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Okay, we're going to read Joshua
8 and cover the destruction of Ai. Joshua 8, beginning in verse
1. Now the Lord said to Joshua,
Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed. Take all the people of war with
you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand
the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. And you shall
do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king.
Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind
it." So Joshua arose and all the people of war to go up against
Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty
men of valor and sent them away by night. And he commanded them,
saying, Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind
the city. Do not go very far from the city,
but all of you be ready. Then I and all the people who
are with me will approach the city, and it will come about.
When they come out against us as at the first, that we shall
flee before them. For they will come out after
us till we have drawn them from the city. For they will say,
they are fleeing before us as at the first. Therefore, we will
flee before them. Then you shall arise from the
ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver
it into your hand. And it will be when you have
taken the city that you shall set the city on fire. According
to the commandment of the Lord, you shall do. See, I have commanded
you.' Joshua therefore sent them out, and they went to lie in
ambush and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night
among the people. And Joshua rose up early in the
morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders
of Israel, before the people to Ai. And all the people of
war who were with him went up and drew near. And they came
before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley
lay between them and Ai. So he took about 5,000 men and
set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the
city. And when they had set the people,
all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear
guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the
midst of the valley. Now it happened, when the king
of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early
and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people,
at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know
that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua
and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them and fled
by the way of the wilderness. So all the people who were in
Ai called together to pursue them, or were called together
to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were
drawn away from the city. There was not a man left in Ai
or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the
city open and pursued Israel. Then the Lord said to Joshua,
stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I
will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the
spear that was in his hand toward the city. So those in ambush
arose quickly out of their place. They ran as soon as he had stretched
out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried
to set the city on fire. And when the men of Ai looked
behind them, they saw and behold the smoke of the city ascended
to heaven. So they had no power to flee
this way or that way. And the people who had fled to
the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. Now when Joshua
and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the
smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the
men of Ai. Then the others came out of the
city against them. So they were caught in the midst
of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they
struck them down so that they let none of them remain or escape.
But the king of Ai they took alive and brought him to Joshua.
And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all
the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where
they pursued them, and when they had all fallen by the edge of
the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned
to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. So it was
that all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all
the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back
his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly
destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the livestock and
the spoil of that city, Israel took as booty for themselves,
according to the word of the Lord, which he had commanded
Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made
it a heap forever, a desolation to this day. And the king of
Ai, he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun
was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down
from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city,
and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this
day. Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in
Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the
children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law
of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded
an iron tool. and they offered on it burnt
offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in
the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones
a copy of the Law of Moses, which he had written. Then all Israel,
with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side
of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark
of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who
was born among them. Half of them were in front of
Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had commanded before, that they should
bless the people of Israel. And afterward, he read all the
words of the law, the blessings and the cursings according to
all that is written in the book of the law. It was not a word
of all that Moses had commanded, which Joshua did not read before
all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and
the strangers who were living among them. Amen. Well, we're
in that section where they are engaged in taking the land specifically
In Joshua chapter 6, we saw a victory in Jericho. Remember that in
Jericho, however, Achan took for himself certain of the things
that were under the ban. And as a result, in chapter 7,
when they launch this incursion or this invasion into Ai, they
don't even get into the city, but rather they have to turn
and flee. And they lose men, and they lose
the battle completely. And remember that Joshua cries
out to the Lord, He's seeking the Lord. The Lord tells him
to get up, to deal with the sin in the camp. Once they have dealt
with the sin in the camp, according to chapter 7, Verse 26, it says,
so the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Now that the fierceness
of God's anger has turned away from Israel, it is time for them
to go and to take the city of Ai. I must make a confession
at the outset, I was running behind all day long and there
is some difficult things in this particular chapter just in terms
of the details and the fleshing out. Chapter 8, verse 3, it says
that Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them away
by night. And then in verse 9, it says
that Joshua therefore sent them out. So as I understand it, and
I'm certainly open for correction, But verses 3 to 8 is sort of
a description of what is going to happen, or the instructions
concerning the invasion. And then the execution of the
plan comes beginning in verse 9. As well, the numbers. You've got 30,000 men, and then
you've got a reference to 5,000 men. Some say that there were
30,000 in total, and that of that 30,000, 5,000 served as
the ambush. The ambush, I trust, was the
ones on the west side and on the north side of AI. That was
the chief force along with Joshua. So the numbers, again, are a
bit difficult. Dale Ralph Davis suggests that
there were actually two ambushes. We can look at that as we go
through this. But there are some details here
that are a little bit difficult, at least in my pea brain, to
sort of work out. But the main point and the gist
of the battle plan is crystal clear, and how they gained victory
here at AI. So we're going to look at it
under four considerations this evening. The first is the command
concerning AI in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the instruction
concerning the invasion in verses 3 to 8, the execution of the
battle plan in verses 9 to 29, and then the renewal of the covenant
in verses 30 to 35. Davis entitled his chapter on
this Combat and Covenant. I think that actually captures
the thrust of the chapter very vividly. The first 29 verses
deal with combat in Ai, and then the last few verses deal with
covenant, the renewal of the covenant with the people of God.
So those are the four headings that we're going to look at tonight.
So notice, first of all, with reference to verses 1 and 2,
the Lord God reminds the Lord God says to Joshua in verse one
do not be afraid nor be dismayed this comes up in Joshua's commission
in Joshua chapter 1 at verse 6 be strong and of good courage
for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the
land which I swore to their fathers to give them and then again in
verse 9 have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage
do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with
you wherever you go." Remember the wrath of the Lord has been
averted. God has turned from the fierceness
of his anger toward Israel and now the Lord comes And he graciously
speaks this word to Joshua, do not be afraid nor be dismayed. We need to have confidence, we
need to have faith in the living and true God if we are going
to undertake on his behalf. If we are going to seek to do
those things which please him and glorify him, we need the
confidence that he is with us and that he has called upon us
not to be afraid, not to be dismayed. And then notice as well the specific
instruction that he gives here in verse 1. Take all the people
of war with you. This is in contrast to the instruction
of the spies in chapter 7. Remember, the spies said it's
not that big of a deal. It's not that big of a city.
We can probably get by with 2 or 3,000 troops. And so Joshua dispatches
3,000 troops according to Joshua 7. Well, here the Lord God calls
the entire covenant community He says, take all the people
of war with you, or all the soldiers rather, arise and go up to Ai. And then note what he says in
verse 1. See, I have given into your hand
the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." This is
precisely what the Lord had said concerning Jericho in chapter
6 at verse 2. So we need to understand this.
God identifies sin in the camp. The people put the sin away vis-a-vis
Stoney, Aitken to death. The Lord God turns from the fierceness
of his anger And now we can go on as we were scheduled to do. So sin will arise in the camp. It's never a question of sin
versus no sin. There will always be sin. But
it's how we deal with that sin. Do we cover it? Do we try to
explain it away? Do we try to pretend that it
isn't there? Or do we use God's means in God's
way in order to deal with that sin so that we may indeed proceed
upon the path that He's ordained for us? There's certainly a lesson
here with reference to our own individual lives and with reference
to church life. It's never the case that we're
not going to sin. It's always the case that we
need to handle our sin the way God specifies. Like Pastor Smith
said in that letter in Pakistan, maintaining short accounts with
God and men, or having a conscience void of offense toward God and
men. No one will ever be able to look at you and say, that's
a perfect man. But they ought to be able to look at you and
say, that's a man who's seeking to deal with his sin the way
that the Bible specifies. He who covers his sin will not
prosper, but whoever confesses it and forsakes it will find
mercy, according to Proverbs 28.13. 1 John 1.9, if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. So when we see this event, we
see defeated Ai, we see this national tragedy in terms of
Achan, but once this sin is dealt with, they're able to proceed,
they're able to go on, they're able to continue business as
usual, and that is precisely what the Lord promises here in
verse 1, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people,
his city, and his land. And then notice in verse 2, And
you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its
king. So again, sin is dealt with,
God's wrath is turned away, and His blessing is promised upon
them. And not only that, but He promises
gift. He gives them good things. They
don't have to steal. They don't have to deceive. They
don't have to covet and hide things underneath their tent.
At the end of verse 2 he says, only its spoil and its cattle
you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind
it. So in this instance the Lord
gives them that prerogative to go in and instead of utterly
destroying every single item, every material good, they are
able to take these things. The spoil and its cattle you
shall take as booty for yourselves. The Lord is not a harsh taskmaster. The Lord is good and kind and
benevolent. There is precedent for this in
the previous battles according to Deuteronomy chapters 2 and
3. when they dealt with Sihon and Og and those skirmishes,
they were able to take these sorts of things as well as spoil
from or as booty from the particular war. So God is kind and merciful
in granting them this. And then that last statement
of verse 2, lay an ambush for the city behind it. Now, notice,
God is sovereign, as we should recognize in these first two
verses, right? The Lord God says, I have given
you this city. It is as good as done. It wasn't
done yet. They still need to go and take
the edge of the sword and utterly destroy everything. man and woman
that inhabits that particular place, but they have been promised
it by God. Now notice God's absolute sovereignty
does not diminish the need for warriors and for a strategy and
for a battle plan. And interestingly enough, a strategy
that includes a ruse. The people of Israel are going
to fake out the people of AI in order to win this particular
battle. God is absolutely and comprehensively
sovereign. That fact does not diminish the
reality that we need to take the plans and we need to take
the initiative to execute the things we're supposed to do in
a responsible manner. The horse is prepared for the
day of battle. Victory is from the Lord. Those
truths are not enemies in the scripture. Those truths are friends. Victory does come from the Lord,
but that doesn't mean we don't prepare our horse. That doesn't
mean we don't clean our guns. That doesn't mean we don't sharpen
our swords. That doesn't mean we just lay
back and wait for God to deliver our enemies into our laps. You
cannot miss the reality that God the Lord has promised them
victory, but in that promise He has called them to responsible
action. But as well, notice the last
part of verse 2, lay an ambush for the city behind it. Even
the strategy that is used here, which is an ingenious strategy,
it is a very clever strategy. The cleverness belongs to the
Lord. Now the rest of the chapter fleshes
out how that will be done, but nevertheless we need to see sovereignty
does not diminish the reality that Joshua has to act capably
and competently and he has to charge his soldiers He has to
give them directions. They have to cover the West.
They have to go to the North. They have to execute this judgment
effectively and in an orderly manner because God has promised
them victory. We cannot ever suppose that because
God has made a promise, we ought to just lie back and wait for
Him to drop the answer right into our lap. The sovereignty
of God does not diminish the responsibility of Israel and
Joshua. And it is also the sovereignty
of God that is responsible for the brilliant strategy that is
employed. I mean, if we look at this chapter,
we say, Joshua is a, what a wonderful military leader, what a great
general, what a great man in terms of what he did here. Well,
verse 2 tells us, lay an ambush for the city behind it. God has
instructed them. on how they are to carry out
this particular task. So that's the command concerning
A.I. Notice, secondly, the instruction
concerning the invasion, verses 3 to 8. The troops are selected,
verse 3, so Joshua arose and all the people of war to go up
against A.I. and Joshua chose 30,000 mighty
men of valor and sent them away by night. As I mentioned, Dale
Ralph Davis suggests that there were two, or this seems to be
the way he leans, that there were two ambushes. He says, some
prefer to view the 30,000 as specifying the total number of
troops used and the 5,000 of verse 12, that is indicated in
verse 12, as indicating the actual number used in the ambush. Others
think there were two ambush groups of 30,000 and 5,000 respectively. And then he says, perhaps Joshua
intended one unit to send AI up and smoke and the other to
stifle any further assistance from Bethel. On this view, Joshua
and the main army would be on the north of AI with two ambush
units hidden out to the west of AI between Bethel and AI. Now, if you're looking for, I
don't know, it's a bit of a perplexing situation. This much I'm sure
of. The bulk of the troops went to
the north side of Ai. The smaller body went to the
west. They would be the ones that would
ambush the city. So let's go back to verse 4.
He commanded them, saying, behold, you shall lie in ambush against
the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city,
but all of you be ready. Then I and all the people who
are with me will approach the city. And it will come about
when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall
flee before them." This is ingenious, because this is what just happened
in chapter 7. Remember, Israel went to battle
with Ai. They get to Ai and then they
turn around and run. And the Aiites gave chase and
pursued them and killed 36 of them as they run back like crying
girls to the camp in Gilgal. So what Joshua does is we'll
do the same thing. We will stand before them at
the north. When they see and spot us, when
they come out, we will turn and run just like we did the other
time. That will have the net effect
of the AI people, don't want to call them AI-ites, because
that's a bit difficult to say, but the AI people will then follow. Once all of the people leave
the city, then the ambush moves in and takes the city. Truly
is an ingenious battle plan. so simple but oftentimes the
best plans are simple. So verse 5 he rehearses that,
verse 6, for they will come out after us till we have drawn them
from the city, for they will say they are fleeing before us
as at the first. Therefore we will flee before
them. Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city,
here it is, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your
hand. You see, the Lord your God delivers
it into your hands through strategy, through battle plans, through
ambushes, through all those things. The sovereignty of God never
diminishes the responsibility of man. And then in verse 8 it
says, And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you
shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment
of the Lord you shall do. See, I have commanded you. Now
I take this fire as more of the signal fire that the people of
Ai saw, and that the fire of verse 28 is the actual destruction
fire. So I think this initial fire
in verse 8 is what the Ai people saw, and then they realized they
were in a great pickle. Verse 28 is the final destruction
of the city by fire. So that's the instruction. It's
a simple plan. Let's look at the execution of
the plan, verses 9 to 29. He marshals the troops, verses
9 to 13. Joshua, therefore, sent them
out. They went to lion ambush and stayed between Bethel and
Ai on the west side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night
among the people. Again, I think the west side
is the ambush troops. Joshua is with the chief force.
And he stays at night among them. Then Joshua rose up early in
the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the
elders of Israel, before the people, the Ai, and all the people
of war who were with him went up and drew near, and they came
before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley
lay between them and Ai. So he took about 5,000 men and
set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai on the west side of the
city. And when they had set the people,
all the army that was on the north of the city and its rear
guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the
midst of the valley." So with the chief force, they start to
move forward to the city of Ai. The western side has the ambush. They're ready and waiting to
bring the judgment of God upon these Canaanites. Now notice
in verse 14, now it happened. When the king of Ai saw it, that
the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against
Israel to battle, he and all his people at an appointed place
before the plain." So they see Joshua and the troops of Israel
advancing toward the city on the north. So the king of Ai
rallies the troops, as a good king ought to do, and they say,
let's go meet that opposition and bring the heat to bear upon
them. We've done it once. We did it
in chapter 7. I don't think the king of A.I.
said that, but we just did it recently, so certainly we'll
be able to route these Israelites an additional time. Then notice
what we see at the end of verse 14. These are one of those, the
omniscient commentary, or the bird's eye view given to us by
God, by the author of scripture under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. But he did not know that there was an ambush against
him behind the city. So now we watch this king of
Ai and all of his troops just basically run headlong into the
judgment of the living and true God. So then verse 15, Joshua
and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them and fled
by the way of the wilderness. So all the people who were in
Ai were called together to pursue them and they pursued Joshua
and were drawn away from the city. There was not a man left
in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. Now in verse 20,
I think it was 24 and 25, it does seem to indicate that there
were some still in the city of Ai, perhaps this isn't to be
taken completely or exclusively. But it seems as well that the
people of Bethel were assisting them. Now this isn't mentioned
elsewhere in Joshua in terms of Bethel and its destruction,
but here at least in verse 17, Ai and Bethel give chase to the
people of Israel. So they left the city open and
pursued Israel. So now we're looking at this
scene, right? You see the north, Joshua and the chief force, they
come, basically taunt the king of Ai. They say, you know, hey,
look at us, or whatever it was they do. So they turn around
and run. Now the king of Ai, all of the
inhabitants are the warriors of Ai, and then of Bethel start
to chase them. We're watching this, and we see
this 5,000 men sitting in the west, just waiting to march into
the city and bring destruction to bear. Verse 18, then the Lord
said to Joshua, this marks the narrative, verse 1, chapter 8,
now the Lord said to Joshua, here in verse 18, then the Lord
said to Joshua, stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward
Ai, for I will give it into your hand. and Joshua stretched out
the spear that was in his hand toward the city. So those in
ambush arose quickly out of their place. It's time for them to
act. They ran as soon as he had stretched
out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried
to set the city on fire. And when the men of Ai looked
behind them, they saw and behold the smoke of the city ascended
to heaven. So they had no power to flee
this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness
turned back on the pursuers." Now you see what's happened.
Everybody following this? This is some amazing picture
of God's hand, right? Again, sovereignty of God does
not minimize the place or diminish the place of a good battle plan
and a good strategy. So the men on the west penetrate
the city. They start to set the city on
fire. These people from AI that are
giving chase to the chief force look back and they see their
city on fire. Now the people of Israel turn
around and they come back on those men of Ai. Now they're
caught in a crossfire. You've got the ambush, you've
got the chief force, and you've got the Ai people right there
in the middle. God the Lord is bringing judgment
to bear on these particular people. This was a very successful ruse. This was a very successful plan. We see that the Lord commands
Joshua to stretch out his spear. The ambush is executed according
to verse 19, and the ambush is successful. Verses 20 to 23.
They enter, they take the city. They set the city on fire. The
army of A.I. sees, and it's too late. And
so it says, they turned back on the pursuers and they struck
the men of Ai in the wilderness. Notice verse 21. Now when Joshua
and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the
smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the
men of Ai. Then the others came out of the
city against them, so they were caught in the midst of Israel,
some on this side and some on that side. They struck them down
so that they let none of them remain or escape. But the king
of Ai they took alive and brought him to Joshua. So the plan is
executed, it is successful, it went according as God had told
them, it was all given to them by the Lord in His sovereignty,
in His power, in His grace, and they used the means and successfully
rout these men and ultimately kill these men out in the wilderness
and in the city. And then verses 24 to 29 basically
summarize the net effect of all of this. The people are killed,
verses 24 to 26. It came to pass when Israel had
made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field
in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all
had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed,
that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the
edge of the sword. So it was that all who fell that
day, both men and women, were 12,000. all the people of Ai. And then in verse 26, for Joshua
did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the spear
until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. So
Joshua is obedient. The children of Israel are obedient.
What is being underscored here is that when we fear the Lord,
we purge the sin from our camp, the Lord in His grace gives us
good things. We use the means that He's ordained
and He gives us victory and He gives us success. This is what
we are to gain and glean and garner from a study like this. Bit of a difficult one tonight,
kind of just running through the text, but we need to appreciate
what's going on here. Verse 27, they take the booty. Only the livestock and the spoil
of that city, Israel took his booty for themselves. according
to the word of the Lord, which he had commanded Joshua. The
city is utterly destroyed. According to verse 28, Joshua
burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this
day. And now the king is dealt with. The king of Ai is disposed of. Verse 29. And the king of Ai,
he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down,
Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the
tree. cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raise
over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day." Now
notice in chapter 10 at verses 26 and 27. We'll meet this concept
again. Chapter 10, verse 26, and afterward
Joshua struck them and killed them and hanged them on five
trees and they were hanging on the trees until evening. So it
was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded,
and they took them down from the trees, cast them into the
cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against
the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day. Probably
the backdrop is the text I referred to on Sunday morning in Deuteronomy
21. It was the case in Israel that
a man would be hanged on a tree, but he would not be left there
to hang overnight. There was a specific purpose
and view. Cursed is the man who is hanged on a tree, but you
didn't leave him there overnight. And then Craigie says that this
idea, Deuteronomy 21, 22 to 23, was to serve as a warning to
the population of the results of breaking those laws which
were punishable by death. That's why the man would be hanged
on the tree. So the same idea is probably
in view here. When the king of Ai is hanged
on this tree, it is to serve as a warning to the other kings
in the nations around them that God indeed was Lord and that
they were going to be judged. Davis says, the hanging of the
king of Ai is probably to be viewed in this light, with the
Deuteronomy 21. He says, here is a solemn sign
that he and his people, in fact all of Canaan, stand under God's
curse and judgment. Why? He says, see Leviticus 18
and Deuteronomy 9. Those are passages where God
says, go in, dispossess the land of the Canaanites because they're
wicked. It doesn't say, go in and dispossess the land of the
Canaanites because I'm not fair. No, it's because they're wicked,
vile, abominable sinners. So when God sends Israel in to
judge the Canaanites, it is just that. It is the execution of
God's justice and judgment against an abominable people. Now, we
know and are fully in tune with the fact that when Israel inhabits
the land and they live or function as Canaanites and they become
abominable, then God sends in another nation to dispossess
them from the land. So it's not arbitrary, it's not
capricious, it is an act of God's judgment in dealing with the
nations. So Davis goes on to say, certainly
it is gruesome, this idea of hanging a king on a tree. He
says, but perhaps the living God must stoop to such spectacles,
else we might never fear sin. I mean, we need to understand
that God takes these things seriously. This king is hung on this tree,
and it does demonstrate the vileness of sin and of the wickedness
of the Canaanites that had, in fact, inhabited the land. And
then notice at the end of verse 29. Isn't it interesting? Cast
it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it
a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Same thing happens
when they kill Achen. They cover his body with a great
heap of stones. Here, Woodstress says, God's
past acts of deliverance for Israel and of judgment on those
who disobey him, be they Israelite, pagan, or non-Israelite, could
thus be recalled by generations to come. In other words, if you
happen to be on a picnic with your family and your little child
said, Daddy or Mommy, why is that heap of stones over there?
And it happened to be an acorn. You could say, well, that was
Achen. And Achen stole from the Lord God Almighty and deceived
and hid it among his tent. The Lord said, we need to purge
that evil from our midst. So we stoned him to death with
stone. They happened to spy upon this
heap of stones that covered up the king of Ai, well the same
lesson is true. You see, God the Lord is just,
God the Lord is holy, God the Lord is righteous, and that heap
of stones ought to remind you of that little junior. So that's
the battle at Ai. Now notice finally the renewal
of the covenant. This is kind of an interesting
place, isn't it? In fact, some suggest that this
section, verses 30 to 35, should actually follow verse 2 of chapter
9. I don't think that at all. But look at what we have here.
We've got battle in Jericho, chapter 6. We've got attempted
battle in Ai, deal with the sin, and then battle in chapter 8.
Chapter 9 starts with basically a conspiracy or a federation
of kings talking together how they might stop Joshua and Israel. So the whole section is just
filled with battle. The whole section is about holy
war. The whole section is about going
and dispossessing the land of the Canaanites, taking your sword,
killing people, breaking things, taking booty, all of that. And
right smack dab in the middle, we're going to renew the covenant.
We're going to have a worship service. We're going to fear
God. We're going to glorify God. We're
going to honor God. Notice, in verse 30, the location
is Shechem. Now Joshua built an altar to
the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. Remember Mount Ebal and
Gerizim is where Shechem is. Shechem's an interesting place.
Shechem is where Abraham first received the promise that he
would receive land, was in Shechem. Shechem is almost shorthand for
the faithfulness of God. We might even call it the faithful
place because it truly does evidence that God who promised to Abraham
does make good on that promise. So it's a significant place in
that respect. There is precedence for this
activity. Notice in verse 31. As Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had commanded the children of Israel
as it is written in the book of the law of Moses. It's in
Deuteronomy 11 and it's in Deuteronomy chapter 27. Blessings and curses. Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim. They
represent certain truths concerning. the living and the true God.
You obey Him, you receive blessing. You disobey Him, you receive
cursing. Notice the specific activity
that is given here in verses 31 to 35. They are to build an
altar. It's supposed to be somewhat
crude. They're not to take a tool to
it, a wielding an iron tool. They're supposed to put this
together in accordance with the Book of Exodus. Then they offer
on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrifice peace offerings. You see, in the midst of bloodshed,
in the midst of mayhem, in the midst of battle, in the midst
of war, we mustn't forget it's holy war. This is for the living
and the true God. We don't just go out and kill
people and break things because we want to do that. but rather
we are under the behest, we are under the command, we are under
the direction of the Sovereign Lord of all the universe. So
the altar, the sacrifice, and the word take priority in Israel. Notice in verse 32, and there
in the presence of the children of Israel he wrote on the stones
a copy of the law of Moses which he had written. In verses 33
to 35 you will see the word all five times. You are to read all
of the law to all of the people of Israel. All of the people
of Israel are responsible to do and to hear all of the law. So you see, Israel doesn't just
go in and kill people and break things. They do it under the
direction and command of the God who they worship. Verse 33,
then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood
on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who
bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Remember that visible
representation. that visible symbol of the invisible
God that he was, in fact, with his people. The stranger, as
well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front
of Mount Gerizim, half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had commanded before, that they should
bless the people of Israel, and afterward he read all the words
of the law, the blessings and the cursings according to all
that is written in the book of the law, there was not a word
of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before
all the assembly of Israel." You see the emphasis there? All
of God's people need to heed all of God's Word. And it's not
just the warriors, it's not just the soldiers, it's not just the
men of valor. Notice, with the women, the little
ones, and the strangers who were living among them. You go back
to Deuteronomy chapter 6, you are It is obvious that the word
is to be central for the individual, for the family, society. The
word of the living God is to so permeate Israel, it is to
so activate Israel, that they are men and women and boys and
girls and strangers and natural born citizens and housemakers. Whatever it is, it is the word
of the covenant God that they are to respond to. All of the
law for all of God's people. So the flow of the narrative
is interesting. Battle, battle, battle, and then
we have break for covenant, battle, battle, battle. The emphasis
is on the covenant. It's on the God who speaks. I'll just close here with two
quotes, one from Woodstra and one from Davis. Woodstra says,
in unmistakably clear symbolism, the reader is told that the right
of possessing the promised land is tied to the proclamation of
and subjection to God's covenant claims upon his people. That's
what you get there in verses 30 to 35. God doesn't just throw
this land out to you because you're great guys. No, you're
in a covenant with the living and true God. Davis says it's
here to underscore the fact that covenant obedience has priority
over military victory. Indeed, that the former is the
basis of the latter, to show that heeding God's word is more
crucial than fighting God's war. By placing this covenant renewal
ceremony here, the writer is saying that Israel's success
does not primarily consist in knocking off Canaanites, but
in everyone's total submission to the word of God. It is as
if he is saying, stop the war and listen to the law of God.
This is the most urgent matter right now. I think that's exactly
what's going on. When we consider that from Ai
to Shechem, it's about 20 miles, they had to stop everything,
go there, and engage in this particular ceremony as an indicator
that it is the word of the living and true God that we are submitting
to. It is the covenant Lord who has
commanded us. It is the covenant Lord who has
gifted this to us. And we have responsibilities
to respond to the word of that covenant Lord. So that's combat
and covenant to steal Davis's chapter title for this evening. Well, let us close in a word
of prayer. Our Father, we thank You for this, Your Word. We thank
You for the lessons it teaches us concerning Your faithfulness
in delivering the land You promised to Abraham and showing us Your
sovereignty, the way that You give the land to Your people,
showing us Your kindness, Your mercy, Your grace, Your goodness,
and as well, shining the light upon Your justice and Your righteousness
and Your wrath and fury toward sin and sinners. God, I pray
that we learn the lessons from AI, that we learn the lessons
throughout this book of Joshua, and that, God, we would respond
to you as our covenant Lord, as the one who made us, the one
who redeemed us, the one who loves us, and the one who calls
us to pursue those things which are pleasing in his sight. We
ask now that you would go with us and watch over us in this
remainder of the week. Grant us grace and help and strength
to glorify you. And we ask through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
