What if you could change history?

Last Sunday we looked at Joshua chapter 7.  God’s people - overconfident - without seeking God’s instructions - 3,000 men - all full of themselves - go charging up the hill to Ai - a place that literally was collection of ruins - not exactly a tourist attraction - or a major military power - and Israel’s 3,000 warriors got creamed

Reason being - the reason for the defeat was sin.  God tells Joshua that Israel had kept stuff from Jericho that God had condemned and that should have been destroyed.  They disobeyed God - brought this stuff into the camp.  So God’s condemnation - his anger that was against Jericho because of Jericho’s sin was now leveled against Israel.  Remember this?

Joshua does a tent by tent search starting with the tribes - then narrowing the search down to clans - then down to the extended families - finally the Divine finger points to the household of Achan.  Who confesses.  So the people take Achan - his sons - his daughters - his oxen - his donkeys - his sheep - his tent - all the stuff that belongs to him - including the things he took from Jericho - Israel stones Achan - burns the condemned stuff - and raises this heap of stones over them as a reminder of God’s judgment - dealing with sin.  It is a memorial to failure.

Have you ever said, “If I only knew then what I know now”?  Chapter 8 is like a second chance at doing life - what God offers us when we trust Him.  Chapter 7 is about the devastating reality of sin.  Chapter 8 is about being set free from that devastation to live victoriously with God.  Chapter 8 is history done differently.

Joshua 8:1  Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or 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.  You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves.  Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

This already is different.  There are four statements that God makes that we need latch onto.

First:  God tells Joshua “Do not fear.”

God’s people have tried it their way.  They’ve been creamed.  They’re defeated - discouraged - uncertain about the future.  All through Scripture God - or His messengers - are telling all kinds of people - from all kinds of backgrounds - “Do not fear.”  Those are always words of encouragement.  Words God’s people need to hear and hang onto.

God has turned from His anger.  God is once again in charge.  Victory is assured - a done deal.  “You’re going to do to Ai what you did to Jericho.”

Second, God says, “Take all the people.”  Call out the whole army.

Ai was a town of about 12,000 people.  600,000 warriors is overkill.  Later, we’re going to see that Joshua gets the whole nation involved.  2 million against 12,000 are pretty good odds. 

But these people had suffered a devastating defeat.  Chapter 7 - verse 5 says that “the hearts of the people melted and became as water.”

They need reassurance.  To see first hand God at work once again.  They need to participate in God’s victory.  God is concerned about the heart of His people.

Third:  God says, “take plunder.”  “Take the spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves.”  That’s different.  When they defeated Jericho God told the people to destroy everything except specific items God designated for His treasury.  Now they get to kept the spoils of war.  In the very place where God’s people had met such a humiliating defeat God is giving His people a tremendous blessing.

Fourth - God says, “Set an ambush.”  The battle strategy is different.  No marching around the city for 7 days.  No horns blaring.  God is going to do something different.

It is so easy for us to hang on to past defeat as a prediction of future failure.  To be discouraged - to beat ourselves up - to wallow in guilt - to see ourselves as failures - because of where we’ve stumbled in sin - the crud that we’ve allowed ourselves to be a part of.  We wonder if God really can change our future.

These are great words for a discouraged people.  “Do not fear.  You will participate in a great victory.  You will be blessed.  Trust me for what comes next.  The outcome will be different.”

Verse 3:  So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.  He commanded them, saying “See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it.  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 when they come out to meet us as at the first, we will flee before them.  They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first,’  So we will flee before them.  And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.  Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire.  You shall do it according to the word of the Lord.  See, I have commanded you.”  So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

Look with me at the graphic and let’s make sure we’re together on what’s going to happen.

Ai was located just slightly east of Bethel and north west of Jericho.  It was about 15 miles west of Gilgal - Israel’s base camp.  The importance of Ai was its geographic location.  Jericho was at about 800 feet in elevation - Ai was at 2,500 feet.  Ai was on the way up to the highlands - on Joshua’s conquest route to split his enemies in two - north from south - and then to launch Israel’s military campaign against the north.

Joshua sends 30,000 crack troops ahead of the main army and the people - sends these 30,000 warriors up the hill at night to hide.  When we come to verse 12 we’re going to see Joshua send 5,000 of these men to a position between Bethel and Ai.  The other 25,000 are waiting closer to Bethel.

So with the 30,000 in hiding the night before - Joshua is going to come up the hill in full daylight with the rest of the people - lure the king and Ai - with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein - lure the king and all of Ai out of the city - by running away - back down the hill.  Then the warriors in the rear - the one’s hiding - are going to sack the town.

We’re together on that?

Verse 10:  Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people - something they must have really relished.  Sorry.  Not really.  But he had to muster them so they wouldn’t have to catch-up.

Joshua mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.  Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai.  Now there was a valley between him and Ai.  And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.  So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.  It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain.  But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.  Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.  And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.  So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

Its hard to imagine that the people of Ai fell for this.  The old “men hiding to ambush you” ploy.  But the king and the warriors take the bait.  In their overconfidence they can smell victory.  The town empties.  All the warriors are getting in on the kill.  They’re pursuing Israel.

Apparently - since Bethel was so close to Ai - the men of Bethel saw what was going on - saw Israel on the run.  They knew they were next on Israel’s “Cities to be Conquered List.”  While they’re watching Israel flee they decided that this was their best opportunity to defeat Israel.  So the warriors of Bethel come out and join the guys from Ai in pursuing Israel.

Point being:  Ai is left undefended.  Bethel is left undefended.

Verse 18:  Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin - or the spear - that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.”  So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.  The men in ambush - the 5,000 men hiding west of Ai - the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.  When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.

Meaning that - verse 21 - When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai.  The others came out from the city to encounter them - the 5,000 who were through capturing Ai came up behind the warriors of Ai - so that they - Ai’s warriors - were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until no one was left of those who survived or escaped.  But they took alive the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.

Probably while this was happening the 25,000 hiding men near Bethel came out and sacked Bethel.  Point being, that instead of Israel being defeated by Ai - what happened before - this time Israel defeats both Ai and Bethel.

There are two things - here in verses 18 to 23 - that we need to hold onto.

First:  God’s command.  Verse 18 says, “The Lord said to Joshua.”  When did Joshua lift his spear?  When God told him to. 

In chapter 7 - the first time they tried this - the people aren’t waiting on God.  The people are telling Joshua what to do.  Joshua isn’t waiting on God.  He’s just going along with the people.  And 3,000 guys go charging up the hill to get creamed.

But here - this is different.  This is all about God’s timing.  Doing things God’s way.  Faithfully waiting on God.  Joshua waited for God.  The people waited for Joshua.  When God commanded then they went on to phase two.

Second:  God’s victory.  God commands Joshua to stretch out his javelin toward Ai - verse 18 - “for I will give it into your hand.”

Back during the Exodus - when Israel was at a place called Rephidim - down in the southern Sinai peninsula - the people of Amalek came and attacked God’s people.  Moses sends Joshua to fight against Amalek  Then Moses goes up on a hill and lifts up his staff - the one God used against Pharaoh.  As long as Moses was able to hold up God’s staff God’s people were victorious.  Sound familiar?

As the day goes on - Moses’ arms are getting heavier and heavier.  So Moses gets Aaron and Hur to hold his arms up.  They set up a stone for Moses to sit on to make it easier.  He’s lower to the ground.  Its easier to  for them to hold his arms up.  Moses up on the hill holding up God’s staff while Joshua is below routing Amalek.  (Exodus 17:8-13)  

Behind it all is God.  Ultimately its not about Joshua pointing a spear or the holding up of Moses’ hands or even Joshua’s abilities as a great military strategist.  Its God who gives His people the victory. 

Joshua obeys God.  At God’s command the javelin goes up pointed toward Ai - keeps it raised until Ai is wiped out.  God’s people are victorious.  Behind it all is God.

Point being:  Israel followed God’s plan perfectly and God gives them the victory.  Joshua waited for God’s command.  God gives the victory.  Say that together.  “Joshua waited for God’s command.  God gives the victory.”

Verse 24:  Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.  All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000 - all the people of Ai.  For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.  Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves according to the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua.

According to Who’s word?  The word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua.  Things are different.  This time we’re doing things God’s way.  Instead of judgment God is blessing His people.

Verse 28:  So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation until this day.  He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.

This is the third memorial the people have raised up.  There were the 12 stones set up at Gilgal - the memorial to God’s deliverance and working in and through His people.  Then there was the heap of stones over Achan - a memorial to failure.  The consequences of sin - failing to follow after God and to live rightly before Him.

Imagine the difference of morale.  Heaping stones over Achan - God’s people are discouraged - defeated - uncertain.

But here - heaping stones over the king and Ai - there are high fives - excitement - elation - enthusiasm.  These people are up.  God is on the move.  We’re part of what He’s doing.

Hold on to that.  God organizes a victory out of Israel’s mistakes.  Uses their failed attempt to attack Ai as part of His battle strategy.  In God’s timing - at His command - God turns defeat and discouragement into victory - into a time of great blessing.

It is important that we understand this truth for ourselves.  Down deep.  At the heart level.

When we look at our lives and see failure.  When we hang onto guilt from past sins.  When we struggle against habits that we know are wrong - behavior that’s self-destructive.  When we struggle to forgive ourselves.  When others refuse to forgive.  When they put an asterisk next to our name, “Great guy.  But, he’s the one who…”  Always reminding us of past failure.  When we feel driven to perform - to succeed - because we know we’ve never measured up to others’ expectations.  When the Adversary - Satan - turns our focus to doubt and discouragement.  When we hold back from moving forward trusting God because we cannot let go of the past.

We need to understand this truth for ourselves.  Doug Goins - preaching on this chapter in Joshua - Doug Goins put it this way:  When we turn to God - when we do things His way - there is no moral failure or mistake that cannot be remedied - healed - by the grace and mercy of God.  Say that with me.  “There is no moral failure or mistake that cannot be remedied by the grace and mercy of God.” 

F.W. Robertson - a 19th century British Bible teacher - preaching through Joshua - just at the outbreak of the civil war - F.W. Robertson said this:  “Life, like war, is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian nor the best general who make the fewest false steps.  Poor mediocrity may secure that; but he is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes.  Forget mistakes; organize victories out of mistakes.” (1)

Psalm 37:23,24 - listen to these words of encouragement.  “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.”  Isn’t that a great promise?

Life happens.  Often without warning.  With God - the Christian life is a series of new beginnings.  Grab on to that truth for yourself this morning.  God can take your defeat and transform it into victory.

Verse 30:  Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, just as Moses had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, and altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.  He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.  All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native.  Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.  Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, 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 with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.    

First - let’s get a picture of where Israel moved to.

Looking at the map you’ll see that Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim are north of Bethel and Ai.  Its about 25 miles north of Ai to the valley between these two mountains.

At a time when militarily it would have been the right thing to press forward with the conquest - we’re on a roll now - Joshua gets all the people who are left in Gilgal - all the warriors and people who’ve defeated Bethel and Ai - marches the whole nation into unconquered territory - right in front of Shechem - a dangerous enemy - and leads them all to this place for a service of worship.

The location is significant because 600 plus years earlier - after God had established his covenant with Abraham - promising to give Abraham a land - to make Abraham a great nation - to bless all the peoples of the world through Abraham’s descendants - when Abraham arrived in the land for the first time - it was here that he built his first altar to the Lord.

When Jacob was running from uncle Laban - it was to this place that he ran to for safety.  Jacob dug a well near here - the well where Jesus offered a Samaritan woman life-giving water.  When Joseph was looking for his brothers he came here.  Later - its possible that Joseph’s bones were buried at this site.

Point being - this not a random choice of location.  But a purposeful choosing of a site significant to the relationship of God and Israel.

Second - we need to understand what this service of worship is all about.

Which means that there are there are three things we need to have clear in our minds.

First is how the arrangement of the people.

On the enlargement of the area - you’ll see that Joshua divides the nation into two halves.  On half is on the slopes of Mount Ebal.  The other half is on the slopes of Mount Gerizim.  In the valley between is Joshua - the altar - the Levitical priest - priests - not just people from the tribe of Levi - but anointed - consecrated.  Then there’s the ark of the covenant - signifying God’s presence with His people.  Next - in front of each halve of the nation - in the expensive standing spots are the elders, officers, and judges of the people.

All of that is not random.  Back in Deuteronomy - chapters 27 and 28 - Moses gave instructions on how all this was to take place.  That’s why verse 31 says that all this happened, “just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel.”

In Deuteronomy - Moses commanded that half the tribes - and he designated which tribes - Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun and so on - half the tribes would stand on Mount Ebal and represent God’s judgment on sin - His cursing of those who commit sin.  Half the tribes - and Moses designated these - Simeon, Levi, Judah and so on - half the tribes would stand Mount Gerizim to represent God’s blessing.

The Levitical priests would read off a curse, “Cursed is he who dishonors his father and mother” and all God’s people would respond “Amen.”   

Try this together:  “Cursed is he who dishonors his father and mother”  “Amen!”   

They read through the curses.  They read through the blessings.  Its huge antiphonal - visual - not to be forgotten - a mass consecration of God’s people acknowledging God’s sovereignty over their lives - renewing their commitment to live surrendered to Him.

The second thing we need to have clear in our minds is the significance of the altar.

In the center of all this giant amphitheater is the altar made of uncut stones - again following Moses’ instructions.  The significance of the uncut stones is that they haven’t been modified by human hands.  They’re used exactly the way God created them - prepared for the altar by God.

Ephesians 2:8,9:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of what?  works, so that now one may boast.”

Point:  Uncut stones meaning that no sinner would think that somehow by their own effort they contributed to the salvation offered through the sacrifice being offered on the altar.  Its God’s work.  Its His altar the sacrifice is offered on.

Two sacrifices are offered.

First:  Burnt offerings.  In the burnt offering the entire offering was consumed by fire from the altar - symbolic of the duty of God’s people to present themselves completely - without reserve - to God.

Second:  The peace offering - which was consumed only in part by the fire from the altar - the other part was eaten by the offerers - symbolic that God’s people had fellowship and communion with God.

Two sacrifices - on God’s altar - in the presence of God - His ark - a renewal of covenant - God’s people committing themselves anew to God - total reliance on Him to forgive their sin - total confidence in God for the relationship they have with Him.

The third thing we need to be clear about is the writing of the law of Moses. 

Back in Joshua’s day people would raise up huge stones like billboards and then cover them with plaster to make a flat surface.  Then they’d write on them.

Usually what they wrote was about the king or general who’d led their army to a great victory.  The billboard was an ego fest of how great they were and how they’d devastated and destroyed their enemies.

We’re not sure if Joshua wrote the 10 Commandments or Moses’ commandments from Deuteronomy.  The emphasis doesn’t change one way or the other.  Point being - Joshua didn’t write about himself - or about the vast military superiority of Israel - he wrote about God.  Wrote about the conditions that God had established for Israel to live in the land.

So picture this service of worship - following God’s turning Israel’s failure into defeat.  Gathered in this huge amphitheater are 2 million people.

Sacrifices are offered on an altar of uncut stones.  Its all about God - the relationship with Him that God allows His people to enjoy.  His salvation - His grace - His mercy.  A billboard is set up - not boasting of Israel’s success.  But, of God - His requirements of His people - this is what it means to live in the land I’m giving you.  Then the words of Moses are read - cursing and blessing - 2 million people responding with “Amen.”  Its thunderous.  Amen - means “right on” - with all that we are - we agree!  “May it be so!”

The purpose of the service of worship is to glorify God - to humbly surrender our lives to Him who is worthy of all praise and honor.

Its possible that the people of Shechem - who had a front row seat to all this - were expecting some great boasting of Israel’s military prowess. A military rally to evoke fear in one’s enemies.  What they saw and heard was far more terrifying.  Its not us.  Its our God.  He is the One who brings victory.

Paul writes - Romans 12:1,2:  “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your what? spiritual service of worship.  And do not be what? conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

There is no moral failure or mistake that cannot be remedied by the grace and mercy of God.  That’s transformation.  God removing our conformity to what defeats us in this world.  The prerequisite of transformation is placing ourselves on the altar.  Life is not about us.  Life - victory - blessing - living - is about God.  Its about living surrendered to Him.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.