7-8-12. Joshua 8. GO UP AND ATTACK AI AGAIN

Joshua 8:1-35    Key Verse: 8:1
Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF    Sunday, July 8, 2012

“Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.”

Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you for your wonderful grace in my life. Thank you for helping me to be transformed from a heart hearted person into a soft hearted compassionate person. May I grow in Jesus’ compassion. I pray that my whole family will grow in the love of Jesus and create a community of love in which growing disciples of Jesus will want to be a part of. May you bless the preaching today at the Kishwaukee Bible Church. Please plant your word in my heart this morning. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: The Lord Delivered Ai Into Their Hands (1-29).

Verses 1-29 read, “Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.” 3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.” 9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people. 10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. 18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire. 20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua. 24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed[a] all who lived in Ai.27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai[b] and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.”
After Israel had been cleansed of Achan’s sin, Joshua prepared the attack on Ai again, for it was God’s will and strategic plan. Joshua had learned to confess their sin, deal with the problem, refocus on God, and move on, depending on God and not on human wisdom. When they applied these spiritual principles and obeyed God absolutely, God gave them total victory. In Christ, yesterday’s defeat will be tomorrow’s victory. We must never be discouraged. At the Lord’s direction, we can try again and again, by faith.

We need to know what God wants us to do and then we need to try again if needed. Sometimes we should not try again. But there are times when we should. Early on in UBF history I saw this principle work out when people tried to get visas to come to a Bible conference. They would be rejected by the embassy, but then they would pray and try again by faith and get the visa and come to the conference. I saw it when people were trying to graduate from college or university. It was called “Try Again” faith. We need to have this faith as we serve the work of God. We need this kind of faith to make our marriages work. We need this faith to raise our kids. We need this kind of faith to establish a discipleship ministry on a university campus. We need it to plant a church. I thank God for the UBF missionaries who taught me the essence of “Try Again” faith. I pray that I may apply it to all my relationships and to the ministry here at NIU and in DeKalb.

Part 2: The Renewal of The Covenant (30-35).

Verses 30-35, “Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of theLORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. 34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.”

In light of their victory, Joshua was eager to do the right thing. He renewed their covenant with God. They built the altar with uncut stones so as to focus on God and not on the stones, nor on the craftsmen (Ex 20:25). Joshua copied the Ten Commandments on stones (Dt 27:2-8). They were the heart of God’s laws. Joshua read all the words of God and not just a part. We must be sincere about our relationship with Jesus.

I like the sincerity of the Joshua and these Israelites. They were so sincere towards God. How easy it is for us to just accept a victory in our lives and then walk away, enjoying the glory for ourselves and reaping the benefits for ourselves and ignoring the God who granted us the victory. There are no atheists in fox holes. But when you get out of the fox hole and achieve something for yourself then there are atheists again. How can this be? God has granted me many victories in life, family, career, health, relationships, find the Gospel truth and having inner peace, truth, love and forgiveness and eternal hope. These are all victories from the Lord. Now what? Do I turn my back on Jesus and enjoy all that God has given me and never rendering glory to God. No way!

I must look to Joshua’s example and come to God in sincerity of heart and help all the people around me to do the same. I need to draw near to God through the word of God and renew the covenant relationship with the Lord, not through the law, but through the blood of Jesus shed for me on the cross of Cavalry. Lord, I repent of my sins and accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ to be forgiveness. Thank you for you love and your grace. Help me to live in you and with you through the Gospel.

Prayer: Lord, how often I just want to give up on what I know you have called me to do. Help me to renew my heart and my faith to try again.

One Word: Renew our relationship with Jesus