THE ANGER OF THE LORD BURNED AGAINST ISRAEL
The LORD was very specific that the army was not to take for themselves, the spoils of war. The temptation was too great and someone broke God’s command; bringing a curse upon the army.
Joshua 7:1 ESV 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.
ISRAEL FLEES FROM AI BECAUSE THE LORD DID NOT BLESS THEIR BATTLE
Unknown to Joshua that someone has taken the spoils of war; he has no idea that the LORD is angry. Believing that God is with the army in battle, he take’s this divine blessing for granted; sending a smaller army on a mission. Had he known at all that the army broke their trust with the LORD; he would have repented and led the army to repent as well. A small army of 3,000 went up to Ai, only to retreat from the battle, losing thirty six men. Joshua tore his clothes and put dust on his head in grief, crying out to the LORD.
Joshua 7:2-7 ESV 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 3,000 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. (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!
ISRAEL MARKED FOR DESTRUCTION FOR TAKING THE DEVOTED THINGS
“Israel has sinned!” It was a grievous sound that echoed in Joshua’s ears. He knew what those words meant, even before the LORD explained their impact. Hearing the LORD say, I will not be will you anymore in battle, kindled his anger against the army and at the same time drove him to his knees!
Joshua 7:10-12 ESV 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. (12) Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
PROCESS BY ELIMINATION THROUGH THE CASTING OF LOTS
The LORD did not give the remedy immediately. It was the next morning that the LORD gave His instructions. Through casting lots, The LORD would reveal Israel’s sin; by tribe, by clan, by house and by man. The lot fell on Achan. Joshua confronted him and demanded the truth. He confessed that he stole a cloak, some silver and a bar of gold and hid them in the ground in his tent. Messengers were sent to his tent and it was as he said. Achan and all his processions; his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had; was taken up to the Valley of Achor. There they were stoned and all of their belongings were burned with fire along with them.
Joshua 7:14-15 ESV In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the LORD takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households. And the household that the LORD takes shall come near man by man. (15) And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.'"
Joshua 7:24-26 ESV 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
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FEAR AND OBEDIENCE INSTILLED THROUGH MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF ONE
Sometimes it is necessary to make an example out of one in order to get the attention and compliance of the rest. The LORD was blessing His holy nation. The heathen and pagan peoples who were trespassing in the Promised Land had to be eliminated; in order for the blessings of peace and abundance to be bestowed upon Abraham’s seed. There could be no peaceful cohabitation of the heathen and God’s righteous people. Unless they were completely eliminated, Israel could never rest. The army of Israel was not going to be like the heathen nations. God could not tolerate the pillaging of the spoils of war for personal gain. All that would be taken; was for the treasury of the LORD.
Taken in with cunning
A lot of credit has to be given to the people of Gibeon. When faced with the fact that Israel was going to come to town and utterly destroy them like Jericho, their elders acted with cunning. They prepared a caravan with old worn out mules, dried and dusty bread, worn out clothes and shoes. With a message of peace, coming from a very distant land that their provisions and clothes all turned to dust because of the great distance; Joshua makes a peace pact, unbeknown, with the next city marked for destruction. Joshua and the people did not seek the LORD’s counsel and they were taken in by Gibeon’s cunning.
Joshua 9:3-5 ESV But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, (4) they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, (5) with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. (9) They said to him, "From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. Joshua 9:11-14 ESV So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, "We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us."' (12) Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. (13) These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey." (14) So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.
Gibeon was only three days away, but they presented themselves as being so far away, that they were not inhabitants of the Promised Land. The leaders of Israel swore by the LORD and they could not go back on their promise. Israel had violated the commandment of the LORD to Moses to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land, but they could not do this because of the peace pact. Joshua made the people of Gibeon servants to Israel.
Joshua 9:18-21 ESV But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. (19) But all the leaders said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. (20) This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them." (21) And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
THE REMAINING CONQUESTS
After a few mistakes, the conquest continued to destroy the remaining inhabitants of the Promised Land. The people obeyed and God fought their battles, giving them the victory. The land was free of the infidel, except for Gibeon. Joshua led Israel to victory. The LORD gave Moses a command for the people to utterly destroy the inhabitants of the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 20:16 ESV But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, (17)but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, (18) that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
The method was the same. The LORD gave them the battle and all was destroyed. Nothing remained to tempt Israel to sin. Conquer, destroy and burn to the ground, leaving a heap of rocks as a memorial; that the LORD was serious about giving His people Israel, the victory.
Joshua 8:29 ESV 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.
Kings watched their people destroyed, their cities burned to the ground and then the king would be executed and buried under a heap of rocks in the city gate. This sent a message to the remaining kings that put them into a panic of fear and confusion. When Israel came to town, there was great dread. Through Joshua, God utterly destroyed 31 kings of 31 nations that inhabited the Promised Land.
Joshua 12:7-24 ESV And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, (8) in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): (9) the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; (10) the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; (11) the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; (12) the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; (13) the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; (14) the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; (15) the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; (16) the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; (17) the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; (18) the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; (19) the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; (20) the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; (21) the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; (22) the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; (23) the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee, one; (24) the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.
JOSHUA DIES
The young man; who left Egypt and became the right hand of Moses, led the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. After victory was achieved and the inhabitants were expelled and utterly destroyed, Joshua assigned each of the twelve tribes their portion in the new land. The Promised Land had been divided up under Moses. Joshua administered the inheritance of each tribe. From slave to free man; from Egypt to Canaan; from a young boy at Moses’ side to a conqueror and governor of God’s chosen people, Joshua died at age 110. The greatest epitaph any leader of Israel could ever earn, was recorded, “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua.” This truly was Israel’s golden age.
Joshua 24:28-31 ESV So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. (29) After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old. (30) And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. (31) Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are supreme in love and strength. Your wisdom is beyond my understanding. When I trust in you I am blessed. Protect me from my own human nature. Deliver me from my own foolish counsel. Let me never be deceived like Israel was by Gibeon, in Jesus name, Amen.
Copyright © 2006, 2011 Thomas C. Blake
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