Joshua 08

Introduction

In chapter 6 we read how the Lord enabled the Israelites to conquer the city of Jericho in an extraordinary way. But then in chapter 7: disaster! The Lord’s anger burned against his people because one of them, Achan, had sinned against the Lord in regard to things devoted to the Lord. And because the Lord’s anger burned against them, he did not go up with them against Ai and he let the men of Ai defeat the army of Israel. And afterwards the Lord said that he would not be them to help them until they had destroyed whatever among them was devoted to destruction. And that meant destroying Achan and his family. And so, chapter 7 ended with Achan and his family being stoned to death.

Verses 1 and 2

And now that the people have removed Achan from their camp, the Lord was willing once again to fight on their behalf and to help them against their enemies.

And so, the Lord spoke to Joshua in verse 1 of chapter 8 to tell him not to be afraid or discouraged. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, but take the whole army and go and attack Ai. And why shouldn’t he be afraid or discouraged? Why shouldn’t he be afraid of attacking Ai? Because God has delivered the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land into Joshua’s hands. That is to say, the Lord had already decided to hand them over to Joshua. And so, the Israelites will do to Ai and its king what they did to Jericho and its king. God will enable them to destroy them.

However, there’s going to be one difference between what happened at Jericho and what will happen at Ai. At Jericho the Lord commanded them to devote everything to the Lord. In other words, all living things had to be killed and all non-living things had to be destroyed or placed in the Lord’s treasury. But on this occasion, God was allowing the people of Israel to keep for themselves all the plunder and livestock from the city of Ai. The Lord is not stingy or mean. He is good to his people and because of his abundant goodness to them he was willing to fill their lives with good things to enjoy in the Promised Land.

And then there’s a command right at the end of verse 2. The Lord said to Joshua: ‘Set an ambush.’

Verses 3 to 27

And that’s precisely what Joshua did. And so, we read in verses 3 to 9 about Joshua’s plan to take the city; and in verses 10 to 27 we read about how they carried out their plan and took the city. Very briefly: Joshua gave orders for some of his men to hide themselves and wait while the rest of his men lured the men of Ai away from the city. Once the men of Ai had left the city unguarded, the Lord commanded Joshua to hold out his javelin towards the city as a signal for the Israelites who were hiding to let them know that they should rise up and enter the city and set it on fire.

When the others, who had lured the men of Ai out of the city, saw that the city was on fire, they turned on the men of Ai who had been chasing them. Meanwhile those who had taken the city also came out and attacked the enemy army from the other direction. And so, the men of Ai were being attacked from the front and from the rear. And the Israelites defeated them. They killed all of the men of Ai, but kept the king alive for the time being. They also killed all the people who were in the city, but they kept the plunder and livestock for themselves in accordance with the word of the Lord to Joshua.

Verses 28–29

And in verses 28 and 29 we have the aftermath. The city of Ai was burned to the ground so that only a heap of ruins was left. The king of Ai was killed and his dead body was hung on a tree until evening, when it was taken down in accordance with God’s law. And the king’s dead body was thrown down at the entrance to the city and covered over with a pile of stones.

Application

So, what’s the significance of this for us? And how does this passage point us to the Lord Jesus and to the good news of the gospel?

First of all, let’s recall what is written in Deuteronomy 21 where it says: ‘anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.’ In Joshua 8, the king of Ai — who represents all the people of Ai — was hung on a tree to signify that all the people of Ai were under God’s curse.

And why were they under God’s curse? Let’s remember what I’ve said before, which is that the attack on the cities in Canaan was not an act of genocide or terrorism or ethnic cleansing, but an act of justice. God was working through the people of Israel to punish the people of Canaan, including the people of Ai, for their wickedness. And because of their wickedness, they were under God’s curse. And he was now punishing them.

And that’s what we deserve as well, because there’s no difference between us, because all of us have sinned and we come short of the glory of being like God. We are all like sheep who have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way. Throughout our life, we have offended God by our sin and disobedience. And so, when we read about what happened to Ai, we ought to say to ourselves: ‘That’s what I deserve. I deserve to be punished like that because I’m no better than they are in the sight of God.’

That’s the bad news. But there’s also good news. Deuteronomy 21 tells us that hanging someone on a tree signified that that person was under God’s curse. But let’s now remember that in Galatian 3 the apostle Paul applies Deuteronomy 21 to the Lord Jesus. He says: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”’ The Lord Jesus was hung on a cross, which was a kind of tree, and he suffered there God’s wrath and curse for our sin. And by suffering God’s wrath and curse for our sin, he has freed us from the wrath and curse of God which we deserve for our disobedience.

And Paul goes on to explain that the Lord Jesus freed us from the curse of God in order that we might receive the blessing of God. So, we deserve to be cursed and punished like the people of Ai. But the Lord Jesus took the punishment we deserve. And instead we receive the blessing of God which includes eternal life in the presence of God.

And so, when we read about what happened to Ai, we ought to say to ourselves: ‘That’s what I deserve. I deserve to be punished like that because I’m no better than they are in the sight of God.’ But then we need to remember what Christ has done for us. We ought to say to God: ‘Thank you for the Lord Jesus and for what he did to free me from the wrath and curse of God.’

Verses 30 to 35

But let’s move on to the final verses of this chapter, where we read in verse 30 that Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal.

Building an altar is a bit like putting down a marker. You know, you want to reserve a seat for yourself. And so you put your coat on it to mark it out as belonging to you. And here was Joshua, building an altar to mark this land as belonging to the Lord and to his people. Someone passing by would wonder, ‘Who does this land belong to?’ And then they’d see the altar and realise that it belongs to the Lord, the God of the Israelites.

But building the altar there also shows us how careful Joshua was being to do what the Lord commanded. We read in verse 31 that he built the altar there ‘as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites’. And then it says he built the altar in accordance to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses.

The author is referring to what we read in Deuteronomy 27, where Moses commanded that when the Israelities cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land, they should build an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal to offer to the Lord burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Burnt offerings were for the forgiveness of their sins and fellowship offerings were to give thanks to God for the peace they had with God.

And Moses also said they should set up large stones, covered in plaster on which they should write out the words of the law. And having done that, half of them should stand on Mount Gerizim and half of them should stand on Mount Ebal. The ones on Mount Gerizim should pronounce blessings on the people for obedience to God’s word; and the ones on Mount Ebal should pronounce curses on the people for disobedience to God’s word. So, this is what you can expect if you obey God and this is what you can expect if you disobey God.

That’s what the Lord commanded them to do through Moses back in Deuteronomy 27. And according to Joshua 8, Joshua did exactly what the Lord had said they should do.

Application

And this is significant for us, because the reading of the law reminds us once again that we’re sinners who deserve to suffer the wrath and curse of God for our failure to keep the law. But the altar and the sacrifices on it remind us of the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered himself on the cross as the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice for sins. He gave up his perfect life on the cross to pay for our sins and he shed his blood to cleanse us of our guilt. And through faith in him we have peace with God for ever.

And because we have peace with God for ever, we can look forward to entering the Promised Land to come, which is eternal life in the presence of God. And there in the presence of God, we will see and love the God who loves us with a perfect, never-ending and abundant love, which is not what we deserve, but which is what Christ has won for us on the cross.