The Mission of God (8)

1 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.” 3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them,

“Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them.

7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. 10 Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

Introduction

The people of Israel are engaged in the conquest of the land of Canaan.

they are on a mission to make their own what God has promised to them

its really God’s mission and they are joining him on his mission

They won a resounding victory at the city of Jericho back in chapter 6, but then chapter 7, there was a shocking reversal; a humiliating defeat at the next Amorite city as they made their way into the land, the city of Ai,

The Defeat was because of Achan who stole some of the plunder from the city and kept it for himself that the Lord had forbidden them to do.

Joshua 7 ended with the wrath of God being poured out on Achan and his household. Only then did the Lord turn from His burning anger.

As chapter 8 opens, at least the problem of sin in the camp has been dealt with, but that still leaves the problem of Ai. The Amorite city remains undefeated. Before they can move on, the Israelites must return and try again.

Our passage today sketches out the tactics and the outcomes of the second battle of Ai.

The story is told brilliantly in a dramatic, fast-paced action movie sort of way. All of it concludes as some sort of Hollywood Blockbuster epic with a final wide-angle shot of the whole nation gathered after the battle near Shechem in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, solemnly worshiping the Lord and renewing their covenant with Him. We can, rather, miss the forest to closely study the trees.

We can, rather, miss the forest to closely study the trees.

This chapter is not mainly about Joshua and it is not mainly about Israel.

It’s not even mainly about Ai.

This is a chapter about God.

The Grace and Mercy of God

After the first battle of Ai, Joshua cried out in the wake of their defeat in lamentation to God. And in his prayer, he gave voice to his fear that, “The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about their defeat and surround them and cut off their name from the earth.” That was Joshua’s prayer in chapter 7.

The problem, as far as Joshua could see, was not yet knowing about Achan’s sin, the problem was that God had let them down.

Admittedly, this was not Joshua’s finest moment.

His faith in Israel’s future seems almost entirely to collapse. And so as far as Joshua is concerned, God is entirely to blame.

lets look for evidences of God’s Mercy

The First Evidence of the Mercy of God

But look now with me at chapter 8 verse 1 as God speaks once more to Joshua.

And don’t you find what He says rather surprising in light of Joshua’s previous, wrong-headed, and frankly accusatory prayer? Look at

chapter 8 verse 1. “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.”

Can you see it?

Even though the defects in Joshua’s prayer were considerable,

even though he blamed God for the effects of Achan’s sin,

and even though God would have been just and right to do otherwise, nevertheless,

he still answers the central concern of Joshua’s prayer in His great kindness, in His great provision.

English Standard Version Chapter 7

O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

And not only does He deal with the specific problem that Joshua complains about in his prayer,

the aftereffects of their defeat at Ai,

God deals with the fear that lurked at the roots of Joshua’s confusion and despair in the first place.

Do not fear and do not be dismayed.

Sometimes God refuses to answer our prayers because they are filled with wrong-headed, prideful, self-centered requests.

James 4, verses 2 and 3 – “You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly that you may spend it on your passions.”

· Sometimes our prayers are just wrong and they meet with divine silence. That’s often true. It’s been true in our experience, hasn’t it?

· Sometimes, despite the defects and the twisted praying that goes on in our hearts, God still answers us in His great mercy.

And He answers in such a way as to address not just the surface problem – in Joshua’s case it was the undefeated city of Ai –

but also the deeper need of our hearts, which of course is not always what we are asking for, but it is always what we really need.

And He does it – because that’s what He’s like.

How easy to forget that and paint a picture of God as hard and cold and reluctant.

When the truth is, He is generous to His people, He attends to our hearts and He gives us His grace and He lavishes upon us His kindness despite our undeserving.

Isn’t that true? The generosity of God.

that's the first evidence of God’s grace and mercy

The Second evidence of His Grace and His mercy.

God tells Joshua He has given Ai into their hands and “its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves.”

“You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock” – what?

What do you expect to follow the mention of the spoil and the livestock of the city of Ai?

Certainly so far in the book of Joshua God had told Israel not even to touch them.

They are devoted things, you remember.

So they are to either be destroyed or they are to be deposited in the treasury of the Lord in the tabernacle.

It was wicked Achan who took some of the spoil for himself, and we know how that turned out. But now look at the directions God gives to Joshua and Israel through Joshua in verse 2.

“Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves.” If only Achan had waited! If only he had waited!

If only Achan had waited! If only he had waited!

You know, a large part of the bitterness of sin is that the satisfaction it promises us at the moment it can never really deliver.

But if we only trusted in the provision of the Lord, we would find it, very often, grace supplies freely the reality that sin deceptively promises.

Sex and money,

the abuse of alcohol,

workaholism,

the dangers of affluence and all the varied vices after which our hearts are constantly drawn.

All of these promise us satisfaction and relief and joy and a sense of worth and the acceptance of others and a hundred other things besides.

But haven’t we found – to our terrible disappointment – that while they may taste sweet in our mouths in the moment, they very soon turn bitter.

They simply do not deliver. They do not deliver.

“Grace is sweeter than sin. Grace is more nourishing, more satisfying, and more generous than all the illicit pleasures the world can offer. ”

David Strain

Some of us know the feeling. We have run after the fleeting pleasures of sin, blinded by its empty promises, only to realize after the fact that if we had only waited on the Lord,

we would have found our real heart need abundantly supplied without the bitterness of regret or the tragedy of painful consequences.

When we begin to think as Achan undoubtedly must have thought when he stole from the city of Ai

that God is being needlessly restrictive and narrow in His commandments to us,

When we allow ourselves to think that way about His holy law,

it is then that we start to take matters into our own hands, to go our own way, to seek our own satisfaction on our own terms.

And we have lost sight of the generosity of God. If only we could see it, we never would run after these empty pleasures. We’ve come to think of Him and His law as restrictive and harsh, when

In fact if we would but trust Him and walk in His ways, all that your heart really needs He will abundantly supply.

Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” The generosity of God.

A Second Chance to Obey

Between the loss at Ai and the return to face Ai again, the Lord gives Joshua the same instructions he gave him before they crossed the Jordan River, before the battle of Jericho, and before this second war with Ai: “Do not be afraid or discouraged” (Josh 1:9; 8:1).

In fact, the Lord gave Joshua essentially the same assurance against Ai that he had given in the battle against Jericho: “Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land” (v. 1). God had said to Joshua prior to the conflict with Jericho, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you” (6:2).

See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king.

Like Jericho, the city of Ai is to be burned and its king exterminated. Unlike Jericho, Ai’s spoil and plunder could be kept for the use of the Israelites (v. 2).

Achan could have prevented the premature deaths of his family and the destruction of his properties had he obeyed God and been patient. Jesus reminds us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matt 6:33). Believers are admonished to do God’s will every time.[1]

Follow God’s Rules

One of the reasons for the failure of Israel at the first battle at Ai was their presumption.

Do you remember that? They did not seek God.

They did not wait upon God.

They simply assumed that God would be on their team, that God would fight for them, and that God would endorse their plan.2

There is a new pattern here at the second battle of Ai. In verses 1 and 2

God who tells Joshua what to do.

Do you see that in verses 1 and 2?

The ambush of the Amorite city is all God’s idea.

And in verses 3 through 8, Joshua fills out the details for the troops.

Israel will draw the enemy out of the city,

then another force will attack and conquer the now defenseless city,

and when the Amorite army sees the smoke of the city burning behind them,

they’ll turn back and Israel will spring their trap and the Amorites will be caught between two elements of the Israelite army.

It is a devastating tactic, but the strategy it serves belongs entirely to the Lord. It’s His plan, not Joshua’s plan.

Notice in verse 18 the signal for the ambush to begin is not given until God says so. “The Lord said to Joshua,” verse 18, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” Verse 22 and again in verse 25 tells us Joshua did not lower the javelin in his hand until Ai had been completely destroyed.

here’s the point. God sets the plan, God tells Joshua when to fire the starter’s pistol, and they are not to stop until God’s purpose is completely fulfilled.

What is the lesson?

If we are to be sure of the power of God we must first be sure we submit to the rule of God.

If we are to be sure of the power of God, the blessing of God,

and the favor of God,

we must submit to the rule of God. God is in charge.

Joshua briefs his troops on the plan in verses 3 through 9, he concludes by saying to them, “You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”

This is not my plan. This is God’s plan.”

The strategy for a successful conquest, for a faithful, fruitful life, must be His and not ours.

He gives the marching orders.

He is the Commander in Chief, your Commander in Chief. “ 3

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” The generosity of God. The rule of God – we must submit to His governance. You are not in charge, not even in your own heart; He is.

All for Good

The plan’s success to conquer Ai depends entirely on the fact that Israel’s previous assault failed spectacularly.

In chapter 7, as a result of Achan’s sin, the Israelites were routed.

They fled before the Amorite soldiers. And now look at chapter 8, verses 5 through 7.

Joshua says, “And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand.”

Here is the wisdom of God at work.

The Lord their God will give them the city, give it into their hands. He will do it, however – notice this – by making use of the sin of Achan and all the sorry consequences that followed in its wake.

The success of the second battle of Ai depended on the failure of the first battle of Ai. It’s the wisdom of God.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Let’s bring it to bear now on what is really happening in our lives. You know this! So take hold of it and bring it to bear on your present circumstances.” “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” That is how God operates in His great wisdom. 3 Article from First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

Even the sin of Achan and the terrible defeat at Ai, even these things work together for Israel’s good?

My Sin, My Failures, and My God

My sin and the crushing shame that I’ve felt and the mess that I’ve made and the terrible consequences that have followed the shipwreck of my life, you mean to say even this belongs in the plan and purposes of God for my everlasting good if I am His child?

Yes, Paul says. Yes, Joshua says. That’s exactly what I mean to say. The manifold wisdom of God accomplishes His perfect plan in such a way that there would be no victory at Ai without the previous defeat at Ai.

There would be no careful detailed obedience by the people of God now at Ai without the hard lessons that followed their sin and failure at Ai.

Maybe you’re here today and you’re really broken, really broken over your sin by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

You see it, you see it and you hate it, and you are turning from it. But there’s a part of you that wonders if there’s anything good left for you from here on out as you see the wretchedness of your sin.

Maybe You wonder, “Am I beyond all usefulness now? Am I damaged goods now?”

Well let me say to you in the light of the teaching of Joshua chapter 8, dear Christian friend,

As you cling to Jesus, there is nothing in your past, nothing, that He can’t use to bring glory to His name and blessing into your life and into the lives of others around you.

Nothing. Nothing. Not even your sin. That is the great wisdom of our God.

Yesterday’s defeat, He can make an instrument of tomorrow’s victory.

There is nothing in your past that can thwart His purpose for your good today or tomorrow. Nothing.

Reflect

1. Who are some biblical characters who received undeserved second chances from God?

2. What was different about Israel’s second battle with Ai compared to the first?

3. What is the difference between being a “product of the past” and a “prisoner of the past”?

4. God allows the Israelites to keep the spoils of war this time. What does that say about God? What does it mean for his people?[2]

[1]Smith, R., Jr. (2023). Exalting Jesus in Joshua (D. Platt, D. L. Akin, & T. Merida, Eds.; p. 122). Holman Reference. 2Article from First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi [2]Smith, R., Jr. (2023). Exalting Jesus in Joshua (D. Platt, D. L. Akin, & T. Merida, Eds.; pp. 126–127). Holman Reference.

Related Media

Related Sermons