Introduction

I'm known among my family and friends for having a terrible sense of direction. It doesn't matter whether I am driving or walking. It doesn't matter whether I'm in Sydney or in some other part of Australia. It doesn't matter if I'm in the United States in big cities like Chicago. I often feel like I know the right way, but then I end up heading in exactly the opposite direction. It's uncanny. You'd think that I would learn to trust other people's directions. Even when I'm given directions from people who know what they're talking about, people who are locals, there's always a part of me that thinks, I'm pretty sure I know a better way. I've got it wrong before, but I think this time I'm right.

That's what we see happening in Joshua, particularly in chapters 7 and 8. It's a story that involves disregarding clear instructions and then underestimating the seriousness of that decision. But this isn't just a matter about getting lost in the streets of Sydney or Chicago. These chapters show us what it means to come before the holy God, underestimating who he is and the seriousness of our sin.

By the end of chapter 2 the Israelites are poised to enter the Promised Land. Then in chapters 3 and 4 we read about that miraculous crossing of the Jordan, and it's reminiscent of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. It was miraculous enough to cross the Jordan River, which is a deep river. But they crossed it at the time when it was at flood stage, and all the people crossed on dry land. Chapter 4:24 summarizes it this way:

The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he did to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful, and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.

God did it so they could safely cross the river, but ultimately it was to show them who he was and who he is, so that they would live in the light of that. That's a summary of chapters 3 and 4.

Chapters 5 and 6 contain the amazing account of the fall of Jericho. The instructions were specific and very strange. They were to walk around the city for six days once a day. Then on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. The priests with the Ark of the Covenant were there. They blew their trumpets, and the people gave a big shout. That was the battle strategy. That's how they were supposed to enter the city of Jericho. And they did it. They followed the instructions, and the wall came down. They went in, and the city was completely destroyed and everything in it. At the end of chapter 6 we read these words: "So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame spread throughout the land."

So here's the summary of Joshua chapters 1-6: They've made their first conquest into the land, or Jericho. Everyone was destroyed except Rahab and her family. She made the deal with the spies. And we read of Israel living in obedience to God and the Lord fulfilling his promises. All was well with the world.

The analysis of sin

Now we come to chapter 7 and we read a big but in verse 1: "But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things. Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zimri, sons of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel." We've just come from the high of the conquest of Jericho, and now we read that the Lord's anger burned against Israel.

As we read this chapter we need to understand that chapter 7:1 gives us an advantage. We have an insight that Israel and Joshua don't have. It's like you're watching a disaster movie, and you have a scene where you're taken below earth and you see the plates of the earth crunching together, and you cry, Oh, no, this is terrible! And then there's another scene where a huge wave forms out at sea because of this earthquake. But then in the next scene we watch people just going about their business—shopping, playing with their family pet, eating dinner. Meanwhile, the wave keeps getting bigger and the plates underneath the earth keep crunching together. We see and know the danger that's coming, but ordinary people can't see the danger. That is what's happening at this point in the Book of Joshua. Israel had been unfaithful, especially Achan. Thus, the Lord's anger burned against Israel.

Verse one tells us what Achan had done. Everything in Jericho had been devoted to destruction, but Achan took some of those things for himself. This is what the Lord said back in Joshua chapter 6: "The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord." In verse 18 God said, "But keep away from the devoted things so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it." That instruction is pretty clear. There's nothing ambiguous about what the Lord is saying here. Keep away from the devoted things so that you will not bring about your own destruction. And yet Achan saw, he coveted, and he took. Can you hear the echoes of the Garden of Eden here? Clear instruction. Consequences. Disobedience. "And so the Lord's anger burned against Israel."

But Joshua and the people were oblivious. They kept going about their business without knowing a disaster was looming. But then we read in verses 2-5, and it's like the first wave is about to hit. The Israelites had a straightforward battle strategy. After they sent their spies into the city of Ai, a report came back that looked like the battle would involve a simple job—so simple that they didn't need to send in everyone. But then something happened that was definitely not part of the script. They were defeated. They were driven back and some of the men were killed. This didn't fit with what God had told them or promised them. It was like the rug had been pulled out from Joshua. If they were defeated at this relatively small city of Ai, then what did that mean for the rest of their conquest into the land? Maybe this means that there will be more and more defeats. Maybe they should have stayed on the other side of the Jordan.

It sounds like the Israelites are treading on dangerous ground. It's actually part of what Joshua is lamenting in verses 6-9, because he's completely thrown by it. Remember, he doesn't know what we know. He doesn't know about Achan puttering around with a lot of stuff under his tent. How is he to understand these events? It's like when you go on a trip. You've got all your maps. You've organized everything to the last detail and then suddenly something happens and it throws everything. In verses 6-9 Joshua is complaining but it's important to note that he's complaining to God and not about God. God is big enough to handle it. Sometimes we think, I'm feeling discouraged. I'm feeling like everything's out of whack and I can't complain to God. He can handle it. Joshua does that. At the end of what Joshua prays I think it is important to note that Joshua is concerned about the name of the Lord. He prays at the end, "What then will you do for your own great name?"

One commentary refers to this type of prayer as "anguished prayer to a mystifying God pleading both at danger and his honor." That's what Joshua is doing here: praying his anguish to a God whose ways are beyond our finite minds. Joshua is pleading in the face of danger but with a concern for the glory of God. I don't know whether you ever find yourself in situations where you feel completely out of control. I suspect you have or you will. But it's comforting to know that even Joshua was in a situation that caused him to pray to God in his anguish.

However, it may not be that comforting when we read how God responds to this anguished prayer. Verse 10 reads harshly. Joshua is praying this prayer and then the Lord says to Joshua "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" Nobody wants that kind of response when they pray out of anguish. This is showing that the Lord's anger burned against Israel.

Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have violated my covenant which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things. They have stolen. They have lied. They have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they've turned their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

The consequences of sin

Why did they fail? It wasn't because they were complacent about the troops. It wasn't because they had gone in without committing it to prayer. The real reason is this: they had violated the Lord's covenant. As much as we may struggle with what unfolds next, it's a difficult episode in the life of God's people. The Lord takes sin very seriously. He doesn't want his people to be comfortable in their sin. Israel has sinned. As a result, there's a consequence for the whole nation of Israel. In verse 12, God says, "I will not be with you anymore unless you deal with it."

Then verses 13-23 describe in excruciating detail how Achan is revealed as the one who has sinned. Achan doesn't come forward; he's flushed out. But once he's found out he does acknowledge what he's done.

Achan replies, "It's true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I've done: when I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent with the silver underneath.

He saw. He coveted. He took. In effect, he was saying, I don't think God knows the right way forward. I need to take matters into my own hands. He obviously knew it was wrong. It wasn't like he did this and thought, I don't see what the big deal is. And sure enough, when the men were sent to get the stolen goods, there they were. "And then Joshua together with all Israel, took Achan and his family, and his goods and cattle and all that he had, and he and all that belonged to him were stoned and then burned and then buried under a large pile of rocks."

Wouldn't Achan have loved someone to take that punishment for him? And then we read, verse 26: "Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger."

It's a shocking situation, isn't it? We think I don't want to deal with this. This can't be part of God's Word. It's shocking, and it insults our Western sensibilities. But let me ask: What do we find more shocking—the consequences that Achan and his family are executed; or that Achan, having seen the mighty works of Yahweh, having heard the specific instructions to keep away from the devoted things otherwise you'll be made liable to destruction, would deliberately disregard and disobey what the Lord had clearly commanded? Which do we find more shocking? Which are we more horrified by? I suspect it's the consequences that we find more shocking and hard to swallow than Achan's blatant disobedience of the Lord. And because we don't like the consequences we assume it's not right. It's too harsh.

It's a like how we approach the whole concept of hell. We don't like that either, so we downplay God's justice and his righteousness. We downplay sin, and we fail to see the seriousness of sin because we know better. We know what's best. When it comes to dealing with sin, we are better judges of what is right and how to deal with what is right.

I can feel the shock of what everyone's feeling as we read this, but feeling that shock helps us to see the seriousness of sin and the reality of God's anger with sin. We need to feel the weight of that, because it's not just Achan. It's us. And as we see that and feel that, we will understand the cross of Christ more deeply. Sometimes we are so familiar with the cross. We know Jesus died for us. We're so familiar that we forget why he died for us. At the cross we see the Lord's anger burn against sin. At the cross we see God's anger poured out on Jesus. What would it be like to have God's anger burn against you and burn against me? We see a glimpse of that here with Achan. It helps us to understand the weight of sin and what God has done for us at the cross.

The importance of surrender

But that's not the end of this episode. Chapter eight is like Part 2 of this story. In chapter 8:1-2 we read how the Lord's anger has been turned away:

Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Take a 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. 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."

The Lord is instructing Joshua with words that are reminiscent of chapter one: "Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Go. I have delivered the city into your hands." It reminds us of how dependent these people were on God. They were completely dependent on him to deliver the cities into their hands. It's interesting that after all that's happened with Achan that this time they're allowed to carry off the plunder. We may be tempted to think Why did God react the way he did with Achan if now they can carry off the plunder? The question isn't whether or not they need the plunder. The question is this: Will you hear the Lord's instruction and do what he says? They were learning the importance of obedience. It also shows the needlessness of Achan's coveting. God will always give to his people more than they need. So we, too, need to trust in his ways and not take it upon ourselves to take what isn't ours.

In 8:3-8 the plan of attack involved thirty thousand men, not the three thousand that were suggested back in chapter seven. Again, it's described in terms of God giving the city into their hands but also that they were to take it. It's like this: God will do it; the people are to do it. It's God's work, he'll do it; and we're supposed to do it. There's a sense in which God has all the responsibility but we need to take the responsibility too.

So the instructions are given. The plans are made. They put these plans into action, and they even use their most recent defeat as a ploy in defeating the people of Ai. In verse 5 Joshua says, "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." Verse 7 says, "When we flee from them you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand." Notice that not even our disobedience can thwart God's plans, and nothing is wasted in the economy of God.

In verses 9-29 the battle scenes are played out, and in the end all of the people are killed. This was according to the Lord's instruction. Now go back to verse 2: "You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king." And again we think, All this killing! It makes us feel uncomfortable. But we need to read it in the right way. We need to read it through the eyes of the Lord. Back in Deuteronomy 9:4-5, Moses is speaking to the people and he says, "After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No. It is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you." That's how we need to see these chapters. This is the judgment of God against the wickedness of the nations.

In 8:29 we read that the final act against the city of Ai was the hanging of the king of Ai:

He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree 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.

The hanging of the king was not a form of execution. He was already dead. It was a sign that this king and thus all the people he represented were under the judgment of God. As Deuteronomy 21:23 said, "Because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse."

That's the battle of Ai. Then we come to verses 30-35 and we find that the people are gathered together, and Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal. And the people come together and renew their commitment to the Lord. Let's start reading at verse 32:

There in the presence of the Israelites Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses, which he had written. All Israel, aliens and citizens alike, with their elders, officials, and judges were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing those who carried it, the priests who were Levites. Half 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. 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. 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 aliens who lived among them.

The last section in Joshua 8:30-35, brings a certain change of pace, maybe even a relief after all the messiness and the killing and the battles. It comes between battles. It's like watching a war movie, and then in the middle of the movie we get a special news bulletin. It seems a bit out of place but because it's out of place it actually points to the importance of the news bulletin. It makes us think, This must be important because it's breaking the transmission. It's interrupting the flow of the story. That's what's happening here. We're having a break in the flow. The Israelites are gathered together. Half of them are facing Mount Ebal; half are facing Mount Gerizim. In Deuteronomy 27-28 Moses taught that when they got into the land and when they went to these mountains they were to be reminded about obedience and disobedience, blessings and curses. And that's what Joshua was doing, reading to the people the whole counsel of God. Of course we like blessings, but the whole counsel of God also includes curses or the consequences of disobedience.

The interruption to the flow of the story also interrupts the flow of the battle. It helped the people at that time (and it helps us today) to know what is most important. It's not just about fighting and killing. This is a time to remember what God had done and to remind the people of the importance of total submission to God's Word. This reminder was for everyone, so that they would know how to live in the light of God's holiness and his amazing faithfulness.

The cross—God's solution for sin

That's the story of chapters seven and eight. It's probably a part of Scripture that you are likely to skip over because confrontational. What can we learn from these chapters? Let me try to summarize it in these three basic points:

First, even in the context of victory and obedience in the battle of Jericho, sin raises its ugly head. Sin is ever-present. We see that here.

Second, we see God's anger burn against sinners, and there are consequences. We see what it looks like to be under God's wrath for Achan and for the people of Ai.

Third, we are reminded of the centrality of God's Word in the life of God's people as they stopped and listened as Joshua read the book of the law. We are reminded that obedience matters.

That's what we learn, or it's at least what we learn in these chapters. But so what? What does it mean for us today?

The age old problem of sin didn't stop with Israel. It didn't start with Israel either. We see it in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve saw, coveted, doubted God, and then they took—just like Achan. Achan saw; he coveted; he doubted God; he failed to trust that God knew best. And let's be honest: We're no different. We're just like Israel. We act like Achan as we resist God's ways and we decide to take matters into our own hands. We see; we covet; and we take.

Even if we declare our intention to follow and trust the Lord, just like the Israelites we fail and we compromise. That's a big problem, because God is holy. He doesn't change. And he demands wholehearted obedience. It's a big problem, and there are real consequences. The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2 "Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath." Joshua 7 and 8 shows us what God's wrath looks like. We need someone who can save us. Israel couldn't do it. Joshua couldn't do it. The book of Joshua doesn't give us all the answers. Even though it ends with the people declaring their intention to follow the Lord and be faithful, we know that they failed.

So this part of God's Word points us forward to another Joshua. The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. This book points us forward to another Joshua—Jesus. Do you know what Joshua or Jesus means? Yahweh saves. That's why when the apostle Paul said that by nature we're objects of wrath it's also followed by another big but: "But because of his great love for us God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace we have been saved." The One whose anger burns against sin is the One who provides a way so that we can be saved. Yahweh saves. Jesus saves. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's how we apply this passage to our lives, by putting our trust in God and putting our faith in Jesus, by recognizing our need and putting our trust in Jesus.

Finally, as we think about these chapters and what they mean for us today, we're reminded of the centrality of God's Word. It reminds us of the importance of submitting to his Word daily, living by it, saturating not just our heads but our hearts with the truths that we learn in God's Word. This is where we learn who God is. This is where we learn what we are like. This is where we learn how we are to live in obedience to him. God's Word reminds us that we are not forsaken.

We're safe and secure in God's hand. We are not forsaken. Why? Because we know the One who was forsaken. On the cross Jesus cried out, "My God! My God, why have you forsaken Me?" On the cross Jesus bore the wrath of God for you and for me. He was raised to life as the first fruits for all of us who follow him. We are not forsaken, because it isn't and it never was about what we do but about what God has done. According to his promises, we always have a yes in Christ.

What a wonderful message. Even in the uncomfortable nature of these chapters we have a wonderful message about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jenny Salt (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) serves as the dean of students at Sydney Missionary and Bible College in Sydney, Australia.