Sometimes asking God for insight is the last thing people think of in a crisis. We assume all is well until something goes terribly wrong, then we wonder what to do.

Joshua knew what to do. He learned from Moses and Aaron that when the unexpected happened he should fall facedown before the Lord and pray until God sent an answer. Unfortunately, it took him a while and few missteps before he got prayer and action arranged in the right order.

Defeat at Ai

Israel was taking Canaan just as God had told them to do. Joshua sent scouts to check out the nearby city of AI and they reported that Israel should be able to take it with just a few thousand troops. Joshua sent three thousand and the men of Ai routed them in the first battle. Israel’s men literally ran back to camp and thirty-six of them were killed.

Joshua called the elders of Israel to join him in front of the the Ark and they threw themselves down before the Lord. Joshua cried out in prayer:

“Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? . . . Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?” Joshua 7:7-9

God was not sympathetic. He told Joshua to get up from the ground and listen to him.

We have seen God do this before when he needed to confront someone. God told our old friend Job to stand up and brace himself like a man when God talked to him. God essentially told Joshua the same thing.

Sometimes we are on the ground weeping in prayer and the Lord says, “Enough”  because it’s time to stop focusing on ourselves and start focusing on him.

God Detests Idolatry

When God told Israel to devote the people and places they conquered in Canaan entirely to him, he meant they should completely destroy them by fire so no trace was left. Anything that had once been associated with an idol was detestable to the Lord.

God revealed his holiness to the Canaanites just as he did to the Israelites, but they chose their idols instead of him. They had known for a long time that a day of reckoning was coming. That’s why their hearts melted with fear when they saw Israel coming.

God wanted holiness from the Canaanites, but they preferred idol worship that didn’t interfere with their lust, greed, and desire to be in control. Judgment day had come for the Canaanites. They hoped they could drive Israel back to the wilderness, but God was with Israel and they could not oppose God any longer.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

In yesterday’s reading Joshua encountered the Commander of the Lord’s Army and learned that he wasn’t loyal to any of the nations in the war. When Joshua asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” the man said, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Joshua 5:13-14

God’s army fought for God’s glory, not the glory of anyone on earth. Whoever was for the Lord and with the Lord was on the winning side.

Sin in the Camp

God was against sin and he was against everything that had to do with idol worship. Israel failed in their attack on Ai because things related to idols were hidden in the camp. God wanted them rooted out.

He took Israel through a process of elimination that eventually revealed that Achan son of Zerah had hidden a robe, silver and gold he plundered from Jericho. Joshua sent men to recover the detestable items and spread them out before the Lord.

Then Joshua and all of Israel did to Achan, his family and all of his belongings what Achan was supposed to have done with his plunder. They destroyed and burned everything, then they piled stones over Achan’s body as a lasting monument to God’s righteous judgment.

As Jesus later said in Luke 8:17, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

God sees every hidden sin.

Victory Over Ai

Joshua seems to have been a sensitive man who was easily discouraged. Once again God reminded him, “Don’t be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Joshua 8:1) He promised that the next time Joshua went up against Ai he would win.

“So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai.” Joshua 8:3

This time Joshua took ten times as many troops and divided them into two companies. One group he sent around to the west side of Ai and with the rest he set up camp near the town. The king of Ai responded the next morning by taking his army out to attack Israel.

Joshua and his company of soldiers turned and ran away to the north, drawing Ai’s army out of the city and allowing his troops to the west to invade and set Ai on fire. The king of Ai saw the smoke and tried to return to the city, but the Israelites fighting inside the city came out to meet him. He was surrounded and his army was soon obliterated.

God Gave Joshua Victory

God told Joshua to hold up his javelin and use it to direct the battle that day. “Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.” Joshua 8:26

Joshua was a brilliant military leader, but he was also a humble man of God. The Lord gave him courage to do what must be done by literally putting the battle into Joshua’s hands and giving him the victory.

The Covenant Renewed

Joshua built an altar of uncut stones at Mt. Ebal so Israel could offer their burnt sacrifices and fellowship offerings. The elders and officials of Israel lined up on either side of the Ark, facing the priests, and watched as Joshua wrote a copy of the Law on stones.

Then he read the whole Law to the Israelites, including the women, children, and foreigners who lived among them. Half of the congregation stood and listened in front of Mt. Ebal and half stood at the foot of Mt. Gerazim.

God’s charge to Joshua was fulfilled. “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” Joshua 1:8

The Gibeonites Deceive Israel

The kings in Canaan, west of the Jordan River, decided to band together and wage war on Israel. But the Gibeonites didn’t want to go to war so they devised an elaborate plan to trick Israel into a peace treaty.

They knew the extent of the territory Israel was aiming to take over so they pretended to have traveled from far outside its boundaries. The Israelites examined the Gibeonites’ moldy food, cracked wineskins, worn out sandals, and old clothes and decided their story must be true.

But they forgot to ask the Lord whether they should make a treaty with these strangers. They made the peace treaty and ratified it with an oath. Then they learned that the Gibeonites were near neighbors and among the nations they were supposed to destroy.

It was too late to change what they had done – to break an oath made before God would surely invoke his wrath. Instead, Joshua enslaved the Gibeonites and turned them into permanent woodcutters and water carriers to supply the needs of the altar of the Lord.

Revealing Hidden Things

The Lord knew what was hidden in Israel’s camp he knows better than we do what’s inside our hearts. Sometimes there is something deep inside that holds us back and we need the Lord’s help to uncover it.  Once God revealed the hidden things to Israel, they were victorious again. God can do the same for us.

God can also help us avoid getting entangled in bad situations. If Israel had talked to the Lord before they made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites they could have avoided making them permanent, dependent residents in their midst. If we bring our situations to him before we act, the Lord can help us avoid making mistakes that are hard to undo.

What situation would you like the Lord to help you with today? Write it out as a prayer request and see how he answers in the coming days.