Joshua: Servant of the Lord - Lesson 5

Overview

Defeat, Confession, and Victory: Joshua 7–8

After the triumph at Jericho, Israel suffers a stunning defeat at Ai. The cause is named in the opening verse of Joshua 7:1: Achan, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things, "and the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites." Notice how Scripture speaks: one man sinned, yet "the Israelites broke faith." This is the principle of collective retribution—the sin of one affects the whole community. We see the same pattern in Romans 5:12, where Adam's single trespass brought death to all. But the gospel answers in kind: as Romans 5:15-17 proclaims, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, brings a free gift of grace and righteousness that abounds for the many. The whole world has been objectively reconciled to God in Christ; that reconciliation is received subjectively through faith.

When Achan is finally exposed and confesses, he names the sequence of his sin: "I saw… I coveted… I took" Joshua 7:20-21. Though he may have received forgiveness from God, he still bore the civil consequences of his crime. This is an important pastoral distinction: divine forgiveness does not erase earthly accountability. A Christian can—and should—make sober judgments about outward actions; what we cannot judge is the heart. Then, in Joshua 8:1, the Lord meets a grief-stricken Joshua with a personalized word: "Do not fear or be dismayed." God still speaks this way to His people through His promises in Scripture; it is fitting in our devotional life to place our own name into those promises and receive them as personally addressed to us.

The victory at Ai comes through means—God uses the army of His people to accomplish what He has decreed. The same pattern holds at the cross, where God worked salvation through the means of Christ's sacrifice, and it holds in our own lives, where God uses us as His agents to bring the gospel to neighbors, coworkers, and family. As Romans 10:14-17 reminds us, faith comes by hearing. Kindness, good works, and faithful relationships are essential, but they are the bridge over which the gospel walks—they do not themselves convert. Niceness saves no one; the Word of God does. There are no "secret agents" in the Christian life. We are called to a verbal witness joined to a faithful life.

The chapter closes on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where Joshua builds an altar, copies the law on stones, and reads aloud every word of blessing and curse before the assembly—exactly as Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy 11:26-30. Roughly two million people stand with their eyes fixed on the ark in the valley between the mountains. Every element—the conquest, the altar, the sacrifices, the inscribed Torah—is prelude to Christ, the One who would come into this very land, fulfill the law perfectly so His righteousness might be credited to us, and offer Himself as the atoning sacrifice. The story of Joshua is, in the end, the story of Jesus pressing toward us from every page.

Transcript

Good morning. 6s

Let's pray, please. 9s

Gracious Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your word, for your word is truth. 11s

We ask Father for your blessing upon this lesson today. 16s

Guide us and lead us, teach us in Jesus' name. 22s

Amen. 26s

Last week we talked about how Joshua had an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ. 28s

That's what's called a Christophony. 35s

That was an example of that. 37s

We saw in terms of the story of Jericho, that that was a absolutely perfect city for 40s

God to display his power. 50s

Because Jericho was known to be that the tremendous city of a fortress. 53s

We saw how God exercised the faith of the people. 60s

As he made them do this seven day ritual, could God have done that in an instant, of course. 66s

And we talked about how God will sometimes use situations in our life to exercise our faith, 72s

to move us into greater and greater maturity. 80s

And of course, you know the principle that the more you continue to learn about Christ, 84s

the more you'll realize your own immaturity on that. 92s

You look at the great reformers, Luther, etc., Calvin. 96s

They have such a profound understanding of their immaturity in the faith and their need to grow. 100s

We're constantly a work in progress. 111s

We took a look at the protection for Rahab and her family, the former prostitute, 114s

received the protection that was promised to her by the two spies that had gone in. 120s

And we saw that Rahab and a man named Selman were the parents of Boaz, who it turns out is the 127s

great grandfather of David. So we see right embedded in the genealogy of our Lord recorded 134s

that in Christ all things have been made, have been made new. 142s

Well, we start today in chapter seven of our study. 148s

And it starts with a very ominous tone. 152s

So let's go to Joshua chapter seven, Genesis Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 154s

then Joshua, Joshua chapter seven, verse one. 161s

But the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things, 174s

Aiken, son of Karmie, son of Zabdi, son of Zera, of the tribe of Judah, 179s

took some of the devoted things and the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites. 185s

Joshua sent men from Jericho to I, which is near Bethhaven, east of Bethel, and said to them, 194s

go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out I, then they returned to Joshua and 201s

said to him, not all the people need go up. About two or three thousand men should go up and attack 208s

I, since they are so few, do not make the whole people toil up there. So about three thousand of 215s

the people went up there and they fled before the men of I. The men of I killed about 36 of them. 223s

Chasing them from outside the gate as far as she borem and killing them on the slope. 230s

The hearts of the people melted and turned to water. There's a fixing of blame for why this happened. 239s

And that's in back in verse one, but the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things. 251s

Aiken, son of Karmie, son of Zabdi, son of Zera of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things 259s

and the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites. 268s

Going on into verse six, then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before 276s

the ark of the Lord until the evening. He and the elders of Israel and they put dust on their heads. 285s

Joshua said, Oh, Lord God, why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all to 292s

hand us over to the Amorites so as to destroy us? Would it be content to settle beyond the Jordan? 297s

Oh, Lord, what can I say now that Israel has turned their backs to their enemies? 306s

The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and surround us and cut off our name 312s

from the earth. Then what will you do for your great name? 318s

The Lord said to Joshua, stand up. Why have you fallen upon your face? 324s

Israel has sinned. They have transgressed my covenant that I imposed on them. They have taken some 329s

of the devoted things. They have stolen. They have acted deceitfully and they have put them 335s

among their own belongings. You see, that's what it's referred to when it's talking about 341s

Aiken taking the devoted things. After the fall and destruction of Jericho, the people were not 346s

to take plunder there for themselves. Aiken took the plunder here for himself. He had sinned against 353s

what God had told the people to do and not to do. Verse 12, therefore the Israelites are 363s

unable to stand before their enemies. They turned their backs to their enemies because they had 371s

become a thing devoted for destruction themselves. I will be with you no more unless you destroy 376s

the devoted things from among you. Proceed to sanctify the people and say, sanctify yourselves 384s

for tomorrow. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel. There are devoted things among you, 392s

oh Israel, you will be unable to stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things 399s

from among you. In the morning, therefore, you shall come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that 404s

the Lord takes shall come near by clams. The clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households 411s

and the household that the Lord takes shall come near one by one. And the one who is taken as having 418s

the devoted things shall be burned with fire together with all that he has for having transgress 426s

the covenant of the Lord and for having done an outrageous thing in Israel. The reason for this 432s

disaster, the reason for it is what Akin has done. Notice here that what is used is the plural 443s

pronoun they throughout all of this. What did it was Akin? But there's corporate responsibility. 453s

That's what's called the principle of collective retribution. The principle of collective 463s

retribution. We see that, for example, in the in the sin of Adam. Let's go to Romans the fifth chapter, 468s

Romans chapter 5, verse 12, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Acts, and then Romans. 478s

Romans chapter 5, verse 12, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death 493s

came through sin, so death spread to all because all have sin. That's collective retribution. 503s

In other words, when Adam and Eve fell into sin, all of creation was tainted by sin. All of 515s

creation reflects the reality of sin. We see all of creation then, as since we reflect our first 522s

parents, we reflect who they were as sinners. Israel is blamed. Not just Akin. Israel is blamed. 530s

The good news of the gospel is that the second Adam, Jesus Christ, brings righteousness and life. 545s

Let's go to Romans chapter 5, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans. Romans chapter 5, 553s

verse 15. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's 561s

trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, 574s

Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. 582s

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. You see, that's referring back to 594s

Garden of Eden. But the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. Remember what 599s

that word means to be justified means to be made just as if you are never sinned. 609s

And the free gift, 16 again, in the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. 617s

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many 623s

trespasses brings justification. If because of the one man's trespass, death exercised a minion 628s

through that one. Much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift 636s

of righteousness exercised a minion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 644s

Principle of collective retribution. We see it in the story with regard to Aiken, the plural 654s

there of the vey. We also see that with regard to the reality of our own sin. We see then the 659s

second atom, Jesus Christ, makes what's called, we've talked about this before, but it's really an 666s

important concept. Objective justification. The whole world has been reconciled unto God. The whole 672s

world has been reconciled unto God. That differs from the theology of our of our Presbyterian 680s

friends who believe that Jesus came only for the elect. No, Jesus died for the entire world. 688s

The entire world has been justified and that is received through the term is subjective justification. 697s

That's that faith. That's that appropriation of the victory that has been won for us. 707s

Talking here then with regard to the story of Aiken, with regard to the story of Jesus in terms of 715s

this collective type of understanding. Let's go back now to Joshua, chapter 7. 721s

Joshua, chapter 7, we'll pick up in verse 19. 736s

Then Joshua said to Aiken, 751s

My son give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession to him. 754s

Tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me. 760s

And Aiken answered Joshua, it is true. I am the one who sinned against the Lord God of Israel. 765s

This is what I did. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shainar and 200 772s

shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. 779s

They now lie hidden in the ground inside my tent with the silver underneath. 787s

So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent and there it was. Hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 796s

They took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and they spread 805s

them out before the Lord. Then Joshua and all the Israelites and all Israel with him took Aiken, 810s

son of Zera, with the silver, the mantle and the bar of gold, with his sons and daughters, 819s

with his oxen, donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had and they brought them up to the valley 825s

of Aikor. Joshua said, why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord is bringing trouble on you today. 831s

And all Israel stoned him to death. They burned him with fire, cast stones on them 840s

and raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. 847s

And the Lord turned from his burning anger, therefore that place to this day is called the valley 853s

of Aikor. Although Aiken may have received forgiveness, he still faced the civil judgment and the 861s

consequences of what had occurred. It's the same way today. A criminal can receive forgiveness 874s

from the Lord from an action that is taken and yet bear responsibilities before the law. 884s

Remember I was in a jury pool several years ago and the judge asked, is there anyone here that 894s

feels like they cannot objectively serve on this jury? This lady's hand shot up and she said, 904s

I can. The judge said, why not? And she said, because I'm a Christian and therefore I cannot judge. 911s

I tell you, there was a sight of me that wanted to raise my hand and say, can I take this one? 923s

Can I take this? Because it was a theological statement that she was making. She was a theological 929s

statement that she was making. That she could not make a judgment based upon the law because she 938s

was a Christian because she's told that she cannot judge. On the very chapter that Jesus says 944s

that we are not to judge, Jesus is passing judgment on false prophets and false shepherds. 953s

What Jesus says we can't do is we can't judge the heart but we can certainly judge the 961s

outer actions. We see that throughout, Scripture all over the place. And so when she was making the 968s

appeal here that she couldn't judge because she was a Christian, that's a theological, it's not a legal 974s

problem there. That was a theological problem and the judge let her off too. And so I mean it's 981s

the judge's courtroom. I'm not going to start arguing the law with him. That's his business there. 987s

But theologically she was a miss there, right? She was theologically a miss. What we see here 993s

in this story with regard to Aiken, he can be forgiven of the sin of what he did but still face. 1000s

The civil consequences of what was done can still bear responsibility. Well Joshua is just 1009s

absolutely grief-stricken here over what has occurred. Let's go into chapter 8 verse 1. 1020s

And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear or be dismayed, take all the fighting men with you 1029s

and go up now to I. See, I have handed over to you the king of I with his people, his city and his 1035s

lamp. The Lord heaps encouragement upon Joshua and it's a personalized encouragement. 1044s

You never noticed how God does that in our lives? And you ever noticed in your life when 1053s

when maybe something really goes amiss and then all of a sudden you get this lovely blessing, 1061s

this encouraging word for from someone else? That is the Lord always at work bringing a personalized 1069s

encouragement to us just like he does with Joshua. So often we can or always we can rest upon God 1081s

and God who encourages us through his word, through his promises and it is a personalized form for us. 1090s

When you see those promises in Scripture, obviously it is for us all. Sometimes it's helpful in your 1099s

devotional life when you see a promise to then say your own name and personalize that promise for 1106s

you because that's exactly what God is doing, exactly what he will do. The Lord now in chapter 8 of 1112s

course is the one giving the orders. He's directing the battle plans. Joshua will and Israel will 1122s

be victors indeed. Go back into chapter 8 verse 1 and the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear or be 1130s

made. Take all the fighting men with you and go up now to I. See I've handed you over to the 1139s

king of I with his people, his city and his land. You shall do to I and its king as you did to 1145s

Jericho and its king only. It's spoil and its livestock you may take as booty for yourselves. Set an 1151s

sword that is in your hand toward I, for I will give it into your hand. Joshua stretched out the 1169s

sword that was in his hand toward the city. As soon as he stretched out his hand the troops and 1176s

ambush rose quickly out of their place and rushed forward. They entered the city, took it and at 1181s

once set the city on fire. So when the men of I looked back the smoke of the city was rising to 1187s

the sky. They had no power to flee this way or that for the people who fled to the wilderness turned 1193s

back against their pursuers. When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and 1200s

that the smoke of the city was rising then they turned back and struck down the men of I. 1207s

The others came out from the city against them. So they were surrounded by Israelites, 1213s

some on one side, some on the other. Israel struck them down until no one was left who survived or 1218s

escaped. But the king of I was taken alive and brought to Joshua when Israel had finished slaughtering 1225s

all the inhabitants of I in the open wilderness where they pursued them and when all of them to 1233s

the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword all Israel returned to I and attacked it with the 1239s

edge of the sword. The total of those who fell that day both men and women was 12,000, 1245s

all the people of I. For Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the 1252s

sword until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of I. Only the livestock and the 1259s

spoil of that city Israel took as their booty according to the word of the Lord that he had 1266s

issued to Joshua. So Joshua burned to I and made it forever a heap of ruins as it is to this day 1271s

and he hanged the king of I on a tree until evening and its sunset Joshua commanded. 1279s

They took his body down from the tree through it down at the entrance of the gate of the city 1285s

raised over to great heap of stones which stands there to this day. 1289s

God chose to work through means to accomplish his victory and the means that he worked through 1297s

was the army of his people. On the cross, God worked through means, the means being the sacrifice 1304s

of Jesus to accomplish salvation and God uses you and I to be his means with an 1315s

unbelieving world. The question I want to pose is how is it that we can be an agent of God 1325s

in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our homes? How can we be agents of God? And do we see ourselves 1337s

as an agent of God in proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or is that something somebody 1349s

else is supposed to do? If we answer that question with that is something somebody else ought to do 1359s

that is a wrong reading of Scripture, isn't it? Because we are the ones that have been 1370s

entrusted with the message and as Paul says, how are people supposed to come to faith 1379s

unless they hear? How is it that people are supposed to come to faith unless someone tells them? 1385s

We put too much stock in the mistaken belief that our witness will convert our nonverbal 1396s

witness, will convert an unbeliever. Because let's speak frankly, sometimes unbelievers act in a 1408s

nicer way than Christians. So if we think then that us being nice is going to convert someone, 1423s

we misunderstand the depth of our call to be an agent. Because niceness, kindness, good things to do, 1437s

that's simply the bridge over which the gospel walks. And niceness never converts anybody. 1448s

What converts people is the Word of God. The Word of God. Should you be nice? Absolutely. 1458s

Should you do good things for others? Absolutely. Should you establish relationships? 1467s

Absolutely. But if we believe that we can make a verbally silent witness that we'll convert the 1471s

hearts, we're not understanding the depth of being an agent for God. Because there's no such thing 1478s

as secret agents when it comes to us as Christians. God uses means and we are the agents 1490s

whereby the Word goes forth, we don't convert us soul, the Word goes forth and God then brings people 1501s

to faith through the Word. Be nice to your neighbor, be nice to your work associate, do all those 1510s

kind of things, build relationships, but our silent witness doesn't convert. It's the verbal witness 1520s

that is then shared as we live out being an agent of God. Okay, chapter 8 verse 30. 1533s

Then Joshua built on Mount Ebo and altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, just as Moses, the servant 1545s

of the Lord had commanded the Israelites so it is written in the book of the law of Moses. 1553s

An altar of unhwned stones on which no iron tool has been used and they offered on it burnt 1559s

offerings to the Lord and sacrificed offerings of well-being. And there in the presence of the Israelites 1565s

Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses which he had written. All Israel, 1574s

alien as well as citizen with their elders and officers and their judges stood on opposite 1581s

sides of the ark in front of the Levitical priest who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 1587s

half of them in front of Mount Gerazim and half of them in front of Mount Ebo. As Moses, the servants of 1593s

the Lord, the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first that they should bless the people of Israel. 1602s

And afterward he read all the words of the law, blessings and curses according to all that is 1609s

written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua 1615s

did not read before all the assembly of Israel and the women and the little ones and the aliens 1622s

who resided among them. The background of this passage is for the sake of time, I'm just going to 1628s

reference it, is Deuteronomy 1126 to 30. Their Moses had commanded the people that when you cross 1639s

the Jericho, this is what I want you to do. And this is exactly what is being lived out. So the 1647s

copy of the words of the Torah on large stones, set them on Mount Ebo, build an altar on Ebo, Ebo, 1655s

and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, proclaim the covenant blessings from Mount Gerazim 1662s

and the covenant curses from Mount Ebo. You see references to burnt offerings, you see references 1669s

to peace offerings in the Levitical Law. And the priests with the ark stand in the middle of the 1676s

valley between those two mountains. At this point there's perhaps two million of the people. 1686s

Remember the promise to Abraham and Sarah from you will come forth this nation? 1696s

Are the nations going to come to the side? So at this point there's perhaps two million of them 1703s

and they're fixing their eyes on the ark. Mount Gerazim was 2800 feet, Ebo was 3000 feet 1708s

and there they behold the living out of what Moses had told them when you cross the Jericho, 1721s

do this. Everything that Joshua and Israel are doing, the taking of the land, the sacrificing, 1730s

the copying of the Torah, all of it is a prelude to the arrival of Christ, a prelude to the one 1738s

who is going to come and live in the land, fulfill the law in its entirety so that his perfect life 1746s

can be credited to our account and offer sacrifice of atonement for us all. It's all 1754s

prelude to Christ. We've seen in Scripture collective retribution, 1766s

Aiken and Adam and Eve and God's response in Jesus. We've seen the personalized encouragement 1775s

to Joshua. We've seen that one can be indeed forgiven in the eyes of God but still face the 1783s

consequences of civil judgment and punishment and we've heard how God accomplishes what He desires 1790s

through means. We are the agents that God uses. Well this topic today though brings up a topic 1798s

that I wanted to talk about with you. We're going to turn to the whole question of war, 1808s

the whole question of divine warfare. When you hear God say destroy them, 1815s

destroy them. How do we understand that? And we're going to turn and we're going to talk about 1827s

the earth's longest day. We'll continue next week. 1835s