Bible CharactersTalmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt)
Religion
Bible Characters
Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt)
Bible -- Biography
Now, Joshua has overcome them and driven them from the face of the earth,
and this brings out one noble trait in his character. When he came to
divide up the land, Joshua took the poorest treasure himself, that he
might be near the ark. And there, on Mount Ephraim, he died at the
ripe old age of one hundred and ten years. During all those years not
a man was able to stand before him. See the contrast between his dying
testimony and that of Jacob! Jacob’s self-reproach was: “Few and evil
have the days of the years of my life been.” He had a stormy voyage.
Look and see this old warrior going to rest. He had tried God forty
years. He had heard the crack of the slave driver’s whip, down there in
Egypt. But probably he had a praying mother, who talked to him about this
King of the Hebrews, about the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, and
he believed in that God. When Moses came down into Egypt he found this
young man just in the prime of his life. Joshua recognized in Moses that
he was an instrument of the Almighty, and that the King of the Hebrews
had sent him there to deliver His people.
Joshua had tried God forty years in the wilderness, and when eighty
years old he was called into the Promised Land. He had tried God thirty
years in Canaan, and now, at the age of one hundred and ten, the aged
and invincible warrior is going home. But he is not going to die like an
infidel. He knows he is about to die, and he calls for all the tribes of
Israel and their elders. These come up from the tribe of Benjamin, the
tribe of Simeon, the tribe of Zebulon, and so on; and they are gathered
at Shiloh, to be there to hear the old prophet and patriarch.
That man of God speaks, and what does he say? What is his dying
testimony? How we all linger around the couch of our dying friends! How
anxious we are to get their last words!
Well, let us turn back. What are the last words of this man who has tried
God and proved God? These are the words: “I am going the way of all the
earth; and ye know in your hearts and in all your souls that not one
thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake
concerning you. All are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath
failed thereof.”
Not one good thing has failed! God has kept His word. God has made His
word good. “Not one good thing hath failed.” What a dying testimony! How
glorious! In the beautiful sunset light the old warrior sank away, like
he was going to sleep. In the dusk of a beautiful Summer’s evening he
passed away. There is the old man’s dying testimony. He could tell the
people of God. He was the only one left. The rest had gone. Moses had
sunk into his desert grave, and the other leaders of the tribe of Israel
had passed away. But now he was going to die in the Promised Land.
Truly, he was a man of courage, obedience and faith.
LOT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account