HIGHLIGHTS IN JOSHUA
Number 8
ADVANCE IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM
Joshua 8
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IN THIS chapter we see the advance of Israel taking and possessing the promised land continuing. They advance and capture Ai. They overcome their enemies and enter into more blessing. Spiritually this illustrates the advance in the spiritual realm and the entering into greater blessing in the Gospel, and it is in this sense that I wish to consider this chapter.

I must confess that the slaughter of all the inhabitants of Ai, men, women and children, seems to me barbaric, and I have to ask myself why God permitted and commanded this to be so. There is no doubt, as we remember the previous chapter and Israel's defeat, that God was behind this slaughter of the inhabitants of Ai, and that without his power and wisdom it could not have happened. We are not told why God permitted and commanded this annihilation of Ai, except that it was part of Israel's possession of the promised land. It seems to me that we have to see this as the fact of Ai's sin being full, and this was an expression of the final just judgement of God on this city. If this is so then we see this act as a judicial act of God in the upholding of his eternal justice; justice we all deserve except for the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I felt that the fact of the annihilation of Ai needed to be faced, but it is the spiritual lessons of this advance that I wish to meditate on in this sermon.

THE RETURN OF BLESSING

The chapter commences with God returning in blessing to Joshua and Israel after the disaster of the previous chapter. Although in the Gospel believers can never cease to be children of God and heirs of heaven, they can through deliberate sin find themselves suffering from the withdrawal of the blessings of the Gospel, and having to experience corrective action from the Lord to bring them to repentance and into the way of holiness. However the Lord is not always chiding, and as soon as sin has been repented of and put away, and there is renewed submission and obedience to the Lord, then the Lord reveals his loving presence again, and leads his people forward.

This is true for the believer in his or her spiritual life as well as for a whole congregation. Whole congregations can go astray, just as Israel often did. Whole fellowships can be effected by the evil in one person or in one area, and need to be careful to put this right. However whenever repentance is genuine then God renews his love and blessing, and the church or the individual continues to advance and experience more of the blessings of God.

In these times of chastisement it is important to remember that even if we are suffering God's rebuke, we are never separated from his love nor do we lose our salvation in Christ. We need also to remember that when we do heed the Lord and turn back to him in sorrow for the error of our ways, it is not the repentance or any restitution we may make that brings the return of blessing. It is still the merits of Christ which plead for us, and are the basis and assurance of the return and continuing of God's blessing upon us.

GOD GUIDES HIS PEOPLE

It was not Joshua who thought up the strategy for battle. Indeed it was not Joshua who decided to go into battle again. Indeed it was one of the mistakes in the previous chapter when Israel suffered defeat that it was human wisdom that decided to go up against Ai, and which decided how that advance was to be made and in what way. It was because Israel lent on their own wisdom the first time that they found everything to go wrong. God would not have allowed them to go forward until the sin of Aachan had been purged.

Joshua and Israel had learnt their lesson. It was only when the Lord drew near and told them what to do and when to do it that they advanced. Because of their failure and sin, both Joshua and the people were now humble and afraid. Afraid because they had proved that in themselves they had no strength or true wisdom for the advance into the promised land. It was because they had come to this humble and lowly position before God that God drew near and said, "Do not be afraid". They need not now be afraid because God was with them to guide and strengthen them. All our strength in the spiritual pilgrimage is from the Lord, and we must realise this and never trust in ourselves. It is essential that we be afraid in the sense the Israelites were afraid. Afraid because we know our weakness and foolishness, and because we know the strength and power of the enemy. It is in this place of meekness and humility that we inherit the earth.

Our advance in the spiritual realm is by the guidance and strength of the Lord. This we experience when we have come to the end of ourselves and we are relying only on Jesus, and looking to him moment by moment for his wisdom and direction. Then like Joshua we will find that we know the moment to act and are given the way to act. This is true for us individually and it is true for a congregation. We will find that we realise little blessing and success if it is ourselves who are setting the agenda for the work of the Lord. Congregations and specially ministers must never do this, because if we do, then like Israel in their first advance against Ai, we shall find that little is accomplished or worse still we shall know defeat and loss.

It is so easy in our hunger for blessing and growth to find ourselves making our own plans. It is so hard to wait God's time, which often is slow to come because there is so much preparatory work to perform before God's time of advance arrives. We need to daily and hourly be having no confidence in the flesh, and looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

As we do this, like Joshua we will find the Lord drawing near and saying, "Do not be afraid", and then telling us what to do and how to do it. At this time we go forward in confidence of victory because the Lord is directing us and the Lord is our strength. As Joshua was assured that Ai would be given into the hands of Israel (verses 1 & 2) so the Lord assures his people of the victory whenever he calls them to go forward. Then we will have faith to move mountains, because it is the Lord calling us forward.

A SPIRITUAL LAW

Whatever we may feel about the command to exterminate all the inhabitants of Ai, there is in this command an essential spiritual principle which is absolutely essential for us to understand and act upon in the spiritual realm.

All down Israel's history the one great source of failure and sin was because Israel did not obey this command. They left the inhabitants of the land amongst them, though they did use them for slaves and servants. This was their downfall because it was not long before they were being influenced by the customs and beliefs and ways of these people, and departing from the purity of the Lord.

God knows that we find it so difficult to accept that our flesh is weak and our sinful natures drag us away from the purity of the Lord. Israel was told to destroy the inhabitants of Ai so that there may be no evil influence to draw them away from the ways of the Lord. It is often felt that the Christian should influence those around them for good, and so it should be, but the sad truth is that, such is the power of our flesh, that so very often the effect is the reverse and the influences of the world draw the soul away from the Lord.

The extermination of all the people in Ai meant that all their heathen influence was removed from Israel. This is a very difficult area. In the past the lesson being taught here has caused some Christians to shut themselves off from the world around and refuse to have anything to do with it in any way whatsoever. Such a policy has had its own difficulties and negative results. It has bred spiritual pride and intolerance. It has cut the church off from its prime responsibility to preach the Gospel and to make Christ known. It has had the effect of making Christ and the faith of Christ offensive in a totally wrong sense. There is the offence of the cross where natural humanity dislikes the idea of having to trust in the death of Christ alone for salvation, and hates the idea that human effort can contribute nothing to our gaining merit before God. However the offence which this exclusiveness discussed above causes is something different. It is the offence of pride, self-righteousness, judgementalism and so on.

God's instructions to Israel to exterminate all the inhabitants of Ai does, however, convey essential teaching to us. Firstly it conveys to us the dangers the Christian is in from the world, the flesh and the devil, and lays upon us the importance of being on our guard, and to be humble before God, and to have no confidence in the flesh. It is when we cease to realise how easily we can be drawn away from God, and even into sin, that we are vulnerable to the seductions of the flesh and the devil. It is when we fail to realise our essential weakness due to our sinful flesh, that we do not notice a slide away from Christ and our devotion to him, until things have become really bad.

Secondly, God's instruction to Israel concerning the inhabitants of Ai warns us to be on our guard against the influences of the world all around us, and to be watchful concerning those influences that are a particular problem to us. One person would never dream of being dishonest with regards to money, and nothing would be able to seduce them to take what was not theirs. However the same person may have a particular difficulty in the realm laziness and sloth, or in the realm of pride or selfishness. None of us have the same weaknesses, but we all have some and there is a part of our nature that particularly needs to be watched and guarded.

Thirdly, God's instruction concerning Ai warn us to be particularly careful to avoid and to watch against all those influences in the world that are a particular danger to ourselves. If alcohol is a problem, then for us total abstinence is essential. If greed is our weakness, then we need to guard against everything in the world that encourages greed, and cut this out of our lives. All of us know from bitter experience where our weakness lies. We need to be ruthless in avoiding everything in the world where we are vulnerable.

Fourthly, God's instructions concerning the inhabitants of Ai press us to be positive in our Christian lives, and spend much time with Jesus, with the fellowship of the people of God and in the means of grace. Our minds and hearts have a limited capacity. If we fill our hearts and minds with the things of God, then there will be less room and time for the things in the world that may harm us. But having said this let us enjoy everything in the world that is good and wholesome and given to us by God for our enjoyment.

SPIRITUAL FRUIT

It is noticeable in this chapter, that unlike God's command in the defeat of Jericho, God allowed the people to take for themselves all the material plunder from the sacking of Ai. It seems that the prohibition in the case of Jericho was a test of the obedience and trust of Israel. God wanted them to learn that they could always trust his word and command. If he refused them the plunder in the case of Jericho they were being taught that God never leaves his people in want and will provide. In the prohibition concerning the plunder of Jericho God was seeking to cause Israel to learn that they must always trust and obey him whatever his commands may be.

Having pressed home this lesson in the case of Jericho he now allows the Israelites the material riches of Ai so that they may know more of the comforts of life. God is never a tyrant or lacking in goodness and kindness to his people. Material things are not evil in and of themselves, and they are given to us by God for our enjoyment and blessing. What we must always hold in our minds is that we must never set our hearts on them.

These gifts of the Lord to his people from their victory over Ai also symbolise the spiritual blessings which are bestowed on the believer in the course of walking in the light of the Lord. When we are in the will of God, waiting upon God, and going forward in the light of his guidance in obedience and trust, then we grow in spirituality. This is seen in a deepening sense of the love of God for us in Christ. This is seen in a deeper assurance of salvation as the greatness and completeness of Christ's work for us is deepened within us, and we grow to understand the wisdom of God in the Gospel more clearly. This is seen in a growth of holiness and usefulness in our lives as God causes us to conform more to the image of Christ and gives encouragements in our service for him.

There may be given us above these general blessings an experience of the presence of the Lord and fellowship with him which is much deeper and profound than anything we may have experienced before. Like Paul we are lifted up into the presence of the Lord and behold his glory, and are filled with all the fulness of God. Often such blessed experiences are given before a time of difficulty and special service for the Lord, so that we may be strengthened in the time of trial.

What these blessings to Israel reveal to us is that in an obedient walk with God there is an advance in the blessings of the Lord upon us, chiefly in the deepening of our love and confidence in the Lord.

CONCLUSION

This chapter speaks to us of the spiritual pilgrimage. The Christian life is a constant advance forward into the kingdom of God, and into the blessings of the kingdom, and in the enlargement of the kingdom. It is as we are walking humbly before our God, trusting only in his mercy and goodness to us in Christ, that we will advance into the kingdom, overcoming sin, the flesh and the devil, until the Lord brings us safely to our promised land in glory.