Joshua 7-8 "Ai"

It is somewhat unusual to have so much information up front as we get in verse 1.

The narrator does not give us the story, and then explain why.

We get the why first.

The people of Israel broke faith.

Achan, the son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things.

And so the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.

1. The First Battle of Ai (7:2-5)

But none of this was known to Joshua.

His spies told him that Ai was a weak and feeble town.

2-3,000 soldiers should be sufficient to take the town-

especially since God was with them!

So Joshua sent 3,000 men against Ai.

But they were quickly routed.

Whereas the hearts of the Canaanites had melted when puny little Israel

crossed the Jordan,

now the hearts of Israel melt before the puny little town of Ai.

This is spiritual warfare.

2. The Humiliation of Joshua (7:6-9)

And so Joshua asks the now familiar question-

indeed, this is the question of his generation:

"Why did God bring us out of Egypt-

was it simply to give us into the hands of the Amorites?" (7:7)

This was asked in Exodus 14:11-12 at the Red Sea

And again in Exodus 16:3, when they were starving of hunger,

and again in Exodus 17:3, when there was no water,

and again in Numbers 14:22, when they were afraid to enter the Land,

and again in Numbers 20:5, when again there was no water,

and again in Numbers 21:5, when they complained about the manna.

But in all those instances, Joshua had remained faithful.

When the people complained against Moses, time after time,

Joshua alone stood beside him.

Has Joshua now succumbed to the grumbling and complaining of his generation?

If all you read is verse seven,

then it might appear to be so.

But then again, Joshua has a just complaint.

So far as he knows, Israel has been faithful.

Israel has believed God's promises, obeyed God's voice,

and the result should be the destruction of their enemies.

But God has not kept up his side of the covenant.

Why did you bring us here?

Joshua's question is not based on his own suffering,

but upon the Lord's promises.

You said you would go before our armies,

but now you are fighting against us! (Read v8-9)

How can you do this, God?

How can you let your people die, when you promised us life!?

3. The Voice of the LORD Speaks in Rebuke (7:10-15)

God says, "get up!"

There is no mystery here.

The reason why I will not fight for you is because of your rebellion.

(Read 11-12)

Because Israel has taken things devoted for destruction,

therefore Israel itself has become devoted for destruction.

And so a second time God says "get up!"

Go deal with your sin:

Consecrate the people

(involved washing with water and abstaining from sexual intercourse)

and then gather and draw lots to determine who has done this.

(Read 14-15)

4. The Revelation of Achan's Sin (7:16-26)

And so Joshua did what God said.

Joshua is the faithful servant of the LORD.

When God speaks, Joshua obeys.

And so the next day Joshua brings the tribes of Israel before him,

and Judah is taken,

the clan of the Zerahites, the household of Zabdi-and finally Zabdi's grandson,

Achan.

This usage of the lot was ordained by God to determine who had sinned.

But you will notice that it was not sufficient to convict Achan.

The lot has fallen to Achan,

and Achan now realizes that he cannot escape the judgment of God.

Joshua declares (verse 19)

And Achan replies (verse 20-21)

Achan confesses his sin, and when they confirm his words (verse 22-23),

they take him out to the Valley of Achor, where he was stoned to death

and burned together with all his household and his belongings.

Death by stoning was reserved for the worst sins-especially blasphemy.

Achan is not simply guilty of theft and of lying,

he is guilty of blaspheming God, by stealing from Yahweh himself.

Many centuries later, Ananias and Sapphira will be struck down by God

for lying to the Holy Spirit.

Israel is coming into their inheritance.

In this inheritance, they are to remember that the first portion of all that they have

belongs to God,

because the whole inheritance is a gift from him.

Achan acknowledged that the root of his sin was coveteousness.

He coveted that which belonged to God, and so he stole from Yahweh.

And through his sin, judgment fell upon the whole of Israel.

Indeed, he was guilty also of murder,

because many Israelites died because of his sin.

The rebellion of the few-or even of the one-jeopardizes the inheritance of the many.

Therefore Israel must purge the evil from their midst,

and so Achan and his household are removed from Israel.

We do not know whether his wife and children were involved in his sin.

But just as God's blessing comes to you and your house,

so also God's curse.

As Achan has brought trouble (achor) on Israel,

so now God will bring trouble (achor) on Achan in the Valley of Achor.

This is where the Valley of Achor gets its name-the Valley of Trouble.

Isaiah 65:9-10 speaks of the eschatological blessing of God in these terms

I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 65:10 Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.

But, God warns, he will destroy those who rebel.

The lesson of the Valley of Achor is that those who trouble God's inheritance

will themselves receive trouble.

Hosea 2:15 speaks, though, of a day when God will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

The Valley of Trouble will one day be a place of righteousness and peace.

5. The Voice of the LORD Speaks in Promise (8:1-2)

Now the LORD speaks a second time.

This time he echoes his words from chapter 1,

"Do not fear and do not be dismayed."

God's anger has been satisfied.

The wages of sin is death.

And Achan has paid for his sin.

The troubler of Israel has been put to death, and so now they may go back into battle.

But there is still a penalty for Achan's sin that falls upon the whole community.

They will not be allowed to preserve the infrastructure of Ai.

They must destroy the city and all of its houses and lands.

But they may take its spoil and livestock as plunder.

As with Jericho, so now Ai.

The rest of the Canaanite cities will be left standing.

All of the people will be killed,

but the cities and fields will become the inheritance of Israel.

6. The Second Battle of Ai (8:3-23)

And God commands that the Second Battle of Ai be an ambush.

God himself takes command of his armies for this battle,

ordering the battle in order to reveal

And Joshua did all that the LORD commanded.

Again we see Joshua as the faithful servant of the LORD,

who leads the people in the ways of Yahweh.

Through Joshua, God will give the people their inheritance.

But now rather than a part of the army, the whole army will go together.

Joshua sent 30,000 men to lie in ambush behind the city, to the north,

and another 5,000 to the west of the city.

Then he and his men came against the city,

And when the men of Ai and Bethel saw Joshua come,

they came out to battle,

expecting to rout Israel once again.

And Joshua played into his hands,

pretending to be beaten, and fleeing back in retreat.

But when the men of Ai and Bethel pursued Israel,

Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand,

and the ambushing forces quickly took the city.

Then Joshua and his men turned back against the armies of Ai,

and slaughtered the men and women of the city-12,000 in all.

And they captured the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.

7. The Exaltation of Joshua (8:24-29)

After the first battle of Ai, we saw the humiliation of Joshua.

Now we see his exaltation.

We see it in the comparison to Moses.

Moses had held up his staff in Exodus 17,

and whenever Moses held up his staff, Joshua was victorious.

Now Joshua is the one stretching out his javelin-

he is the warrior of God who devotes all the inhabitants of Ai

to destruction.

We also see it in his faithfulness to God's commands.

He is the faithful servant who does all that God commands.

Later kings of Israel will fail to destroy enemy kings,

but Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening.

And at sunset he orders that the body of the king of Ai

be cast at the gates of the city, and a heap of stones is placed there

as a monument to the faithfulness of Joshua's God.

And so Joshua is exalted as the one who brings Israel through trouble to glory.

You may notice that there are two heaps of stones in this passage:

one for Achan, and one for the king of Ai.

Two memorials by which to remember the faithfulness of God in judgment.

There is also another "heap" of stones.

8. The Covenant Renewed (8:30-35)

Joshua has an altar built of uncut stones, in accordance with what God had commanded Moses.

(Dt. 11:29; 27:1-6)

The conquest of the land is not just a military operation.

It is an act of worship.

Gerizim and Ebal

John 4