Setting – God has Joshua conquer Ai.
Content – After the purging of the sin of Achan, God tells Joshua to take courage and the He will give victory of Ai for Israel. Joshua takes three thousand warriors station behind (to the west) the city of Ai to set up an ambush for Ai. Joshua set another five thousand men between Bethel and Ai. The main army was setup north of Ai. Once the men of Ai saw Israel all the men of Bethel and Ai pursued them. God told Joshua to point his spear toward Ai. Once this occurred (similar to Moses holding up his staff in winning the war) Israel killed all the men. Joshua had the king of Ai hung and put his dead body in front of the city gate where they piled stones on top of it. The city was burned and laid to ruin. Israel was able to take the plunder and animals this time.
Joshua built an alter, following Moses’ instructions, (v. 31) on Mt. Ebal to the Lord and offered burnt and peace offerings. Israel was split into two mountains facing each other, Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal and the priests carrying Ark of the Covenant stood between them in the valley (v. 33-35), “This was all done according to the instructions Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given for blessing the people of Israel. Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of the Law. Every command Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among the Israelites”
Application – Once the sin was removed from Israel, God was able to fulfill His promise to conquer everywhere Israel’s foot stepped. If we want to have God’s blessing, we’ve got to remove the sin from our lives. We can’t harbor sin. As Israel did with Achan, we must remove the sin from our mists, killing it off, if you will. God can’t bless a nation or person who entertains sin. Sin and God don’t coexist together. You get rid of sin you get God back; you take in sin you loose God’s blessings.
Content – After the purging of the sin of Achan, God tells Joshua to take courage and the He will give victory of Ai for Israel. Joshua takes three thousand warriors station behind (to the west) the city of Ai to set up an ambush for Ai. Joshua set another five thousand men between Bethel and Ai. The main army was setup north of Ai. Once the men of Ai saw Israel all the men of Bethel and Ai pursued them. God told Joshua to point his spear toward Ai. Once this occurred (similar to Moses holding up his staff in winning the war) Israel killed all the men. Joshua had the king of Ai hung and put his dead body in front of the city gate where they piled stones on top of it. The city was burned and laid to ruin. Israel was able to take the plunder and animals this time.
Joshua built an alter, following Moses’ instructions, (v. 31) on Mt. Ebal to the Lord and offered burnt and peace offerings. Israel was split into two mountains facing each other, Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal and the priests carrying Ark of the Covenant stood between them in the valley (v. 33-35), “This was all done according to the instructions Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given for blessing the people of Israel. Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of the Law. Every command Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among the Israelites”
Application – Once the sin was removed from Israel, God was able to fulfill His promise to conquer everywhere Israel’s foot stepped. If we want to have God’s blessing, we’ve got to remove the sin from our lives. We can’t harbor sin. As Israel did with Achan, we must remove the sin from our mists, killing it off, if you will. God can’t bless a nation or person who entertains sin. Sin and God don’t coexist together. You get rid of sin you get God back; you take in sin you loose God’s blessings.
Comments