Day #83

Sermon - Audio
Joshua 5-8 - Audio
Joshua 5-8 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

5

"If God is for us, who can be against us!"

v2-v9 = The sons that were born in the wilderness must not have been circumcised. Joshua is asked to make sure this happens now. He obeys God's command even though it could have meant death had an army came upon them at this time. Joshua restates why the past generation did not take the promised land and why they would. Joshua puts his trust in Yahweh.

v13-v15 = Joshua has a run-in with the commander of the LORD's army. He is asked to take off his sandals just as his successor Moses was asked at the Burning Bush. Many people believe this to have been God because Joshua falls down and worships which was not typical of people seeing angels. Also, the place being signified as holy would help support that this was God as well.

6

Overview = This plan is so crazy that it could have only been created by God. It required COMPLETE dependence upon God. The people must have thought Joshua was crazy. Sometimes I think that God does things in the weirdest ways just because we don't think he's able.

Q - Can you think of a weird way that God has worked in your life?

Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) is perhaps the oldest city on earth, and it is the lowest city on the surface of the planet (c. 750 feet/229 m below sea level). Jericho has undergone massive excavation work; major digs were led by Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger (1907–1909, 1911), John Garstang (1930–1936), and Kathleen Kenyon (1952–1958). Many important finds have been made at the site, one of the most notable being a city wall, some 4.5 feet (1.5 m) wide, attached to a monumental round stone tower. These are some of the earliest fortifications known to mankind. Thus, the outer city wall comes from the Late Middle Bronze Age (2000–1550 B.C.) whereas the inner city wall dates to the Early Bronze Age (3200–2200 B.C.). Jericho was the first city west of the Jordan captured by the Israelites under the command of Joshua (Joshua 6). Whether or not there exist extant archaeological remains from that destruction is a hotly debated issue among archaeologists. Following the Israelite destruction, Jericho was abandoned for centuries until a new settlement was established by Hiel the Bethelite in the ninth century B.C. (1 Kings 16:34). (ESVSB)

v6-7 = The ark was required to be with them in their marching. Just as it had been required in their crossing at the Jordan.

v8-21 = Joshua trusts in God's plans/ways and marches around the city for seven days. On the seventh day the walls of the city fell down. Only Rahab the spy and her family were to be spared. The Israelites did as Joshua had asked and killed everyone in the city and destroyed all that was in the city.

v22-25 = Joshua, by God's word, stays truthful to Rahab and family.

v26 = 1 Kings 16:34 this curse becomes fulfilled through Hiel of Bethel.

v27 = Joshua's fame is extended throughout the land because of his dependence upon God. Joshua did nothing except rely fully upon God's word.

Q - Are you willing to do what you are asked in God's Word? Even if it looks counter-cultural?

7

God required the items and people to be destroyed in their wars in Canaan. Some people did not pay attention to this and we see that the LORD's anger "burned against the children." This is the first time this has happened in awhile.

v1-5 = Because of this unfaithfulness, The men of Israel lose a battle against Ai. There is no reason why they should have lost this battle, because they were much stronger than Ai. Except, Israel had been unfaithful to God and God was not fighting for them. The entire community suffers for the sin of one.

v6-9 = Joshua is dumbfounded by the loss and cries out to God to hear him. Joshua is concerned that God has brought them there to be killed by their enemies.

v9 = "What will you do for your great name?" - Joshua is concerned for God's glory in the midst of tragedy. I hope this is my response as well.

v10-11 = God tells Joshua to "pick himself up!" God's heart toward Israel doesn't need to change, it's Israel that needs to be "fixed." God tells Joshua that Israel has sinned against him. One man's sin is a communal sin against God.

Paul discusses this idea of communal sin in 1 Cor 5:6 - "do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" Also, we see a communal confession and prayer from Nehemiah in the first chapter of Neh.

Q - What does communal sin look like today?
Q - Why don't we think in communal terms anymore? Why do we think our sin only affects us?
Q - How would sin be approached differently if it was everyone's problem?
Q - What does this say about tolerance of sin in a communal setting?

What does 1 John 1:5-10 mean in light of all this?

v15 = the person who did this will be found and burned along with the items.

v21 = The allure of what Achan saw among the spoil was not insignificant; the six pounds of silver and a pound and a quarter of gold represent, according to some commentators, about what an average worker would have earned in a lifetime. (ESVSB)

v22-26 = Achan is stoned, burned, and stoned...The people must have been a little upset.

8

v1-29 = Now that the transgression has been taken care of, God tells Joshua to continue on to Ai. He will hand them over to them. This time there will be much different results. It's interesting to see that God leaves the execution up to Joshua, and assures him that he will be successful. This attack is a very good military strategy and is successful now and again in Judg 9/21. The king of Ai is executed and they are victorious!