“Let down our golden, everlasting chain, Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main; Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth, By this to drag the thunderer down to earth; Ye strive in vain; if I but lift this hand, I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land; ’T is thus I reign, supremely and above; Such are men and gods compar’d to Jove!” The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning Jehovah, are so barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile them. It is said in many parts of the Old, and also in the New Testament, that no man can see God and live; but we are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to face, as one conversing with his friend. It is in many places recorded that God never repents—“_For he (God) cannot lie nor repent_.” In many other places it is recorded that Jehovah has repented and taken a contrary course in his dealings with the sons of men. I again repeat, that if no other account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to believe Jehovah to be any thing but a _man-made God._ After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his successor. His business was to complete what Moses had left undone, in subjugating or destroying the nations on the other side of Jordan. The first exploit of Joshua was to send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city. These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where they were treated with kindness; it being such a house as would in modern times be termed a house of _bad fame_. That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof is positive; because the harlot’s father, mother, and all the family, were saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had concealed the spies: so no doubt remains as to the character of the house, and that it was entirely under her control and that the whole family were supported from the wages of prostitution. Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as Christians must do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very proper house at which the spies would resort; for it was a house at which all were welcome; where all sorts of news could be collected. After the spies had become somewhat familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they were, and the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, they were about to be arrested by the city authorities; and when forced to depart, Rahab extorted a promise from the spies that her whole family should be saved when Jericho should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny, after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, let them out by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, they praised the Lord for having directed them to so hospitable and honorable a mansion as the house of the virtuous Rahab. This was the Lord’s doings, as also the exploit of the seven rams’-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes—_praised be his name!_