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.
Introduction
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.
The Command Concerning Ai
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.
The Instruction Concerning the Invasion
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.
The Execution of the Battle Plan
Let's look at the execution of the plan, verses 9 to 29.
Marshalling the Troops
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.
The Ruse Enacted
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.
The Ambush Succeeds
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.
The Slaughter and the King's Fate
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.
The Renewal of the Covenant
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.
Shechem: the Faithful Place
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.
Altar, Sacrifice, and the Word
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.
Covenant Obedience Over Military Victory
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.
Closing Prayer
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.