If you will turn with me in your Bible to Joshua again, Joshua chapter 8, find Joshua after Deuteronomy. We've been considering together a series on Joshua and we've reached Joshua chapter 8, which is the second half of the story of their conflict with the city of Ai. So we're going to read all of chapter 8, hear now the word of our God. Then the Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Take the 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. So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men and sent them out at night with these orders. Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 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. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, they are running away from us as they did before. So 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. When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it, you have my orders. Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night with the people. Early the next morning, Joshua mustered his men, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai with the valley between them and the city. Joshua had taken about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city. They had the soldiers take up their positions, all those in the camp to the north of the city, and the ambush to the west of it. That night, Joshua went into the valley. When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking Ereba. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the desert. All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. Then the Lord said to Joshua, out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city. So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai. As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire. The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction. For the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the desert had turned back against their pursuers. For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from the city, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. The men of the ambush also came out of the city against them, so they were caught in the middle with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua. When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day, all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 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 up a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day. Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 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 of 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. Thus far the reading of God's holy word. May he bless it to us. tonight i'd like to ask you a question how good is your memory now some of you are squirming already everybody's memory seems to be different there's some of you that would probably say my memory is terrible but there would be certain things that you have no trouble remembering there's certain people amongst us who could tell me exactly what kind of engine i could find in exactly the kind of car i named there are people who could give me any baseball statistic that I would ever want to know, and probably some I wouldn't want to know. I've noticed at seminary there are some professors that have an amazing capacity for Bible learning. They just have an amazing command of the Word of God just off the top of their heads. We all have different kinds of memories. What I want to think about tonight is, how is God's memory? Now, it's not a trick question. He has a good memory. He always remembers what he's promised. And as I considered this passage, as I wrestled with it and studied it, I came across this verse in Psalm 105, 42, where it urges praise to God because he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham. And I think the text before us is about God remembering his holy promises. But in many ways, this is a text that reminds us that God always remembers the promises he gives to his people. And I think we see God remembering his promises in three ways. In the first place, by restoring his covenant people. Secondly, by renewing his covenant relationship. And finally, revealing his covenant purpose. If you're going by the outline on the back of your bulletin, that last point is different. Instead of remembering his covenant purpose, he reveals his covenant purpose. So how does that happen? How is this a passage about God's covenant purposes? Well, in the first place, he restores his covenant people, doesn't he? At the end of chapter 7, we considered the destruction of the Israelites at the hands of Ai. And one of the recurring themes there was this sin that had put itself between God and his people. that Achan had been the offending party, and until he was put to death, the Israelites could not succeed in what they did. But there's a wonderful reminder at the end of chapter 7 that once they had dealt with this sinner amongst them, once they had driven this sin out from amongst them, then the Lord's fierce anger was turned. He was no longer angry with his people. And so this chapter begins with a restoration of fellowship, doesn't it? because what is the word that comes to Joshua? Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. We've returned to that place of fellowship, that place of blessedness that started this chapter, that has been following through until we had the unfortunate Achan incident. But God over and over again was telling his people, don't be afraid, don't be discouraged. I go with you before you, and I will deliver these people into your hands. And now that they've had a sin, now that that sin has been gotten rid of, the Lord comes once again and says, don't be afraid, don't be discouraged. Because what you did to Jericho, you'll now do to Ai. I'm going to deliver into your hands their king, their city, their people, and their land. It's a wonderfully comforting word that comes from their God. That fellowship has really been restored. And God shows his mercy to his people because he adds to them a blessing. Look what he says about the plunder. He says, you do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. That's an added blessing that the Lord gives to his people. And why is that an added blessing? Well, because in Deuteronomy they were told, you have to put to death everything that breathes. I mean, that's what it says. Put to death everything that breathes in these cities. Kill everything. But here he says, You can reserve to yourselves the livestock and the plunder here. This you don't have to devote to destruction. You may carry it off for yourselves. And it's ironic in light of what happened in Jericho, isn't it? Because one man took it upon himself to steal a little bit, And the Lord judged all the nation. And now that the nation has shown itself to be faithful, He showers them all with blessing. He says, you can take the plunder, you can take the livestock, you can take their wealth. I'm going to allow you to keep that when you go up. And more than just giving them that added encouragement, that added blessing, He also tells them how they're to do it. How they're going to go up and take Ai. He tells them to set an ambush behind the city. And so Joshua commands his commanders to do what the Lord has commanded them to do, to go out and set this ambush. Now, it can be a little confusing in this passage as to who exactly goes where and what exactly they do, how much of the force marches off and how much of the force is here and how much of the force is there. And I think what happens is we have most of the army marching up to Ai. They go at night. Then they separate and send an ambush. So that in the morning, the king of Ai sees the army of the Lord assembled out before him. But he doesn't see the movement of the smaller ambush that goes around beside the city. And then we kind of have a series of battle maneuvers described for us. It's sort of like if you have seen the movie Gettysburg or read about the Battle of Gettysburg. There was a series of maneuvers to try to get the best position on the field. And if you remember the Battle of Gettysburg or know anything about it, you know that when General Lee decided to fight the federal troops where they had put up defensive positions at Gettysburg, some of his senior generals advised that he march off and not fight the enemy where he wanted to be fought. because he had achieved the high ground. He was protecting the good ground. And if you came at him where he was, you weren't going to be able to drive him off. And, of course, history shows us that that general's advice was right because what happened, the Confederate army was smashed. And it was because they fought on the ground of their enemy's choosing. And that's the kind of maneuvering we have going on here. Joshua does not just come up and do a frontal assault on the city. We're told that he establishes a position across a valley from Ai. Remember, the people of Ai chased the Israelites down the hill before. Now Joshua's put a valley between himself and Ai. Now they're going to have to come up to him. He's occupying the high ground. And so what does the king of Ai do? He doesn't choose to engage Joshua in his place. He moves over to a place of encounter. We're told he moves his army to a certain place. We can maybe translate that better, a place of encounter. This king knows how to defend his territory, and so he does a counter move. He moves his forces out and around to not engage Joshua where he wants to be fought. He wants to make Joshua come to him at the place he wants. What's the problem? The Lord has already told him in advance how this maneuver is going to be defeated. Because in trying to maneuver his army, the king ends up putting himself between Joshua and Joshua's ambush. now this army that's moved out is not going to be able to pull back to their city and the ambush is set we're told between bethel and ai and as the passage goes along we learn that the people of bethel are here too so not only is that line of reinforcement cut off by this ambush but the people are also not going to be able to get back to their city they're going to be caught in the field. And that's exactly what happens. Joshua said, we're going to turn and run, and the king of Ai is going to think we're turning and running just like they ran before, and let's pursue them and cut them down. And it's interesting, because when Israel attacked the first time, they did so recklessly, didn't they? They brought 3,000 troops and ended up having to run away. And now Ai pursues them recklessly. Everybody leaves the town. They leave the town open, and they chase after them. And what happens? The Lord comes to Joshua, and he says, hold out your javelin. Hold it out towards Ai, and it'll be destroyed. Now, some people have seen this as the sign that was given to the ambush that it was time to jump up and attack, because we're told that at that moment that's what happens. But it's probably likely they wouldn't have been able to see his javelin. This is a divine directive. This is a divinely orchestrated attack on the city. God is the one who is delivering them into the hands of the people of God. And so he holds forth the javelin, and what happens? The ambush comes, and the city is defenseless, and they set it on fire. And the men of Ai who are chasing headlong after the Israelites now see this army turn and come back at them. And they look back to their city and they see it on fire and they know they're not going to be able to retreat there. And out of their city comes the Israelite ambush. So they're caught between two ends of a force. And now maybe they're running down the hill from the Israelites pursuing them. Just to be smashed again into Israelites below them. We're told in no uncertain terms what happens. They were cut down. and they were wiped out. And the city was burned. And the king of Ai was taken alive, and he was killed, and then he was crucified, or he was hung on a tree. Now, the Israelites did not crucify people the way the Romans crucified people. They did not put them up on the cross to die. And it's a little uncertain whether this means just hung up on display or in public, but it's definitely a sign of a curse. We know that, don't we? Cursed is the man who hangs on a tree. And the Israelites were also told that you don't hang a man on a tree overnight. That is a curse to the land. So Joshua holds up this king as a symbol of the curse that he's called down upon himself by attacking the Lord's anointed. The curse that has come on him because he is part of the enemies of God in this land. But Joshua will not allow the land to be cursed, so he cuts him down at sunset. He throws them on the ground and he piles up another stone marker. We have another stone marker in this land, don't we? We had a stone marker when Achan died of Israel's faithlessness. Now we have another marker, a marker of the Lord's conquering work, that its king has been thrown down, that its city is thrown down into a heap of ruin. The Lord has delivered victory to his people. He's restored fellowship. So he's restored his covenant people. And now we move to a situation where we renew the covenant relationship. There's a renewal of the covenant that takes place as an altar is built on Mount Ebal. Now this is a little bit of a curious change in the story. It's an interesting change where we go from one story to another. Now it doesn't strike us as so curious because we have a neat little heading in our Bible that tells us, you know, new section. But, of course, you don't have that if you're reading it just in the original language. And it would be sort of as if I was telling you a story about walking down the street in downtown Escondido. And then I said, so I turned, then I turned onto the Oceanside Pier. And you would say, well, wait a minute. You were just walking down the street of Escondido and now you turned onto the Oceanside Pier. How did you get from Escondido to Oceanside? How did you go from here to there? And that's kind of the situation we have here in this story. Mount Ebal is not near Ai. It's not nearby. It's not just around the corner. It's not on this course that they've been marching. We've talked before about it being sort of, it goes like this, how they've come into the land, sort of Jericho to Ai, moving west and north. And then it's almost like one of those heart monitors. They're moving like this, and all of a sudden they go way up here. 22 miles. Probably would have been at least a day, maybe two days march to get up there. And we're not told anything about the march. We're not told anything about how they go here. So it's kind of curious. Suddenly, Joshua's building an altar on Mount Ebal. So what's happening here? Why are we taking the time now to consider this activity of the Israelites? Why have we moved now suddenly from Ai to this place so far away where presumably there are Canaanites living in the land. Presumably there are people that would have come out against the Israelites that might have had to fight their way. It's especially strange in light of the fact that in the next chapter they're back on their normal line going towards Gibeon. So what are we to make of this? Why is it important? Well, it's important because it's one of the things that the Lord commanded them to do when they took possession of the land. If you want to turn back with me to Deuteronomy 27, we're reminded of the command that Moses gave for what they were to do when they came into the land. Deuteronomy 27 says, When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool upon them. Build the altar of the Lord your God with field stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God. And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up. Then Moses and the priests who are Levites said to all Israel, Be silent, O Israel, and listen. You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today. On the same day Moses commanded the people, when you have crossed in the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall recite the curses and the people will respond, Amen. That's how this covenant ceremony is to take place. It's a sign that Israel has now made possession of this land. Moses made this command when they had not come into the land yet. They had not made the land their own possession. And now this covenant ceremony is a reminder that the Lord has delivered his promise to his people. That they have come in truly to the promised land. And that they are to renew that covenant with the Lord. And half the tribes will stand on one side and pronounce blessing on the people. And half the tribes will stand on the other side and pronounce curses on the people. To be a covenant renewal ceremony, to remind the people of what God requires. Remember we talked about Moses saying, I'm putting before you today. Life and prosperity, death and destruction. And that's what you have before Israel on these two mountains. Life and prosperity that comes with obeying the word of God and death and destruction that will surely come if he is disobeyed. And they do that with the ark of the Lord at the center. The ark of the Lord's covenant, the symbol of the covenant he's made with his people. And as I studied this, I thought, I don't know why this passage occurs here. I don't know why we suddenly have Mount Ebal when we go from Ai to Ebal and back to Gibeon, back to the normal line. But maybe we're told that this is where we need to consider this because Ai was a place where the Israelites experienced blessing and cursing. They'd seen both. They'd seen what it meant to turn their backs on God. They saw the ultimate consequence of refusing him and taking for themselves that which wasn't his. They'd been down that road. They'd seen where it leads. And they'd also seen the wonderful promise, the wonderful blessedness that comes with being the people of God. Total victory. The terror of the people in the land. One thing that's terrifying about what Israel is supposed to do to cities, if you're thinking about other Canaanites, is one of the things Israel does is they go in and they smash the gods. They smash the gods of the Canaanites when they're to go in the land. They're to cut down asher poles, they're to burn it, they're to destroy temples, destroy idols. And a lot of times with ancient religion, you carried away the foreign gods with you. You know, you try your luck with every god. You're never sure that one god is better than the other. And so you carry the gods away with you to show a measure of respect because maybe those gods still have some kind of power. Maybe they can help you. Maybe they'll be angry with you if you do something to them. But when the Israelites come through Canaan, they're smashing foreign gods. They're destroying false religion. They're showing that the one true god is the only god. and there are no others. And he's showing by his strength that these people are powerful, that they have a real power behind them, that there is real blessedness from the hand of the Lord, real possession of this land. And they're gathering here to be reminded of whose they are and what their requirements are. And we have a whole list of things that they're supposed to do. In the first place, they're supposed to coat stones with plaster and write God's law on them. And we're not sure how much of God's law they had to write on the stones. If they had to write all what is in my Bible, about 200 pages of the first five books of the Bible on stones, that would probably take a long time. So it's probably a more abbreviated form. Probably more like a summary like the Ten Commandments. that serve as a reminder of the Lord's Word. Maybe it's the blessings and the cursings. We're not sure, but the law of the Lord was set up, and it's interesting, they're to take stones and build an altar. And they're not to put any tools on the stones. They're to be stones they find in the field. Now, why is this? Why are there no tools to be used on these stones? Well, one of the reasons is they're going into a land where it's just chock full of graven images. The people take a long time carving and working to make look like the gods they serve. And God is not going to have his worship confused with Canaanite worship. He wants them to walk by those altars and say, what is that? Why is it like that? It's not like anything we've seen before. But I think it's also a reminder of the kind of altars the patriarchs established when they came through the land. Because as we read more and more about this particular piece of property, here where they are doing this covenant ceremony, and Ai where they had just come from, we see ties to the journeys of the patriarchs. Abraham came between Bethel and Ai and built an altar. Abraham built an altar in Bethel, and there he called upon the name of the Lord. Jacob came through Bethel. It's where he had the vision of the angels ascending and descending on the ladder, you'll remember. It was where his name was changed to Israel. And when they moved through the land, the land was not their own. They were voyagers, they were pilgrims going back and forth. And they built altars, temporary altars, because they were temporary nomads wandering through the land. It's a reminder that when they were wandering through this land, when they were overwhelmed by the number of Canaanites in the land, the Lord said to them, one day this will be yours. I will surely give this land to your offspring. Your descendants will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And they will possess this land. And as they marched through, they made these reminders. And now they make a reminder that promise has come true. The Lord has delivered over to them the land that he promised to give their fathers. And an acknowledgment of what God has done there to offer offerings, to thank him for what he's done and to remember. And finally, they're to hear the law of the Lord. We're told that Joshua reads everything that's written by Moses, the whole law of the Lord. Now again, the commentators I read are a little unclear what that means. It may well have meant that they had to sit there while they read the first five books of the Old Testament. The whole nation while he read the whole thing. Now in one of my seminary classes I had to read the first five books of the Bible. It's not a short enterprise. And if you had to sit there while someone read the whole thing to you, it would probably take a long time. But the interesting thing is, as the law would be read, as he would move through that Old Testament, they would do it with a new eye to what Moses had written. Because when Moses wrote it, he was talking to a people who had not yet come into the land. He was talking to a people who the promise was far off. He was talking about a people who didn't experience it, who were waiting for the realization of that promise. And imagine being an Israelite, You're listening to the law as it's being read. You're listening to Genesis. You're listening to the fact that Abraham has traveled through the land where you are right now. That Abraham traveled through and God promised him then, 400 years before, that this land would be theirs. And now you are a living witness to that promise. That God has made good on his promise. He's revealed his covenant purpose to his people. Because they now see what the ultimate end of that promise was. Now they're in the land. That promise has been fulfilled. God has been faithful. That promise that came to Abraham, I'll give this land to your descendants. That promise that came to Jacob, I'll give this land to your descendants. It's been realized. The promise is here. But then they'd move into the law and be reminded by Moses that this is a conditional arrangement between the people of God and their Lord. Kids, it's kind of like this. If your parents agree to give you an allowance, provided that you do your chores, then when you do your chores, you get your allowance. And if you don't do your chores, you don't get your allowance. Now, that's a really simple way of looking at it, but that's how the arrangement was for the Israelites in the land. The land was like their allowance. And they kept it so long as they did what the Lord had commanded them to do. And that's what the law comes to remind them of here. That there are conditions you have to meet to continue to keep your allowance. And the minute you stop fulfilling those conditions, the allowance can stop. You can be expelled from the land. It can be taken from you because you've agreed to this. You know, sometimes you agree to this arrangement with your parents for the allowance, and then you complain if you don't get the allowance. But you made the agreement, didn't you? You said, Mom and Dad, that sounds good. And that's in a lot of ways what the Israelites did. God said, are you going to be faithful? And they said, yes, the blood will be on our heads if we don't keep every word that's written here. That was the agreement. So we might ask the question, why aren't they kicked out of the land long before they do get kicked out? I mean, they're doing pretty well here in Joshua, but Lord willing, as we'll see next week, they slip up again in the very next chapter. And they do pretty well as long as Joshua and his people are alive. But then they start to slide again. And you have judges. And they just seem to get worse and worse and worse. You might say, well, if it really is like an allowance, why doesn't their allowance get taken away a long time before that? Why are they allowed to stay in the land as long as they are? And as they read through the law, they would also be reminded of the answer to that question. What happened when the Lord got angry with them? What happened when He was prepared to wipe them out when they sinned against His name? People would mediate for the people of God and they would say, Remember the promise you made. Remember the promise you made to Abraham. We're told that the Lord would remember that promise and he would relent because of the promise he made to Abraham. And that's so important, isn't it? Because sometimes when we don't do our work, sometimes our parents will still give us an allowance. Even if we haven't all the way lived up to our expectations. Why? Because they love us. Because they care for us. And that's why God didn't expel them from the land sooner than he did. Because he remembered that promise that he made to Abraham. That's why Paul gets so angry with the Galatian church. When they've mixed up what it means to be right with God. When they're confusing keeping the law with the salvation that's been promised. And he reminds them, you know, the promise came 400 years before the law came. The promise came to Abraham when he said, to your seed I will give this land. He didn't say seeds as in many. He said seed as in one. It's Jesus Christ that is the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant purpose. That's how a people can be preserved for God, amidst their sin, amidst their disobedience. That's how they can hold on to their land, because the covenant promised to Jesus Christ that through him not only will Israel be blessed, but the whole world will be blessed. And that's the wonderful truth that you get as you go through the whole law of Moses, that there is gospel there. There is the greater promise that stands behind all of Scripture, that we don't stand before God on the basis of our law-keeping. We stand before God on the basis of Christ's law-keeping. and because he died for our wickedness. This promise is tied to the land for the people of Israel. Your salvation is not tied to your works. God says, I've given you my son, and it's in my son that you will find your hope. It's in my son that you will find your life. He's the greater promise that stood behind Abraham. Abraham wasn't saved because of his works. he was saved because of his faith because he saw the gospel promise that God had given him and if we want to stand we need to see that gospel promise to us too because as we think about Israel standing there and hearing the whole law read we can see ourselves there in their company as the people of God as the sons of Abraham hearing that wonderful promise that there is one coming who will make us right by giving us his righteousness. What a glorious promise. Promises to us and to our children forever. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity you've given us to consider your covenant promises. We thank you for the blessedness that comes through Jesus Christ. We acknowledge, Lord, that if we had to earn our salvation by our own righteousness, we would fall far short. We thank you that you've made a righteousness available to us apart from the law. A righteousness that's available to Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate promise given to Abraham. The wonderful gospel promise of one who would come to bring in all nations and all people. We thank you for that promise, Lord. May we always trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation and our deliverance. And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.