“The Scriptures” 73 In Joshua 1 :8 we read: “This book of the law shall not de- part out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Now that the pillar of fire by night and of cloud by day has departed, the Book is to be the guide of Israel and their religion is to be to a large extent a book religion. God is speaking to them out of the “Book of the Law.” It is probable that the book which Joshua read was the identical manuscript which Moses wrote in the wilderness. There may have been copies made of it, but we have no record of the fact. Frequent mention of it is made through the books of the Bible. The same book, or a copy of it, appears again a thousand years afterward under the reign of Josiah, as we learn from 2 Kings 22:8: “And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Sha- phan and he read it.” In Ezra we find it again in the hands of the prophet on the pulpit of wood in the open air, reading it and making its meaning plain unto the people. From these and other Scrip- tures three inferences may be fairly drawn: I The Bible is literature written by the command of God. He certainly commanded Moses to write the book of the law. To John on the Isle of Patmos a great voice as of a trumpet said, “What thou seest write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches.” And before the vision vanishes he is com- manded to “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” He is to write history, current events and predictions; and much of the “the Scriptures” may be classified under these three heads. 2. The Bible is literature written by the command of God, and under the guidance of God. In Peter 1 :21 we read: No
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