The City of God · Chapter
Of the times of Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, of the judges, and thereafter of the kings, of whom Saul was the first, but David is to be regarded as the chief, both by the oath and by merit. explained
This chapter traces the history of God's people from the death of Jacob and Joseph through the exodus from Egypt under Moses, the leadership of Joshua, the period of the judges, and the establishment of the monarchy with Saul and David.
What happens
This chapter traces the history of God's people from the death of Jacob and Joseph through the exodus from Egypt under Moses, the leadership of Joshua, the period of the judges, and the establishment of the monarchy with Saul and David. It highlights the growth of Israel despite persecution, the plagues and the Red Sea crossing, the giving of the law, and the typological significance of Joshua (Jesus) leading the people into the promised land. The chapter also connects these events to the ages of the city of God, comparing the infancy of the race (Noah to Abraham) with the childhood of the Hebrew people, and the third age (Abraham to David) as a period of law, sin, and the earthly kingdom.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Providence and History
The chapter emphasizes God's providential guidance of Israel through Moses, Joshua, and the judges, and the fulfillment of promises made to Abraham.
Sin, Grace, and Redemption
The alternation of prosperity and adversity in the times of the judges is attributed to the sins of the people and the mercy of God, prefiguring the need for redemption through Christ.
True Worship and the One God
The tabernacle and the law given at Sinai established true worship through sacrifices prophetic of Christ, contrasting with pagan practices.
Characters to notice
- Moses
Led the Israelites out of Egypt, overcame Pharaoh's magi, and received the law on Mount Sinai.
- Joshua
Succeeded Moses, led the people into the promised land, and his name was changed to Jesus as a type of Christ.
- David
Succeeded Saul as king and is regarded as the chief king; Christ is called his son.
- Abraham
The father of many nations, from whom the list of generations begins; the promise of many nations began with him.
- Saul
First king of Israel, who was rejected and died in battle, and his offspring were rejected from the throne.
Key passages
“Jacob being dead, and Joseph also, during the remaining 144 years until they went out of the land of Egypt that nation increased to an incredible degree, even although wasted by so great persecutions, that at one time the male children were murdered at their birth, because the wondering Egyptians were terrified at the too great increase of that people.”
After Jacob and Joseph died, the Israelites grew enormously in number over the next 144 years despite severe persecution, including the killing of newborn boys, because the Egyptians were alarmed by their rapid population growth.
Describes the oppression of Israel in Egypt and the context for Moses' birth.
“Then Moses, being stealthily kept from the murderers of the infants, was brought to the royal house, God preparing to do great things by him, and was nursed and adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh (that was the name of all the kings of Egypt), and became so great a man that he—yea, rather God, who had promised this to Abraham, by him—drew that nation, so wonderfully multiplied, out of the yoke of hardest and most grievous servitude it had borne there.”
Moses was hidden from the infant killers and later adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and through him God fulfilled the promise to Abraham by leading the multiplied Israelites out of harsh Egyptian slavery.
Highlights Moses' providential rescue and role as deliverer.
“And it was to prefigure this that it was not Moses, who received the law for the people on Mount Sinai, that led the people into the land of promise, but Joshua, whose name also was changed at God’s command, so that he was called Jesus.”
As a foreshadowing, it was not Moses (the lawgiver) but Joshua (whose name means 'Jesus') who led the people into the promised land, prefiguring Christ's role in bringing salvation.
Typological interpretation of Joshua as a type of Christ.
“He was made a kind of starting-point and beginning of the advanced youth of God’s people, who had passed a kind of age of puberty from Abraham to this David.”
David marked the beginning of the mature phase of God's people, comparable to adolescence, which started with Abraham and culminated in David.
Explains the symbolic ages of the city of God.
