Ai: A lesson from disobedience
Joel Kolb
Joshua: Lessons in Courage • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewThe story of Jericho was a test of obedience. But what if you are not obedient? How does that go? The little town of Ai on the crest of the hills is about to become a force to be reckoned with. Disobedience is like that. Sometimes our confidence is misplaced in that we are so sure of ourselves, when the only thing we can be sure of is God. Sin is deceptive; it will ambush you. We need to learn to turn the tables on the enemy. If we learn from our failures, they can teach us how to be victorious.
Notes
Transcript
Our Theme for 2024 is Possessing the Land.
We are currently in a study of the book of Joshua called “Lessons in Courage.
Last week was about the conquest of Jericho.
It was a lesson in obedience.
Obey specifically; Obey consistently. Obey thoroughly.
But what if you are not obedient? How does that go?
We are about to find out. - The next town on the conquest itinerary is Ai.
Not “Artificial Intelligence” - just Ai.
But the little town of Ai on the crest of the hills as you enter Canaan is about to an underestimated force to be reckoned with.
Have you ever underestimated a task that turned out to be a much bigger obstacle than you thought it would be?
When I was working in carpentry, I bid on a job installing wood components in a new school building. Most of it was wooden benches - a few screws on metal brackets - no problem. Then there was some trim in the auditorium - how hard could that be?
Well, what I didn’t account for was the size of the project. Not the size of the project list, but of the project itself. This was a huge building! Just walking from my truck to the spot where I was working was more that a quarter mile hike.
I was overconfident when I priced out the job. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I had a blind spot and it literally cost me!
Disobedience is like that.
Sometimes our confidence is misplaced in that we are so sure of ourselves, when the only thing we can be sure of is God.
Sin is deceptive; it will ambush you.
It will seemingly come out of nowhere while you are focused on something else.
We need to learn to turn the tables on the enemy.
Be wise and anticipate the attacks of the enemy.
If we learn from our failures, they can teach us how to be victorious.
Misplaced Confidence
Misplaced Confidence
Joshua’s conquest of Canaan is a study in military strategy.
Jericho was the gateway to the hills of what is now Judea/Samaria.
The next target is to take the watershed ridgeline running North and South through the hills.
This is a major trade route through the region.
Whoever controls the central portion of the trade route can control movement throughout the region.
Ai is a small outpost that sits on the crest of the hill overlooking the path that led up through the foothills.
It was only a little more than a ten mile hike from where Israel was camped along the Jordan.
However, it was about 4 thousand feet higher in elevation.
So that hike would be all uphill!
The town itself was not impressive, especially after defeating Jericho.
The location was really the most important thing about it.
Before we get into what happened at Ai, the book of Joshua is narrated in such a way that that author wants to let us in on a secret.
1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.
OK. So now you know something that Joshua and the Israelites did not know.
A guy named “Achan” had taken some stuff that he shouldn’t have.
Nobody knows about this but him and his immediate family.
Oh, and God - God knows about it too!
Joshua and most of the people think that they have been obedient to God, but at least one person has been disobedient.
Everybody is confident - but there is a blind spot!
It’s good to be confident, but be careful where you place your confidence.
Don’t place confidence in natural ability.
Don’t place confidence in natural ability.
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
The advice of the spies was, “Don’t send the whole army - it’s not much of a city - especially compared to Jericho.”
This little outpost is not on the trade route.
It’s about three mile east of Bethel, which is a much bigger city located right along the trade route.
I suspect Ai sent to Bethel for reinforcements and surprised the Israelite strike force with a much bigger defensive response than they were expecting.
36 soldiers died - not normally considered a huge loss - but they were expecting zero.
They are being picked off while running down through the ravine away from the battle.
The place is call Shebarim which means “broken places.”
How many times have you gone into a situation feeling confident in your own ability, only to find that you have “broken places” where you were more vulnerable than you thought?
The Apostle Paul felt that way too.
3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,
Our confidence is not in ourselves - it is in what Jesus Christ has done for us and His Spirit at work in us.
We are fallible human beings.
We disobey - more often than we want to admit.
We have a sinful human nature that wants what it wants.
OK, I’m just going to say it - we’re selfish!
And we’re stubbornly so! (Or am I the only one?)
Don’t ever trust the flesh - your flesh will lead you astray.
I’m not talking about other people - I’m talking about ourselves.
We need to know and be aware of what we are capable of without Christ.
Most of us never realize this until one day, we face a personal defeat.
Don’t place confidence in a narrative.
Don’t place confidence in a narrative.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” 10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.
Joshua and the Elders of Israel took this loss personally, they repented - and at this point they don’t even know what they are repenting for!
They just knew something had gone wrong as were smart enough to realize that it wasn’t God’s fault- it must be us.
This isn’t that way things were supposed to go -
God told them that He would drive out the nations before them.
3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.
All of us have a personal narrative - we have an idea of how we believe our life story is supposed to go.
When things happen that don’t fit the narrative we start to blame everyone else.
We blame other people.
We blame God.
Sometimes we even blame ourselves.
But we rarely question the narrative!
Has God ever promised us that we wouldn’t have any trouble?
I don’t think so.
In fact he promised us there would be trouble.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Maybe you are always the “good guy” in your narrative.
Nothing can ever be your fault.
The shame of failure is simply too shameful.
Even in Israels story - God told them that they were not necessarily always going to be the good guys.
4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.
God said to them, “Don’t think that because they are so bad, that makes you the good guys”
You’re the “only slightly better guys”
You are who you are because of God’ grace, not your own merit.
So where does our confidence come from?
Confidence comes from commitment and confession.
Confidence comes from commitment and confession.
13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.”
This is the right place to start when things go really wrong.
Begin by reaffirming your commitment to God.
Invite God to show you any place in your life that is not fully commited to Him.
Notice that the things that are off limits are called “devoted things”
There is a play on words happening here between consecrating “setting ourselves apart for God”
And the forbidden things which are literally “set apart for destruction.”
The passage invites us to see the contrast and to take a side.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
Sometimes God allows things in our lives that force us to make difficult choices.
We would all probably rather not have to make choices sometimes.
God knows that being forced to make a choice is ultimately a move toward freedom.
So far, no one is coming forward - Joshua is going to have to force a confession.
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did:
In the Old Testament, the Priests were allowed to use a lot - two stones tied together with a thread - to inquire of God.
One said yes, the other said no.
Whichever one the priest pulled out of his vest was your answer.
So all the tribes come forward - one tribe gets a yes.
All the clans of that tribe come forward - one clan gets a yes.
All the families of that clan come forward - one man gets a yes.
It’s Achan - Now everybody knows what the narrator told us in the beginning.
Here’s the thing - Achan had all this time to confess.
All the time that was spent rolling the dice - Achan knew it the whole time - but I guess he was hoping that the dice would be wrong.
Well, they weren’t wrong - Achan confessed once all eyes were on him.
Our confidence is not in ourselves, nor in our circumstances.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
Our confidence is in the truth, as much as God has revealed it to us.
If we are committed to Christ and honest with ourselves we have confidence, not in ourselves, but in Him.
The Ambush of Sin
The Ambush of Sin
We don’t like to think of ourselves a sinners - especially when God calls us saints!
But we don’t want to be ignorant of our sin nature either.
Even when we are mature in Christ, it is always there in the background just waiting for us to get lazy about our spiritual life.
Just hoping that we will take the grace of God for granted and give the devil a foothold.
Sin is described like a crouching animal just waiting to pounce,
7 If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.”
Achan is going to describe what happened - he got pounced!
Weigh the consequences.
Weigh the consequences.
21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
Achan saw silver and gold and some really nice swag!
He was picturing himself in a Babylonian coat making it rain with sliver coins.
That was a fantasy - reality was he had to hide it all in the dirt underneath his tent.
There is another play on words here when Joshua says “give glory to God, Achan - tell the truth.”
Glory in Hebrew is “Chabod”
It means “weighty”
Weighty things have value - like silver, gold and densely woven fabrics.
Achan could see the value in these things, but He wasn’t seeing the value of God - considering the weightiness of God.
Oh, and then in another ironic twist - Achan dies under a pile of rocks.
I guess he felt the “weight” after all.
If Achan appreciates “weighty things”, he should have also weighed the consequences.
Sometimes you are right to run away.
Sometimes you are right to run away.
3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”
Joshua has an idea - they are going to march up to Ai again, and again they are going to run away.
The difference is, that this time he sent another army around the back.
They are watching the back door, especially the road between Ai and Bethel.
This time they are ready to block the back door from receiving reinforcements.
Sometimes the best strategy is to run away.
Don’t get all cocky and think that you have to take sin head-on and prove something.
The devil knows that if he got you once or a thousand times; he’s going to keep hitting you in the same vulnerable area.
And you will probably fall for it ... again!
Don’t play that game - run away!
13 You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.
Don’t play around temptation - get out while you can!
Take the battle to the enemy.
Take the battle to the enemy.
13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14 And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
This time Joshua did not leave anything to chance.
He took the whole army and camped out in the valley North of Ai.
Except, of course, for the thirty thousand troops that he had positioned to the Southeast.
And then he sends another smaller troop of five thousand in from the West so they have eyes all around.
The idea is to make the enemy think they are trying the same strategy as before, just with larger numbers.
But Joshua did his homework this time.
I would encourage anyone who want to win a victory over sin to do their homework as well.
Be proactive - don’t wait until things get so bad that you have to reach out for help.
Reach out for help now.
Chances are, you are not the only one who struggles.
Find someone who has had the same struggle and ask them was has helped them.
Sometimes just having the accountability and encouragement is the best thing you can do.
If you don’t know how to reach out for help - ask your pastor - that’s what I’m here for.
I would be glad to help you find resources.
Just don’t wait around for things to get worse - take the battle to the enemy.
Go on the offensive against sin.
You don’t want to be always playing defense - that usually means you are losing the game.
Turning the Tables
Turning the Tables
Israel lost a battle that they should have won.
They were overconfident and underestimated their enemy.
They had sin in the camp and were unaware of it.
It seems that they did not even inquire of God until after they lost.
But everything that happened in chapter seven gets turned around in chapter eight.
Instead of being overconfident - Joshua is counting on Ai and Bethel to be overconfident.
Instead of being blinded by sin - Joshua sets a blind trap for the enemy.
Instead of rushing ahead - Joshua takes the time to patiently put the pieces in place.
Take decisive action.
Take decisive action.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.
Joshua, who is pretending to flee, turns around and lifts up his spear as a signal to be relayed to the other hidden troops to make their move.
Joshua’s spear is like staff of Moses, which God used to part the waters.
God is doing the work, the staff and the spear are symbolic participation.
Or in this case, the spear may be an actual signal.
What’s your move?
What is your sign that you are participating with God in His work?
Maybe its just symbolic gesture like lifting up your hands in worship.
8 In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.
Obviously, lifting hands means something to God.
Maybe is lifting them in surrender.
Maybe its like a child reaching to his Father in heaven.
Maybe it’s a declaration of victory.
Don’t just stand there, do something.
Make things right.
Make things right.
26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. 27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
Ai in Hebrew is pronounced Ay or AYah - it means ruins.
Who knows what it was called before the time of Joshua - it was ever after known as “the ruins.”
The king of the city was impaled in a symbolic gesture of defeat.
But rather that leave him like that - Joshua laid his body in the entrance to the city and piled a heap of stones over it.
It kinda reminds you of another heap of stones - the one the piled over Achan and his family.
For Joshua and for Israel it was a “bookend” to what they had to do earlier.
They couldn’t have victory over their enemies until they got the victory over their own sin.
They couldn’t cleanse the land of evil, until they go rid of the evil in their own camp.
They couldn’t enter into God’s promises and become Gods vessels, until they dealt with their own disobedience.
Renew your commitment.
Renew your commitment.
Joshua 8:30–35 (ESV)
30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34 And 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. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
Fast forward some day, weeks or perhaps months.
We seek Joshua and the people of Israel conducting a solemn ceremony on the ridge route some miles North of Bethel and Ai.
They are doing something that Moses made them promise they would do.
29 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
Two mountains in the center of the promised land that look like the two tablets of stone on which were written the ten commandments.
They would forever remind the people, not only of the Law of Moses, but of the choice that comes with knowing what God requires.
You have obedience on one side and disobedience on the other side.
There are blessings for obedience and for disobedience, there are curses which are also consequences.
Knowing the difference between good and evil means you always have a choice.
The point is to make that choice.
Because when you know you have a choice, then ignorance is also a choice.
Questions for reflection:
Questions for reflection:
What makes you confident? Is it your own ability or Gods? Are you confident in your own narrative or God’s plan for your life? Are you ever confident in anything at all?
Do you recognize that you have a sin nature? Have you ever wrestled with it? How do you keep it under control? By denying it is there? Or by submitting to a more powerful master?
Have you made a conscious choice to commit your life to Christ? Can you identify the time and a place where you made that choice? You may have grown up in a home where that choice was made for you. Have you ever made your own choice?
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