Joshua 8 Turning Defeat Into Victory

Intro:

The famous British preacher F.W. Robertson.

Life, like war, is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian nor the best general who makes 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.

Henry Ford would have agreed with Robertson, because Ford defined a mistake as “an opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.”

God’s restoration deals first with the inward need of the soul, which is then translated into the outward circumstances of life.

Joshua would also have agreed, because he is about to “begin again, more intelligently” and organize a victory out of his mistakes.

Joshua’s God is our God too, and we can be reassured that his loving care of each of us will be tailored exactly to the situation of our needs, whether the challenges we face are internal, external, or both.

The way to strengthen melting hearts is to go forward in faith, not lamenting the past or wishing that things were other than they are, but rather building on the promises of God and putting our maximum effort into obedience to his commands.

Read Joshua 1:1-5

I. Given Into Your Hands vs. 1-2

Once the nation of Israel had judged the sin that had defiled their camp, God was free to speak to them in mercy and direct them in their conquest of the land.

Ps 37:23-24 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand” (, NKJV).

No matter what mistakes we may make, the worst mistake of all is not to try again; for “the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings” (Alexander Whyte).

You start with the Word of God.

We have the Word of God before us and the Spirit of God within us; and God will direct us if we wait patiently before Him.

The word of encouragement (Josh. 8:1a).

Discouragement over the past and fear of the future are the two reactions that often accompany failure.

We look back and remember the mistakes that we made, and then we look ahead and wonder whether there’s any future for people who fail so foolishly

The answer to our discouragement and fear is in hearing and believing God’s Word

As long as we obey His commandments, we have the privilege of claiming His promise

Had Achan waited only a few days, he could have picked up all the wealth that he wanted.

God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.

When we run ahead of the Lord, we usually rob ourselves and hurt others.

You can never exaggerate the importance of the Christian soldier spending time daily in the Word of God.

Unless daily we take the sword of the Spirit by faith (Eph. 6:17), we go into the battle unarmed and therefore unprepared

Spiritually minded believers are victorious because they allow the Word of God to “saturate” their minds and hearts.

The Spirit using the Word controls their desires and decisions and this is the secret of victory

No matter how badly we have failed, we can always get up and begin again; for our God is the God of new beginnings

II. Ambush Set vs. 3-13

God is not only the God of new beginnings, but He’s also the God of infinite variety.

God changes His leaders lest we start trusting flesh and blood instead of trusting the Lord, and He changes His methods lest we start depending on our personal experience instead of on His divine promises.

The strategy God gave Joshua for taking Ai was almost opposite the strategy He used at Jericho.

It’s important that we seek God’s will for each undertaking so that we don’t depend on past victories as we plan for the future

The strategy for Ai was based on Israel’s previous defeat; for God was organizing victory out of Joshua’s mistakes

When we need to regain victory, we must use every resource, and the best resources for victory

The work of the Lord requires strategy, and Christian leaders must seek the mind of the Lord in their planning

It is because “the Lord your God will give it into your hand” (v. 7) that “you shall do according to the word of the Lord” (v. 8)

If we will regain victory, we must live with and follow Jesus, who is our Joshua. He is always near to us at these crucial times in our Christian life, and always goes first to lead us into battle.

If Israel will regain victory, they must take the offensive. They don’t wait for Ai to bring the battle to them, bring the battle to Ai.

Vs. 13 Joshua went that night into the midst:

We often see the battle against sin in mainly negative terms, about what not to do. But we must take the offensive against the powers of darkness and temptation and be busy about doing what the LORD would have us to do.

III. A New Victory vs. 14-29

vs. 14-17 Ai Emptied

The King of Ai saw Israel he led all of people out of the city

He was overconfident that the previous victory would be repeated

He uses the same strategy as before

Generally, Satan will stick with a strategy against us until it doesn’t work anymore.

Matt Henry said, “They are the most in danger, who are least aware of it.”

Joshua pretends to be beaten

A second call was given to Ai to pursue Israel

The tactic worked because they were drawn away from the city

Not a man in Ai or Bethel, a city two miles away

Ai is now exposed with no defenses

God directed Joshua to use a completely different strategy against Ai.

When we see the diversity of God’s methods, we remember it is because He is a personal God.

vs. 18-20 Ai Captured

The Lord tells Joshua to stretch out his javelin

Two things to consider here

Joshua’s javelin is similar to Moses’ Staff

It was symbol that everyone recognized

The Lord tells him to stretch it out

This also shows us that the Commander of the Lord’s army is in charge

Joshua would hold this up until everything was destroyed

The troops waiting to ambush see the javelin and invade the city

They capture it and quickly set it on fire

This caused the men of Ai to lose their confidence and hope

When Joshua and his men see the fire they turn back and attack their pursuers

vs. 21-29 Ai Destroyed

As soon as Joshua turns back, the troops from Ai come out and attack Ai from the rear

This is an important point for us, since it reminds us again of the judicial and moral nature of the cleansing of the land of Canaan and exonerates the Israelites from the charge that they were merely pursuing an ethnically-based policy of liquidation.

God’s wrath against sin is a facet of the perfect righteousness of his judgment, which requires the punishment of all evil that opposes itself to the holiness of the Creator of all.

t If God’s kingly rule is to be exercised throughout eternity, there is also a necessity that his enemies should not just be defeated but ultimately destroyed

If there is no ultimate destruction of all God’s enemies, there can be no guarantee of the ultimate inviolability of his eternal kingdom of love, joy, and peace.

This is the logical necessity if there is to be an everlasting kingdom, a holy city, the new Jerusalem, where death shall be no more and where there will be no mourning or crying or pain or tears

Joshua destroys Ai and kills the king

The king hangs on a tree till evening

At this time, most tribes believed in an immediate burial after death

This ensured in their minds of the people that they would be with their gods

If they weren’t buried immediately or buried under rocks it meant that they would live as a street beggar in the afterlife

We can summarize the keys for victory from this chapter

Be encouraged.

Follow the LORD’s plan.

Use every resource, and the best resources.

Live with and look to Jesus.

Go on the offensive.

Show no mercy to your enemy.

VI. Renewed Covenant vs. 30-35

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:

This is in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 27-28. There, the LORD told Israel, when they came to the Promised Land, to come to these mountains, build an altar, sacrifice to the LORD, and read the law.

And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city”:

And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings:

We see an appropriate act of worship, and consecration unto God, following a great victory.

God always should get the glory. Even when men looked at the altar, they would not see elaborate carvings - though beautiful - drawing attention to man’s work (whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool).

He wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written: In this act of obedience we see Joshua as a man of the Book, obeying the command of Joshua 1:8. We also see Israel as a people of the Book ordering their lives after God’s Word.

This was even at a cost or inconvenience. The distance from Ai to Ebal and Gerizim was a long way to move all the tribes of Israel, from 20 to 25 miles.

Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal: This was a beautiful place to do this, and the whole nation could hear this reading of the Law. The area has a natural amphitheater effect because of the contour of the hills.

According to Deuteronomy 27-28, the altar was built on the mountain of cursing, Mount Ebal. We need the covering sacrifice exactly at the point where our sin and failures are revealed, and God’s curse is pronounced on our sin.

This event, at this place, shows that Israel controls the middle of Canaan and the highlands. The rest is a matter of taking advantage of this strategic position.