Regaining Ground
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Ex. Leaving something somewhere and having to go back for it and the difficulty of regaining lost time.
Follow God’s Plan (1-2)
Follow God’s Plan (1-2)
God Comforts us in repentance.
The first words that Joshua heard from the Lord were “Do not fear or be discouraged.” Joshua had heard these words before. These are special words to encourage God’s people when facing the enemy.
These were the words Moses spoke when he sent out the 12 spies (Deut. 12:21)
Joshua heard these words from Moses 40 years later as he turned the reigns of leadership over to Joshua (Deut. 31:8)
Joshua heard similar words directly from the Lord as He commissioned him to lead the people. (Joshua 1:9)
Later, Joshua would use these same words to encourage the nation in the face of their enemies.
God gives direction
Don’t make the same mistake twice: God’s word to Joshua was to use ALL the fighting men of Israel. Though the primary cause of the defeat at Ai was Achan’s sin, the secondary cause was underestimating the enemy and overestimating themselves. Now they were told to take ALL the fighting men.
Turn the place of defeat into the place of victory: Notice what happens here. Joshua is told to again go up and attack Ai. He is to return to the place of defeat, and now, because they are rightly related to the Lord, God promised they could turn the place of defeat into a place of victory.
The basis of victory is always the same: The words, “just as with Jericho” reminds us that victory at Ai would not only be as complete as that at Jericho, but that as with Jericho, it would come by the power of God regardless of the strategy used. God wants our places of defeat turned into places of victory. We are not to live with defeat or accept it as the norm of the Christian life. But as always, victory comes through faith in God’s presence and provision.
A change in strategies: The strategy used with Ai differed entirely from that employed at Jericho. This is extremely applicable to us in our spiritual battles or in the way God leads us.
Sprinkle of Application: We should not expect God to work the same way or lead us always the same way. We need to be open and sensitive to the various ways God may lead. As the Sovereign God of the universe, He is never limited to one particular method to accomplish His purposes. Sometimes God works in ways that seem almost miraculous. Other times, He works more through natural means and methods, but behind it all was the working and care of the Lord.
EXPLAIN THE BATTLE, THEN LEAD INTO THE RESPONSE
Rejoice in God’s provision (30-35)
Rejoice in God’s provision (30-35)
After the victory at Ai Joshua did what seemed to be foolish humanly and militarily-speaking. After a win you’d think that they would’ve kept pursuing the next opposition while they were on a streak…but remember, in Joshua chapter 7 what did Joshua do that led to the defeat at Ai? They didn’t worship or even seek the Lord. Part of repentance and continued victory is remembering what led you into previous sin and not doing it again! Joshua didn’t move on to the next opponent like he did before their defeat at Ai. He took his people to worship.
The Israelites took a 30-mile walk to Shechem in the beautiful valley area of palestine. The valley was about 2 miles wide. On either side of it were two mountains: the rugged, rocky Mount Ebal and the wooded, beautiful Mount Gerizim. The time came to stop at Ebal and worship.
Our capacity in life is always dependent on our spiritual capacity and orientation to the plan of God. Remember, part of the battle against sin and our continued spiritual maturity isn’t just staying away from sin because it’s bad. That produces something called “behavior modification”. That only works for so long. True and lasting change happens when we look upon Jesus our Savior, see how great and wonderful He is, and chase after Him and His righteousness. That’s where “life transformation” happens. The Christian life isn’t simply about changing your behavior, but changing your whole heart, which brings about true life transformation.
But it starts with worship. Our capacity in life is always dependent on our spiritual capacity and orientation to the plan of God.
Remember to Give Thanks (30-31)
Joshua led the people of God in worship. They built an altar according to Moses’ specifications and offered sacrifices as a sign of their thankfulness to God for His victory. The question I want to ask though is…why did Moses in Deuteronomy 27:1-8 choose this location of all places to set up a place of worship? Well these mountains are located in the geographic center of the land and from either peak most of the Promised Land can be seen. So this place that represented all the land, both at the time of entrance into Canaan and when Joshua’s leadership would come to a close (24:1). With his leadership coming to an end, Joshua gathers again all the tribes to Schechem and challenged the people to renew their covenant vows to the Lord.
I won’t get into all the details but these two mountains had great sound acoustics, so it was really easy to hear from either side of the mountains or in the valley in between. Moses had instructed that the Law be read at these two places. Half of the people were positioned on the slopes of Mount Gerizim to the south, and the other on the slopes of Mount Ebal to the North, and the Ark of the covenant surrounded by priests was in the valley between. As the curses of the Law were read one by one, the tribes on Mount Ebal would respond “Amen!” As the blessings were read the tribes on Mount Gerizim responded “Amen!” So, Mount Ebal stood for cursing and Gerizim stood for blessing. This was just a HUGE Object lesson. What happened to the Israelites in the land was going to depend on where they lived…on Mount Ebal in disobedience or on Mount Gerizim, in obedience. The tragic thing is that their obedience wouldn’t last. The truth of the object lesson had already been demonstrated in the victory of Jericho and the defeat and victory at Ai. When there was obedience there was victory, when there was disobedience, there was defeat. But there is more here that we should think about because no one can fulfill the law. We are also reminded in this object lesson of God’s grace and provision.
The first thing God did was to point to grace and His solution for sin by faith.
On this occasion both the importance of the Law and the future of Israel, based on their response to the Law, was held before them. It was at this time that the solution the the problem of sin and failure was the first thing set before them. Why? Because all fall short of perfect obedience to the Law. The same was true at Sinai: God gave the Ten Commandments and the judgments, He also gave the sacrifices. At the same time He gave them Moses, He gave them Aaron the high priest. It was as if God were saying, “Thou shalt not, but I know you will and here is your way to escape condemnation.”
Moses gave the command to build the altar on Mount Ebal, the place where the curses for disobedience were to be read.
But why this place instead of the place that represented blessing for obedience? Because the altar was for sinners. It was for those who acknowledge their sin and who would come not as righteous, but as sinners to the place of sacrifice.
The altar was constructed of uncut stones without any human workmanship.
This was to illustrate that humans can add nothing to the work of God for salvation or for spirituality. It is all by grace through faith in the work of God in Christ.
So what should we do?
Land the Plane: Renew Your Commitment (32-35)
Land the Plane: Renew Your Commitment (32-35)
We must recognize our sinfulness and come to God as sinners.
We must come to the place of sacrifice (the cross) acknowledging our need for another to die in our place.
We must let go of our human works for salvation: recognize there is nothing we can do or add to the work of God’s substitute for our sin, the person and work of Christ.
Some will read this chapter and see the regained ground as that which was overtaken at Ai. The real regained ground, though, was the renewed commitment God’s people made to Him. Commitment to Him in worship and in His Word restores ground previously lost because of sin.