Before we begin our study of Joshua 7 and 8, we need to take a moment and present ourselves before the Lord. Reflect on your day, your week, this month, this year. What are some of the things you attribute to God that you are truly grateful for? I pray that in all things you are discerning God’s will and purposes over your life. But what are the things God is active in doing for you and in you? These positive moments of thanksgiving are a cause for rejoicing. But I also want you to think of the alternative. What are some things in your life in which you know you have been keeping from God? Is it a battle you find yourself fighting on your own? Are you keeping these earthly treasures to yourself, making them your idol? Have you been neglecting your time with God? Pray towards this end, relationship with your loving Heavenly Father in mind. Pray that you may continue the path of being conformed to his image by the renewing of your body, of your mind and spirit. May all things that are you be turned over to the one who is Lord over all things. To the King of kings we pray, Amen. 

Tonight we look into the two attacks on Ai: the first defeat of Israel, and then eventual victory over Ai resulting in the renewal of the covenant between God and Israel. Ai was certainly not a significant nation, or a large place nor significant fortress. This foe represented something of much greater importance to the Israelites: their ability to remain obedient. Remember, this is one of the three main themes in Joshua as commanded in chapter 1. Be strong and courageous, yes, but also be rooted in obedience. Let’s look at our text verse by verse:

• 7:1 This detail of Achan taking for himself some of the things devoted to God is known to us by the way of the narrator. The Israelites themselves do not know that one in their ranks has sinned. 

• 7:2-3 Just as he had in attacking Jericho, Joshua is doing his homework on his opponent by sending spies into the land. This time, however, the spies return with a different kind of news. With confidence, the spies say that Joshua only need send a few thousand up to overtake the city because it is so small. The people there were few. Remember, in Jericho they did not report tactics. They reported the heart condition of the people. Clearly, something is different is here. The Israelites have forgotten why they won the battle against Jericho. It was not because Israel was good at playing war, it was because God had melted the hearts of the people of Jericho. God had not done this to the small nation of Ai, and for a reason. 

• 7:4-5 Joshua only sends three thousand men up for the attack on Ai, and Ai not only beats them but takes the lives of 36 men and chased them out. Now it is the Israelite heart that melt and become as water!

• 7:6-9 Joshua comes against his first pressure as leader of Israel, his first loss. And he does not respond well. In fact, he makes remarks similar to those of the Israelites in the wilderness! They asked to go back to Egypt many times because the difficulties that surround following God to his Promised Land. Joshua is now wishing to have stayed on the other side of the Jordan so he had not faced this struggle. But it was for the Promised Land! His fears are clearly seen as he assumes the people have lost their confidence and the Canaanites will group up and stomp Israel out. 

• 7:10-15 God says, stop your crying and lead!God declares that he will point out the traitor through the casting of lots and that person will be dealt with harshly, he and his family and belongings. 

• 7:16-18 The group whittles down until the only person left is Achan. He must’ve been sweating in his sandals. 

• 7:19-21 Achan comes clean and tells of how he robbed God of the devoted things. Joshua’s call for repentance seems foreign to us. This person had caused Israel to lose men in battle. He had stolen from God. Joshua responds by calling him “son” in an endearing way and also, in course of repenting, calls for Achan to give God glory and praise. When I know after admission of my sin I am going to be stoned and burned it’d be hard to praise!

• 7:22-26 The Israelites find what Achan had stolen. They collected the stolen things as well as everything Achan owned and even his family. The Israelites then stoned and burned everything of Achan’s so as to turn away the Lord’s anger. I am so thankful that, though sin surely deserves death, God has provided us an avenue of grace through Christ!

• 8:1 “Do not fear and do not be dismayed” calls to memory Joshua 1:9 in the initial call of Joshua. This is a sort of resetting of the relationship between God and Israel. Achan had caused God to take a step back from leading the Israelites and allowed them to lose in battle. He is now reinstalling that he will be with them, leading them. 

• 8:2 This time the Israelites can take the spoil. Had Achan only been patient, God would not only provide but provide in plenty. If only he had displayed obedience from the beginning.

• 8:3-9 The battle plan is laid out. Joshua will lead a group to the front gate, but when the soldiers of Ai come out of the city Joshua’s group will flee like they did the first time. But this time, a second Israelite group will hide in a valley on the other side of the city. When the soldiers of Ai give chase away from the city, the second group of Israelites will sack and burn the vacated city. 

• 8:10-17 The plan goes just as it was drawn up, and the pursuers from Ai and Bethel were so zealous not one soldier was left in the city. 

• 8:18-23 City is captured and burned. The enemy is surrounded and destroyed. 

• 8:24-29 Description of the destruction of the people and king of Ai. 

• 8:30-35 Renewing of the covenant and refreshing in the peoples minds what their role in that covenant is. God promises to be faithful, but Israel has to be obedient. 

Here are some concluding thoughts to our time together:

One man’s sin leads to a community downfall: The theology around sin is, itself, a very interesting conversation to have. This idea of one person’s sin impacting the group would qualify as communal sin. In an individualistic culture, we often feel as this seems improbable. Why would God judge the group for one person’s sins? But we must understand that, as much as we want Christianity to be just an individual race, our relationship with God is and always has been a communal effort. Your relationship with Christ comes with a relationship with other believers. We are called the body of Christ, meaning there are many parts. When a finger touches a burner on the stove, does not the rest of the body feel the pain? Of course, the burn is left on the finger, but the pain resonates through the hand, to the arm, into the spine, and up to the head. Let’s look at an example from today. When a pastor sins and is accused of something such as sexual abuse. There was a famous Chicago pastor in 2019 who resigned due to sexual abuse committed when he was a teen. This caused pain in the church leadership, the congregation, and the witness to the Chicago community. Our sins as Christians often leave residual effects to the body of Christ surrounding us. Our sins, then, are not just our own but inflict damage on the whole. How much greater are the stakes that we remain pure!

How should we face persecution and failures as leaders?: Joshua’s response to losing his first battle is one that surely causes the reader to pause. What happened to that strong and courageous leader we had seen since he was first sent into the land as a spy back with Moses? This Joshua had been the constant voice of confidence, but one loss was able to shake him that greatly that he began to doubt God’s purposes. He doubted that God was good, that God was with them. As leaders, as Christians in general, we cannot be a people with shallow roots. Our faith needs to have roots that bury deep into the ground. We cannot allow ourselves to be shaken by the wind, our boat capsized by the waves. The path on which we travel as believers is not going to be easy. Remember the verse right before the Hall of Faithsection of Hebrews:

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls” (Heb. 10:39).

So be strong and courageous, with faith in a God who promises to be with us who are obedient. 

Renewing the Covenant: After messing up and coming to repentance, Joshua reads the people the entirety of the Law that they remember their part of the covenant. We live in a day of cheap grace. We have watered down the Gospel to a point where many of us have no clue what the Bible is actually telling us to do or become. We claim his promises while not having a clue what those promises consist of. How often, after victory or defeat, do we turn to God and remind us of what he declares for us in his Word? Or how many of us, when facing battle, do we look to Scripture and prayer to guide our feet, hands, and tongues in whatever we are facing? So often we read Scripture as part of a devotional simply because we feel like we have to. I pray that as we continue to study Scripture together, each of you begin to desire to read it on your own. To read it for the sake of knowing God, not because you want to say you’ve been in the Word when someone asks. I want each of us to wash his Promises over us, to fall in love with the narrative of the Gospel and the truth it has for our everyday lives. I want us to soak in the wisdom and find beauty in the poetry. I pray that, for each of us, we desire a more full revelation of God and his character, creating in us a passion for his Word and his people. To God and his Glory, Amen.