Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Joshua 6 ended on a great positive note.

In fact in verse 21 of the last chapter it begins by declaring that Israel utterly destroyed all that was in the city.

We then hear that Rahab and her family were spared from the destruction.

On top of all this, in verse 27, we hear that Joshua’s fame spread throughout all the country.

This was a day to remember.

Everything God said would happen is happening, and it appears that nothing can stand in Israel’s way.

The Israelite army is unstoppable.

The immovable walls of Jericho revealed the answer to the age old philosophical problem - what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

The answer of course is, the object was never immovable, because the unstoppable force is the all powerful God.

He fights on Israel’s behalf.

It was Him that felled the mighty walls of Jericho, allowing His army to go in a devote the city to destruction.

You see, God reveals part of who He is.

God was demonstrating His omnipotence, His infinite power and sovereignty over all creation.

In this chapter God now reveals His omniscience.

His infinite knowledge, particularly His knowing of Achan’s trespass.

We also understand how wicked sin is before our Holy God.

Israel’s Defeat

The story of Israel’s defeat at the hands of Ai comes very near after the defeat of Jericho.

Their spirits were high, you can imagine the celebration in camp that night.

Singing and dancing until late in the night.

And who could blame them.

They had the joy of victory on their hearts.

Joshua pushed Israel’s advantage and sent men to scout Ai.

But before we get to that part of the text we read that not all was merry in Israels camp.

Yes, the men were joyful at the outcome, but God was angry.

A blatant disregard for God’s law had entered into their midst.

The Anger of the LORD

Joshua 7:1, But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

There is a contrast here between Joshua and the men of Israel.

In the last verse we read that Joshua’s fame spread throughout Canaan.

And in verse 1 of chapter 7 it tells us that Israel’s unfaithfulness brought God’s anger.

Israel had committed a most grievous offense against God, they had stolen from God.

The sin of Achan is not a minor petty sin, either, as Jericho was wholly to be devoted to God.

He took of the first fruits.

The first fruits refers to the first fruits of the harvest season and which was to be offered to God in thanksgiving, for He was their great King.

And though it was one man who did the crime, God’s anger burned against the whole army.

This may seem over-the-top-harsh to us - how could God charge all the people for the secret sin of one?

The reason is simple, Israel was united to God through the same covenant, as well as to each other in Abraham.

There is a unity among God’s people.

In Exodus 4:22-23, Israel as a nation is referred as God’s first born.

It says, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me.

But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”

In the New Testament the church is one body in Christ and if one part suffers the whole body suffers.

In Joshua, as the united first born son, Israel must remove the decay for its body.

Another reason is was to demonstrate to the current generation, and to those who come after, the absolute seriousness of sin.

Sin is not a trivial matter in God’s eyes.

So much so that all who do not seek God’s mercy in Christ will not be forgiven at the last judgement.

There are no free passes into Heaven.

It is only open to those who place their trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

His blood saves us and nothing else will do.

John Calvin says this,

The reason...why God charges a whole people with a secret theft is deeper and more [secret], he wished by an extraordinary manifestation to remind posterity that they might all be [charged with the crime] by the act of an individual, and thus induce them to give more diligent heed to the prevention of crimes.

God used His heavy hand to make the lesson as clear as possible.

If you are My people, you must cut yourselves off from sin and live holy lives before My face.

thankfully, we are not alone in this, as He has given His Holy Spirit.

The Defeat

Jericho was at the bottom of the descent, in the Jordan valley while Ai was a town sitting on top the range.

The town of Ai must seem like an ant after the great victory at Jericho.

So the scouts tell Joshua to send only two or three thousand men, and so verse 4 tells us, about three thousand men went up there from the people.

Rather than another victory, we are told in Joshua 7:4-5, but they fled before the men of Ai.

And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent.

The defeat of the Israelites against Ai was not due to the superior might of Ai.

The answer from the end of verse 1 tells us that the defeat came because of God’s anger.

His people came under the curse of the covenant, and so instead of blessing their battles, God brings disaster upon Israel.

Judgement

Joshua’s lament

Joshua too falls into the self-confidence camp and we see this in Joshua 7:6-9.

In verse 6 Joshua tears his clothes and falls to the ground before the ark.

He cries in Joshua 7:7, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?

Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!” Joshua was Moses protege.

He followed Moses and learnt how to interpret the Law from Him.

He knew of the blessings and curses.

Joshua too fell into the same trap as the rest of Israel.

Overconfidence in their own ability to defeat their enemies.

This is made clear in the question he asks.

To paraphrase these verses, why did we lose this battle?

I thought You were going give us victory over them.

If this continues Israel will become nothing and Your Name will be lost to history.

What of Your promises then?

Joshua’s response is an echo of the unwarranted complaints from the previous generation as they traversed through the wilderness.

In Exodus 16:3, not long after leaving Egypt behind, the tribes of Israel said, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full!

For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

In the next chapter, Exodus 17:3, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Again and again we see Israel complain about the unfair conditions even while God demonstrated His miraculous saving power through the whole wanderings.

Whether in the smoke, or the cloud, the supply of water from the rock and daily manna and quails, or that their clothes did not wear out.

All these were signs of God’s love and faithfulness to His covenant people.

Joshua should have known that the defeat was the result of broken trust.

And so in verses 10-11 God rebukes his foolishness.

In Joshua 7:10-11, So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up!

Why do you lie thus on your face?

Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.

For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.”

Joshua was blind to the problem, but God knew.

He has infinite knowledge.

The LORD reveals the culprit

God, now, tells Joshua how to bring the transgressor into the open.

There will be no more victories for Israel until the sin of the people is cut out.

He says in Joshua 7:12-15 that He will guide the courts decision so the culprit is found out.