Josué 8

Josué 8

Guzik summarizes this chapter - If Israel will regain victory, they must show no mercy to their enemy, but crush the enemy completely at every opportunity. We can summarize the keys for victory from this chapter: • Be encouraged. • Follow the LORD’s plan. • Use every resource, and the best resources. • Live with and look to Jesus. • Go on the offensive. • Show no mercy to your enemy. So far, Israel’s experience is an illustration of their whole history, and the spiritual history of many Christians. • Obedience followed by victory. • Victory followed by blessing. • Blessing followed by pride and disobedience. • Disobedience followed by defeat. • Defeat followed by judgment. • Judgment followed by repentance. • Repentance followed by obedience. • Obedience followed by victory, and the cycle continues Joshua 8:29 He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day. the king: Jos 10:26-28,30,33 De 21:22,23 Es 7:10 Ps 107:40 110:5 Ac 12:23 Rev 19:17,18 as soon: Jos 10:27 a great heap: Jos 7:26 2Sa 18:17 Joshua 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Numbers 25:4+ The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” Deuteronomy 21:22-23+ (WHY HANG THE KING?) “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. Joshua 10:26-27+ So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening. 27 It came about at sunset that Joshua gave a command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day. KING OF AI HANGED He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day - Hanging the king prevented later efforts to muster a Canaanite army. It is interesting that in Joshua 7 ended with death of a criminal memorialized by a heap of stones and now at the end of Joshua 8 a pagan king is similarly "memorialized." Grant on the King of Ai - He had resisted and defeated the children of Israel and was dealt with in accordance with the Law of Moses (Deut 21:22–23). The place of defeat was now the location of a memorial to their ultimate victory. Cairns of stones sat at Gilgal, the valley of Achor and Ai lest they forgot the hard learned lessons of spiritual warfare. (What the Bible Teaches - Joshua) Woudstra - The story of Ai ends with the report of the erection of two monuments which recall the event until this day (for this expression see commentary on 4:9). The first monument is the ruin heap of Ai itself, the other is the pile of stones over the dead body of the city's king (v. 29). God's past acts of deliverance for Israel and of judgment on those who disobey him, be they Israelite (Achan) or non-Israelite, could thus be recalled by generations to come. (The Book of Joshua The New International Commentary on the OT) TSK has an interesting note on why the king was hanged - The kings of Canaan lay under the same curse as their subjects and probably were more deeply criminal. The reserving of the king of Ai for a solemn execution, would tend to strike terror into the other kings (cf Nu 25:4+), contribute to the success of Israel, and give their proceedings the stamp of a judicial process, and of executing the vengeance of God upon his enemies. Monson has an interesting comment on this strategic victory in the central hill country - “It is interesting to note again that this first victory in the Hill Country was in the region of Ai and Bethel, exactly where some of the most significant promises had been given to Abraham and Jacob hundreds of years earlier, (Genesis 13 and Ge 28.10-22). In addition to the strategic nature of the region, these earlier promises may have played a part in Joshua’s decision to begin his campaign precisely here. Joshua’s bold move toward this part of the Hill Country may have been just what was needed to unify the Canaanites in the Bethel region. Up to this point they appear to have been in disarray in the face of the Israelite threat (Joshua 5.1). What better place to make their stand than here at the entrance to the strategic region of Bethel and the Central Benjamin Plateau?” (The Land Between) Campbell writes "Thus Israel, restored to God’s favor, won a great victory. After failure came a second chance. One defeat or failure does not signal the end of a believer’s usefulness for God." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary ) Alan Carr applies Israel's burning Ai and killing the king of Ai to our battle with the flesh - At this point in this story, Israel has followed God’s plan and that have achieved the victory. Now, they must maintain their victory. They take two steps that make this a reality for them. In our lives, we can achieve the victory over the flesh! We can walk in the will of God and be alive to spiritual things. However, for us to maintain that victory, the same steps that Israel took need to be taken in every one of our lives this morning. Let me share them with you.) Joshua 8:27–29 Victory Is Preserved By Death—Please notice that they did not leave a single person alive in Ai. No one from the king down to the humblest servant was spared from death in this battle. Joshua knew that this enemy had to be totally eradicated or there would be problems down the road. The lesson for us this morning is this: Your flesh is still alive and well, but it needs to be put to death! Now, there are some preachers going around telling folks that when they got saved, their flesh was put to death. But I’ve got news for you, they are wrong! Your flesh is as alive this morning as it ever has been. It still likes all the things that it used to like, and if you turned it loose, it would run to sin like a pig to a wallow. Your flesh is not saved. Your flesh is not holy. Your flesh is rotten and it hates God and everything He stands for! Of course, I am talking about our old sinful natures. Now, we need to understand some things about our flesh if we are to have the victory over it today. Allow me to share some truths with you about your flesh. 1 Your flesh is alive and is at war with the Spirit of God Who is in you—Gal. 5:16–24. (We have been given the divine nature—2 Pet. 1:4. This is a struggle that the Apostle Paul dealt with in great detail—Ro 7:14–25. (ED: cf 1Co 9:24, 25, 26, 27+). 2 At the same time, your flesh was crucified with Jesus Christ—Ro 6:6–7. (This is our positional standing. In the eyes of God, our flesh, all it works and everything it stands for was crucified with Jesus at Calvary. God reckoned the wicked, sinful natures that we possess to be in His Son on the cross. 3 We are to reckon the flesh dead daily—Col. 3:1–10. (ED: SEE Ro 6:11+, ACTUALLY THE FIRST COMMAND IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS!) (Ill. This is how we are to live practically everyday.) Why this list of sins? Because these are things that seem to have a way of dominating our lives. Notice what some of them are: Fornication—Illicit sexual activities. There is only one appropriate place for the expression of the sexual appetite and that is within marriage. I know that is an old fashioned attitude in this day and time, but you can either live to please the flesh or you can live to please God. Just ask some who have experienced the dark side to sex to tell you whether it was worth it or not. Uncleanness—Moral impurity. Doing things that dirty and pollute the soul life. Inordinate Affections—Passions and intense arousals for things that are forbidden by God. This is a desire or craving for wrong things. Evil Concupiscence—evil desire, a yearning and an aching for all kinds of evil. It is that within a person that pulls him to desire, grasp, grab, and take hold of all forms of evil that give pleasure to the body and its members. Covetousness—Craving, grasping, grabbing, desiring to have something. It is desiring to have something when it is not needed; it is desiring more than what we need and more than what we should have. Note that covetousness is idolatry. 4. The secret lies in being able to reckon the flesh dead like God does—Rom. 6:11–14; Gal. 2:20. When we come to the place that we can look at our flesh and its lusts and remind it that it is dead to sin then, and only then, can we expect victory in our lives. (Ill. We don’t crucify the flesh by gratifying it! You cannot feed every lust that enters your mind and claim to be living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. The flesh must die today! When tomorrow comes, it must die again. I must reckon it dead to sin and to the lust for sin!) We are told to flee those things that tempt us—2 Ti 2:22. 5 It all boils down to whether or not you want to please the Lord by the life you live—Rom. 8:1–13. 6 Thankfully, there will come a day when the battle with the flesh will end. One day, the Lord will deliver us from this vile flesh and we shall be changed to be like Him. You see, positionally, God says that our flesh is dead to sin. Practically speaking it can be, but only as we take the initiative to reckon it dead day by day. However, one day, we will be changed and we will be perfected by the power of God, Ro 7:24–25. (Joshua 8:1-35 How To Ambush Your Ai) GEORGE BUSH Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 8 29. The king of Ai he hanged. The kings of the devoted nations were dealt with with more exemplary severity than the common people, because they were more deeply criminal, both in having formerly by their connivance encouraged the abominations of their subjects, and in now instigating them to resistance, when they might and should have known that resistance was vain. In the present case, though the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua, yet it is not certain that he was not first put to death in some other way, and his body hung upon a tree after his execution as a mark of the utmost disgrace and detestation. Upon consulting the following passages, this opinion will appear far more plausible than the one which maintains that he was first hung, a mode of capital punishment that does not appear to have been customary in those early days, ch. 10:26; 2 Sam. 4:12; 1 Sam. 31:8–10. As soon as the sun was down. This was according to the law, Deut. 21:22, 23, ‘If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day.’ Cast it at the entering of the gate. The gates of cities were usually the places of judgment, of the transaction of the most important public business, and of general resort and rendezvous. We know of no other reason for casting the dead body of the king of Ai in this place, than that it was the most public place that could be chosen, one that would stamp the act with the utmost possible notoriety. Joshua 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, built an altar: Ge 8:20 12:7,8 mount Ebal: Jos 8:33 Joshua 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Note Bethel Which would be region of Ai. Mt Ebal & Mt Gerizim are directly north. Enlargement of Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim with Shechem in middle JOSHUA BUILDS ALTAR TO YAHWEH THE GOD OF ISRAEL Joshua 8:30-35 deal with renewal or reaffirmation of the covenant with God. Grant points out that "Following the capture of Ai, the children of Israel repeated a course of action which would make no sense to the military mind. As was previously noted, momentum is a key element of any successful campaign of conquest, and Joshua willingly gave this up again, having already waited at Gilgal for the circumcision of the people. With the cities of Jericho and Ai destroyed, the gateway into Canaan was open, but he did not take the people through....there was no rash advance into Canaan with Joshua demonstrating obedience to the command of the Lord by taking the people to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal for the fulfilment of the Lord’s command through Moses. Yet again the reader is reminded that the advance into Canaan was directed by the Lord and that, for success in such a conflict, obedience to the word of the Lord is the paramount consideration. (What the Bible Teaches - Joshua) Then Joshua is sensitive to come back to the Lord after the victory has been granted and note that the focus is on the Word of God again. Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal - Refer to the maps above and locate Bethel on the larger map. Bethel would be in vicinity of where Joshua had just defeated Ai. He would then have taken the nation about 30 miles directly northward (see red marker on map) to the region of Shechem. On the map enlarging this area you can see Shechem situated between Mt Ebal on the north and Mt Gerizim on the south (see also map above- click to enlarge). Apparently the victory at Ai had secured this area so they could safely travel northward without any military action being necessary. And so here at Mount Ebal Joshua obeys the instructions written by Moses... So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime 3 and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 “So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. 5 “Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them. 6 “You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God; 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 “You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly.” (Deuteronomy 27:2-8+) Note that Mt Ebal is the place from which the cursings were to be proclaimed. Given that the altar and sacrifices point to Jesus, one can see how this is a very appropriate location. As Paul wrote Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”– (Gal 3:13+) Woudstra comments that "The story of the building of an altar on Mount Ebal and of the solemn reading of the blessings and curses of the covenant at that site is strategically important for understanding the message of the book of Joshua. No sooner has the significant victory at Ai been won, so the narrator means to suggest, than the claims of the covenant Lord of Israel have to be published abroad. The story of the erection of the altar, the setting up of the stones inscribed with Moses’ law, the reading of blessing and curse to which the people respond by a solemn “Amen” (see Deut. 27:11–26), all shed significant light upon the message of Joshua. In unmistakably clear symbolism the reader is told that the right of possessing the promised land is tied to the proclamation of, and subjection to, God’s covenant claims upon his people (and upon the world). Whatever questions the interpreter may face in reading these many stirring words, this basic lesson should not be lost. (The Book of Joshua The New International Commentary on the OT) John Calvin on the significance of the altar - “This made it palpable [sic] even to strangers entering the land what God was worshipped in it, and all excuse for error was taken away.” Stephen Grant comments that "Moses also instructed the people to build an altar on Mount Ebal (Deut 27:4), when they crossed over the Jordan, and it was those instructions which Joshua carried out in these verses. His obedience and attention to detail is noteworthy as he again displayed the vital characteristic of submission to the Word of God. This is seen to be so important looking back at the events through the lens of the New Testament. Almost the whole of the land is visible from the top of Mount Ebal and therefore it was a most suitable place to build an altar for worship and to have the Law read and acknowledged as being the Law for the land that lay before them. (What the Bible Teaches - Joshua) TSK note says "It was a federal transaction: the covenant was now renewed between God and Israel upon their taking possession of the land of promise, that they might be encouraged in the conquest of it, and might know upon what terms they held it, and come under fresh obligations to obedience. Campbell has an interesting comment - After the victory of Ai Joshua did a strange and militarily foolish thing. Instead of securing the central sector of the land with further victories he led the Israelites on a spiritual pilgrimage. Why? Simply because Moses … had commanded it (Deut. 27:1–8). (ED: NOT SURE I AGREE IT WAS FOOLISH SINCE MOSES COMMANDED IT AND GOD WAS HONORED). (The Bible Knowledge Commentary ) Henry