a part of God's dealings with his chosen people, it is shocking to all our ideas of Infinite Wisdom, Power, and Goodness.

In the second place, What resulted to Israel by the efforts of Samson? We answer, nothing at all; for in consequence of the wickedness of the Benjamites, a war soon after commenced between the tribes, in which thousands and tens of thousands were slain. The history of Samson, then, is one of those fables with which the Scriptures abound, and which, if recorded by heathen authors, no one could be found who would believe them to be any thing but fables. But being a part of the Bible, Christians attach consequence to them, and father them on the all-wise, all-powerful God, the Ruler of the Universe.

Finally, to show the folly in believing that Samson was raised up to redeem the Israelites from serving the Philistines:-by the battle fought immediately after the death of Samson, the Philistines gained a complete victory over Israel, routed the whole army, and took the ark of the Lord prisoner.

It may be of service to the reader to give some account of the ark of the Lord; and in this, we must be instructed by the Bible account alone. The ark, it appears, was a chest: or box, in which the following things were said to be kept: the book of the law, the pot with manna, and Aaron's rod, by which the wonders were performed in Egypt On the lid or cover were placed two cherabims with their wings somewhat extended, and their necks turned downwards to the cover of the ark, called the mercy-seat. This holy ark was kept in the holy of holies; and when the priests entered in to perform sacrifice on the mercy-seat, the cloud of smoke between the cherabims became luminous. This light was considered by the priest as an acceptance of the offering made by him for the sins of the people. Hence the phrase of adoration applied to the Jewish God, "Oh! thou God that dwelleth between the cherubims!"

When the Jews were in the battle with the Philistines, and about to be routed, they brought the ark of the Lord into the camp as a protection against a defeat, and also to encourage the Israelites to fight most manfully: the Lord of Hosts being then in the midst of them, they shouted for joy, as being certain of a victory over their enemies. On the other side, the Philistines, understanding that the God of the Hebrews had arrived in their camp, were afraid, and cried out, "Woe unto us! who shall deliver us ont of the hand of these mighty Gods?" The commanders of the Philistines then encouraged their soldiers to battle, urging them on, so that the Jews might be vanquished; and they slew the Israelites with a destructive slaughter, and took the ark of the Jewish God prisoner, and killed the two sons of Eli, the High-Priest This dreadful news so overcame the old man, who was ninety-eight years of age, that he fell out of his chair and broke his neck.

We may now ask, what will Christians say to God's raising up Samson? Did he deliver the Jews out of their their bondage? But I have wasted too much time on such a contemptible madman and fool; yet I excuse myself in this respect by the desire of showing, that, to call Samson a servant of the Ruler of the Universe, is too contemptible even for ridicule. A few remarks on the fate of the ark of the Lord, will conclude this chapter. The foregoing account is recorded in 1 Samuel, chapter iv.

After the dreadful daughter of the Israelites, and the capture of the ark, the Philistines were afflicted with a complaint that threatened them with destruction; and after consulting among themselves as to the cause of their sickness, they concluded that the capture and detention of the ark was to them more than a counterbalance for the victory gained over the Jews. They therefore agreed, one and all, to send it back to its owners. Before sending it back, we may suppose something like the following conversation took place:-We have defeated the Jews, and slain thousands of them; and although their God was in the camp of Israel, he could not save them from the edge of the sword. But, after all, we are afflicted with a dreadful disorder, which, if it continues, will exterminate our nation. Our complaint is of that nature, that we shall drop to pieces in the streets and upon the highways. Our wives, instead of baking bread, must be continually making poultices, to prevent our being considered as walking pestilences: the ark must be returned. Instead of a God for a prisoner, why, we have the Devil in the box. We must get rid of it; it must be sent back to the Jews. Home it was carried; and when it had arrived at Beth-shemesh, in the time of harvest, the reapers, overjoyed to witness the safe return of the ark, laid down their sickles and ran to look into it. The Jehovah of Israel destroyed the honest-hearted reapers, to the number of fifty thousand threescore and ten, for their impudence.

Can a man on earth be found who can believe the foregoing account to be any thing but fabulous? If this account is matter of fact, what degrading ideas are connected with the existence of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness! If there is any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then follows, that the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds,-that astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplating the harmony and surprising adaptation displayed in the universe,-associated with such madmen and fools as Samson, and hundreds of others whose freaks are recorded in the Bible. This is opposed to every idea that we can possibly have of his greatness. Let those who are but little acquainted with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the universe, and ask if it be possible that a Being who arranges all, and who governs all with that exactness which overwhelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but also the most profound and learned of the human race, should thus act? Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent in the vast universe of which man forms but so small a part! For one moment reflect on boundless space, filled with millions of millions of suns, around which revolve innumerable worlds; all of them arranged and upheld by that Power which Christians believe to be the author of the Bible, either directly or indirectly. That this being should mix up with the most abandoned characters on earth, and be forever doing and undoing; forever planning and failing in his plans; choosing his favorites, and then repenting of such choice; inheriting all the infirmities of fallible man; sometimes, tired out with the follies and wickedness of his chosen people, sinking, as it were, down into a state of inaction; again, rising in vengeance, destroying even his chosen people without mercy; at times, appearing to be long-suffering and merciful; at other times, revenging injuries by destruction and death on a present generation, for the errors of another generation long since dead and gone, is inconsistent with common sense.

In fact, the Jehovah of the Bible, from the accounts recorded, appears never to be at ease. Anger, rage, fury, alternately disturb him. The smallest deviation of his chosen people in the performance of some trifling ceremony, would at times call down the most horrid chastisements on both the innocent and the guilty. If the Bible truly records the movements of Jehovah, he must be the most unhappy Being in the universe; for it is said that he is angry every day. The previous description of the God of the Bible is but a scantling of what is written concerning his dealings, even with the seed of Abram.

Ye ministers of the gospel! look at the heavens above, and the earth beneath! Mark well the unchangeable order which pervades the whole! How admirably every thing is arranged! how skilfully the means are adapted to the end intended! No arranging, and then re-arranging: no missing the mark-no going beyond or wide of the mark. Before you talk of the "unblushing Infidel," and deal out the vengeance of your Bible God, look at the order, the grandeur the undisturbed harmony that governs the whole; and then pause, and ask yourselves, if it be possible for the Sovereign Ruler of all worlds, to have dictated the Bible, which you so positively assert is the Word of the only true and living God?