7.28.26 – The Book of Joshua, Chapter 8

 Joshua chapter 8 really lays out a big lesson for us. The lesson is, after you've failed, after you've done things in your own power, you've been overconfident, you figured, "No problem, I can handle this." You didn't consult Yahweh. And as a result of that, boom—defeat. The first attempt to go up to Ai, 36 individuals' lives were ended. Joshua's saying, "How in the world could this take place?" The Lord says, "I don't know what you're all upset about." He goes, "You got sin in the camp. Take care of it, and that'll take care of your situation."

Joshua chapter 8. Now they're getting ready to go up to Ai the second time. Strategically, they use their failure as the weapon to put their enemy at ease. And then they come back, and they ambush them, which is amazing. The first trip up to Ai, there's no plan. There's no real coordination. There's not anything that would say success. But there's nothing that says success like failure. The purpose for every setback in your life—and I think this is across the board—is spiritual refinement. And spiritual refinement will always cause you to take responsibility, and the responsibility will bring about your redemption. But the key is, do I understand with everything—good or difficult—that spiritual refinement is what Yahweh is doing in our lives? That's what Romans 8, verse 29 says. After He told us that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, then in verse 29, after he goes through those big 25-cent words—you know, those who've been justified and sanctified and glorified—he says, all the purpose of this is to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. Every event in life is conformance to the image of His dear Son. Failure is never final. It's always for spiritual refinement, to cause us to walk in responsibility, and then eventually to experience redemption.

The enemy is limited with their tool bag. They like to do things the same way that they've always done it. But underneath good leadership, you can take your failures, and you can make them victorious. And that's exactly what Joshua was planning. He was planning on laying an ambush for the city behind them. He would send his army out. Part of the army would go one way. The other part of the army would go the other way. And when the troops, the soldiers from Ai, thought that they had them whooped—well, things changed in a heartbeat.

You know, it's interesting because within this setting, it almost seems like God set it up. It's almost as if God spoke to Abraham about this. We know that in verse 9, Joshua sent them forth. They went to lie in ambush, and they abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night among the people. If we go back to the story of Abraham—Abram at that time—back in Genesis chapter 12, verse 8, he pitches his tent between Bethel and Ai. He builds an altar. He goes down into Egypt, picks up Hagar, picks up great wealth, but in the midst of all the things, it created conflict among brothers. So, when he comes back up out of Egypt, he goes right back to the same altar that he built. The sages—those rabbis that are way smarter than us, who spend lifetimes just studying individual words—they said out of the four altars that Abraham built, he only came back to this one. The other three, he didn't come back to. Why did he come to this one? The reason being, the sages say, is because it was actually a prophecy that there would be a failure, that there'd be a colossal failure. And the purpose for the altar was to remind them that anytime we move forward in difficult situations, just thinking we can handle it on our own, not consulting God, it'll end up in failure. So whether it was Genesis chapter 12, verse 8, or Genesis chapter 13, verse 4, the fact of the matter is, just as Proverbs 24 verse 16 says, "The just man may fall seven times, but each time he gets back up." There's great significance to why the number seven has to do with the restoration process in the seven days of what we call the creation story. It has to do with the seven spirits, the seven Moedim, the seven churches, the seven qualities that you diligently add into your faith to not stumble. When you stumble along the way, you can pull yourself back up. God's ready to receive you and to take you back.

You know, one of the beautiful truths in this chapter is the seed of your failure becomes the seed for victory. That's learning life lessons. That's trying to figure things out. Saying, "Okay, I'm not going to go down that path again." Or if the enemy thinks that they've got me in one particular capacity, I'm going to show them that this time I've got a plan. This time I'm coordinated. Well, the battle goes on. Joshua splits his forces. Ai thinks that they've got him right where they want him, just like they did back in Chapter 7. Now, in verse 20: "When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven. They had no power to flee this way or that way. And the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers." Wow.

You know, this time around, Joshua is going to be successful. Do you know why? Inquiring minds want to know. The reason why is because the greatest threat that any of us have—literally, to success, to victory, to anything in life that propels us forward—the greatest threat is that we forget who it is that gives us the victory. And this is something that Joshua, this time around, is not going to forget. In fact, not only is he not going to forget, but after the victory, God's going to allow them to be able to keep some of the spoils, which is different than Jericho. And then Joshua does something amazing. Something that's a constant reminder for all of us. Oftentimes, whenever we have victory over something, we tend to pat ourselves on the back and forget that it was God who orchestrated everything. You know what Joshua does? Verse 30: "Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal." You may remember that Mount Ebal is one of the two mountains for blessings and cursings. Mount Ebal was the mountain of cursing—"When you're disobedient, these are the things that are gonna happen." He builds an altar there after this victory. Verse 31: "As Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded the children of Israel, as is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man has lifted up any iron. And they offered their burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there on stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel." What a fantastic leader to make sure that they never forget.

You know, it's kind of like Deuteronomy 8, verse 10. It says, after you've eaten and you are full, to give thanks to God, to give thanks for the One who provided it for you, and to remind you that the reason why He fills your belly—it's all in preparation for you going to the land of your inheritance. Joshua is not going to let the people forget. And all Israel and their elders and officers and their judges stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests, the Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well as the stranger as he that was born among them—half of them over against Mount Gerizim, half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward—I love this—afterward he read all the words of the law, the Torah, the blessings and the curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law. It was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women and the little ones and the strangers that were conversant among them. This is the beauty of taking your defeats, reevaluating, going back, consulting the Lord, walking in His ways, and when He gives you the victory, then you come back, and you say, "We're going to make sure that the people know: we need to understand this life is filled with blessings and curses. Let's go for the blessings."

Shalom. 

Alan