Joshua 6:12-19
Leave it!
So far it had been a cakewalk. After wandering in the desert for forty years the people of Israel have finally been allowed to enter into the Promised Land and their entrance has been accompanied by miracle after miracle. And I don’t mean little piddling little miracles; I mean great big whopping miracles.
The first obstacle that they have to overcome is the Jordon River, now during the dry months the Jordon isn’t much of an obstacle, we’re not talking the Saint Lawrence River here we talking wade across in parts. From the report we have though it would appear that this didn’t happen during the dry months, instead it was early in the spring after the snow had melted in the mountains and the freshet had turned the normally placid Jordon into a major hurdle. Added to that was that the King of Jericho had sent soldiers to guard the shallow areas where the Hebrews might be able to cross.
And so God gives instructions to Joshua and Joshua gives instructions to the people. He tells them to simply follow the priests, “Trust them” he says, “They will show you the way.
Then Joshua goes the priests and tells them to pick a member from each of the twelve tribes to carry the Ark of the Covenant (Which of course you remember from Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark.) “In this way” he says “We will be lead into the Promised Land by the promises of God himself.”
I’m sure that at that point one of the twelve put up his hand and said “Are you going to tell us where the bridge is or at least where the rocks are?” And Joshua seeking to reassure them says “No problem, when you get to the edge of the river just wade right in and everything else will take care of itself. No, really it will, God told me that as soon as you step into the river it will be cut off upstream and pile up in a heap and you’ll walk across on dry land.”
“Ok, let’s see if we have this right, we step into the river and God cuts the flow off upstream and piles the river up in a heap and we walk across on dry land.”
“Basically that’s it” replied Joshua and probably the twelve called a union meeting, put their heads together and then asked “What’s the other plan? You do have another plan don’t you?” They are carrying a box with a whole bunch of stuff including two stone tablets and Joshua wants them to go white water rafting, without the raft. And he didn’t have another plan but he didn’t need another plan because that was God’s plan.
Well you know the story they come to the Jordon River and they wade right in and the river stops, I mean it just stops; it was as if God put his hand down and dammed the river up. The priests walk across on dry land and then they are followed by everyone else. That’s cool.
Their next stop is the City of Jericho and they figure they haven’t got a chance. I mean realistically think about it, regardless of how many Israelites there were after wandering around in the desert for forty years they were no army. They were basically Nomads who had spent forty years trying to survive in a desert where they had no business being. Sure there were lots of them, and that was a threat in itself, but Jericho was this huge fortified city. Big walls, big gates lots of guards, the whole bit. So what’s the plan?
And so God gives instructions to Joshua and Joshua gives instructions to the people. This is what he told them: I want seven priests to walk in front of the Ark of the Covenant playing rams horns. The rest of the people are to follow quietly, don’t shout don’t sing don’t even speak. March around the city once and then come back to the camp.
And I’m sure that some guy in the back put up his hand and said “Is that the entire plan?”
“No” replied Joshua, “We are going to do that for six days, and then on the seventh day we are going to march around the city 7 times on the seventh time around the city there will be one long blast on the horns then I want everyone to shout and the walls will come falling down.”
And I’m pretty sure that someone asked, “Ok, so what’s your other plan?” to which Joshua answered “There is no other plan.” Well it worked before so let’s try it again, and they did. And guess what? On the seventh day on the seventh trip around the temple when the seven priests blew on their seven horns guess what happened? The walls fell down. And he didn’t have another plan but he didn’t need another plan because that was God’s plan.
In the 1950s British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon did an exacting study of the ruins of Jericho. She wasn’t convinced that the Biblical account was actually true but she discovered that the city had suffered a quick devastation that it wasn’t a case of the city simply falling into ruin. That grain had been left in storage and the city had been razed by fire. Which if you read the account you discover that everything was to be destroyed except the precious metal. We also read that the ruins were torched.
In the Biblical account we read that one section of wall did not fall and that was where the Prostitute Rahab’s house had been. Remember when Joshua sent spies into the city Rahab hid them from the authorities and as a result she was guaranteed safety. When archaeologists did a more complete study of the city they discovered that not all of the wall collapsed that there was a small section on the Northern edge of the city that seemed to remain intact along with the houses near by, hmmmm. Interestinger and interestinger, now before you say “interestinger is not a word,” I know.
Now there were several reasons why Jericho was to be taken and destroyed. If we pull up a map here we see the area where the Israelites had wandered for the past forty years and we see how Jericho stood at the very gateway to Cana, now Cana was not a land like Canada is today, an independent sovereign nation, instead it was a vast territory that was ruled by many different warring factions. Jericho happened to be governed by the strongest faction in the area and so there was a certain psychological benefit to Israel not only in taking this fortified city first but in actually destroying it, as they did. A very clear message was being sent to the other groups.
So far it had been a cakewalk. After wandering in the desert for forty years the people of Israel have finally been allowed to enter into the Promised Land and their entrance has been accompanied by miracle after miracle. And I don’t mean little piddling little miracles; I mean great big whopping miracles.
The next stop was the city of Ai, which if we pull the map back up we see that it lies to the west of Jericho. This time the plan was fairly simple, the city wasn’t that big, as a matter of fact it was more of a town, and the spies who had gone ahead to check it out were quite confident that the Israelites would have no problem taking it. So Joshua sent 3,000 troops to take the town of Ai and got trounced. Thoroughly trounced! The bible says they were soundly defeated. So what happened?
First let’s see where we are. We are in the sixth book of the Bible, the book of Joshua. Tradition holds that it was written by Joshua at least most of it. You’ll recall from the previous four books that we’ve looked at that Joshua functioned very much as Moses’ 2IC, that is second in command and upon Moses’ death he assumed the role of leader of the Israelites. Seeing there were 4 verses written after Joshua’s death someone must have finished it. There is also speculation that it may have been written by either Eleazar the Priest or his son Phinehas.
If it was written by Joshua or Eleazar it was probably written around 1390 BC. Why was it written? To continue the history of the Israelites and to show that they owed their existence to God.
So back to the story. Why did the Israelites get whumped at Ai? The answer lies in the first verse of the scripture that Heather read for us this morning. Do you remember? Joshua 7:1 But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites.
After God had been given Joshua instructions on what to do with Jericho after it had been defeated he forwarded them on to the people of Israel, this is what he said Joshua 6:17-19 The city and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. . . Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury.”
When we got Diesel our Great Dane, one of the first commands that Angela taught him as a puppy was “leave it.” So he was taught that some things were not his to play with or destroy, things like shoes and mittens and cats and kittens. And he’s been pretty good about it over the past 4 ½ years but there are still times that we have to command him to “Leave it.”
That was the command that God issued to the Israelites, they were not to loot the city for their own gain, what wasn’t presented to the Lord’s treasury was to be destroyed. Now let’s not try to project modern day values and views on events that happened 3400 years ago. The people of Israel were promised Cana and they took it, under God’s direction.
We may not understand or agree with how that happened but that’s the way it was.
The Israelites had been instructed on what they could do and what they could not do and someone messed up. When the people were confronted with the reason for their defeat Achan fesses up in Joshua 7:20-21 Achan replied, “I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”
So what do we learn from this story?
1) If You Sin You Will Get Caught We have all been guilty of thinking: Well it’s alright if I do this because nobody will know. I am here today to tell you this: Somebody will find out. Moses wrote in the book of Numbers 32:23 But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Let’s say that last part together. . you may be sure that your sin will find you out.
I have been pastoring for 23 years now and the one thing I have discovered is that sin gets uncovered and sinners get discovered. It may not happen right away but it will happen. You do realize what a small world that we live in don’t you? Have you been on a plane and discovered that the person sitting next to you was your mother’s next door neighbour? Happened to me on my way back from Washington DC once and you all have stories like that.
In 1993 I was invited to speak at the tenth Anniversary of McKay Wesleyan Church. Which is situated in the City of McKay which is a twelve hour drive north of Brisbane Australia where I was living at the time. I flew up on Thursday and since my first speaking engagement was on Saturday Morning I had Friday to myself. That afternoon I borrowed the pastor’s car and drove to the mall to bum around for a couple of hours. Here I am in a strange city in a foreign country and the only person I knew in town was at home I have their car. I’m buying an ice cream and someone comes up and taps me on the shoulder, I turn around and there is a lady I had gone to school with 11 years before.
The world is a whole lot smaller then it used to be. Anyone ever hear of the Degrees of Bacon?
It is based on the theory that Kevin Bacon is the center of the entertainment universe, and that any actor or actress can be linked back to him, typically within six degrees .
By looking at movies that actors and actresses have in common, you can link them to Kevin Bacon. For example, Jack Nicholson was in "A Few Good Men" with Kevin Bacon. Michelle Pfeiffer was in “The Witches of Eastwick" with Jack Nicholson, who was in "A Few Good Men" with Kevin Bacon. And so on. The number of intervening movies is that actor or actresses’ Bacon Number or degree number. Thus, in this example, Nicholson would have a Bacon Number of 1 and Michelle Pfeiffer a Bacon Number of 2.
Here is another example:
Bela Lugosi, has a Bacon number of 3:
1. Bela Lugosi was in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) with Vincent Price
2. Vincent Price was in The Raven (1963) with Jack Nicholson
3. Jack Nicholson was in A Few Good Men (1992) with Kevin Bacon
Or how about this Donald Sutherland has a Bacon number of 1. Donald Sutherland was in JFK (1991) with Kevin Bacon. Now the interesting thing is that Donald Sutherland is originally from Saint John. And Donald Sutherland has been interviewed by Steve Murphy at ATV which makes Steve’s Bacon Number 2 and Steve and I have been friends for over 25 years which makes my Bacon number 3 and you know me which makes your bacon number 4. It’s a small world and you will get caught by someone.
And even if you don’t, even if you make it to the point that everyone is standing up at the funeral home saying nice things about you, God knows and you knew and probably one other person knew. My sister will often say “I can’t believe you did that in front of God and everybody.”
You see author H.L Mencken said “The difference between a moral man and a man of honour is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.” I want to be a man of honour.
2) Your Sin Will Affect Others. Now in 2003 we tend to pretty individualistic and it’s tough to understand why everyone was punished for the sin of one person. I mean we think if one person messes up then one person should pay the price. But the covenant that God had made was not made with one person it was made with a people, the people of Israel.
The Poet John Donne summed it up when he wrote “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
And even today sin doesn’t just effect the person who committed it. A number of years ago a friend of mine was Pastoring a church and decided that he’d rather spend the rest of his life with the Piano player rather then his wife. By the way that is called adultery.
He left his wife and his children, his girlfriend left her husband and children. Right off that was seven other people whose lives where shattered by that decision. Within a year of his leaving his wife and moving in with his girl friend his youngest daughter, a teenager, was pregnant and his oldest daughter had left her husband and was pregnant by another man. And why not, their moral compass had been shattered. The church he had been pastoring went from a Sunday morning attendance of over 230 to under 130, some of those people who had come to Christ under his ministry never went back to church. The name of the church and of Christ was dragged through the mud because of his sin. Obviously he’d never paid much attention to James 3:1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.
3) There Is A Price To Be Paid. Here it is, I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, you might as well memorize it now. Sin will always take you further then you want to go, it will always keep you longer then you want to stay and it will always cost you more then you want to pay.
In Achan’s case it cost him his life. In some people’s case it might cost them their marriage or their job. If you continue to sin and rebel against God it will cost you your eternity. Remember Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death. . . Russian writer Igor Stravinsky wrote “Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.”
Romans 6:23 however isn’t complete without the rest of the verse For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
So where are you at?
I hope you enjoyed this message, PowerPoint is available at www.pennofdenn.com
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Would you?
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