THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL.
THE CITIES OF REFUGE.
In those old times, when one man killed another, the friends of the dead man had the right to kill the murderer. But sometimes it happened that one person killed another without meaning to do it. Of course it was not right that he should be killed for what he could not help. God saw that there ought to be some way of saving him. So he told Joshua to name six cities to which such a person could flee and where no one could touch him. These cities were called Cities of Refuge. Three of them were on the west side of Jordan and three on the east. Some say that all the guide posts along the way had “Refuge!” “Refuge!” written on them.
FLEEING TO THE CITY OF REFUGE.
THE DEATH OF JOSHUA.
A long time after the fall of Jericho, when Joshua was an old man, he made all the Israelites come into one place so that he could talk to them, before he left them, forever. He asked them to count over the good things God had done for them, and promised that He would do even more for them than He had already. He told them to be brave, to do as Moses had wanted them to do when he was alive, and never to have anything to do with people who worshiped idols. If they did, God would punish them. When Joshua had instructed the Israelites in all the good ways, having said all that was on his mind, he died. He was one hundred and ten years old.
