AFRAID AND DISCOURAGED?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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 thirty thousand 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 five thousand 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 the Arabah. 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, "Hold 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 that 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 a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Joshua 8:1-29

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

49.

This is how many times we find the words, “Do not be afraid”, spoken in the Old Testament as the Lord took the time to reassure His people that things were going to be okay because He was with them and would bring protection and deliverance.

As we see in the opening verses of Joshua, chapter 8, the Lord speaks those four words…”Do not be afraid”…to Joshua in the aftermath of his men being slaughtered by army of Ai, a loss that you will remember happened due to the sinful greed of one Israelite named Achan whose actions had broken the covenant. The loss to Ai had left Joshua forlorn and discouraged, unsure of why God had allowed his men to be killed but the Lord spoke into this space to expose Achan’s transgression which had stoked His anger. This resulted in Joshua and the Israelites carrying out judgment on Achan, an act that brought them back into God’s favor.

We know this because as we move to chapter 6, we find God immediately giving Joshua a plan that involved going back after the people of Ai, this time to gain victory. He says this to Israel’s leader:

“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."

These words of God had to be an awesome boost of confidence for Joshua and the people of Israel for they had seen first-hand what happens when the Lord was on their side, delivering the enemy into their hands at Jericho so they knew what a win looked like. Now, God was guaranteeing them the same triumph, proclaiming that the “king of Ai, his people, his city and his land” would all be given to them. Unlike Jericho, they would even be allowed to “carry off (Ai’s) plunder and livestock” for themselves. All they had to do was remain obedient in doing everything He commanded.

As we see in our passage for today, the Israelites set out to carry out what God called them to do with “Joshua and the whole army” which consisted of thirty thousand of his best fighters, moving “out to attack Ai”. Israel’s leader gave them the following 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."

And with that, “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”.

We can see how Joshua’s plan was designed to maximize on Ai’s overconfidence after defeating Israel the first time. He (Joshua) would take some of his men and assemble in a place where they would be in plain sight of Ai, knowing the city’s king would take his men, leave the city and come out to attack with the goal of killing every Israelite he could.

As things played out, we see where Joshua was right on the money as they say. For the king of Ai took all his men and left the city to attack Joshua and his army. And what further caused the ruse to be so convincing was Joshua and his men ran away, feigning retreat so to lure them as far away from their city as they could.

Overall, the plan was a major success. For the army of Ai pursued Joshua and his men…and after they had been drawn far enough away from their city, the Lord gave Israel’s leader the following command:

“Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.“

And so Joshua does exactly as God directed and held his javelin out towards Ai. This was the signal for the Israelite ambush team to “rise quickly from their position” and rush into the city, easily capturing it because every man had left to go and fight. The Israelite ambushers set the city on fire and when the smoke rose up, the king of Ai and his men realized they had been tricked. They had lost everything they had come out to fight for and now they were going to perish as well.

For we read that Joshua and his men reversed course and now ran towards the king of Ai and his army, engaging them in battle. At the same time, the ambushing Israelite forces came from the city towards the Ai fighting forces from the back. In other words, there was no escape for Ai’s army and the scriptures tell us that the Israelites cut them down, leaving no survivors. “All the Israelites” then “returned to Ai and killed those who were in it”.

When it was over, all the people of Ai…12,000 “men and women fell that day” and their king was the last to go. We read where Joshua “hung (him) on a tree and left him there until evening” after which the body was taken down and thrown “at the entrance of the city gate” before a “large pile of rocks” was placed over the body.

Essentially, we see in today’s passage how the nation of Israel had gone from the outhouse to the penthouse with God…from defeat to victory…from fear to confidence…from discouragement to joy…all because God was back with them and for them. They were once again in His good favor.

“Do not be afraid…do not be discouraged.”

God’s words to Joshua are words to us as well today. For life’s circumstances can get us down if we allow them to and too often, we forget to turn to God for help, choosing instead to rely on ourselves…to formulate our own solutions. In other words, we live like we’re in control…like our lives are predicated on our will.

When we get into this mindset, God will allow us to try and do or own thing just to show us how much we can screw up our lives up when we try and take charge, when we refuse to let go of our troubles and let God handle them. Typically, this leads us to a place of fear and dismay…a place where we are…wait for it…afraid and discouraged.

Friends, why would we ever think it’s a good idea to turn away from God …the One and only One who can do anything and everything?

His Word assures us that there’s nothing beyond the work of His hands…no problem that He can’t resolve in accordance with His will. All we need to do is simply trust Him, deferring to His power and wisdom, a wisdom that always knows the right time and place to make things happen.

And so I encourage you today to adopt an attitude that leads you to patiently wait on the Lord with faith, knowing that He has a plan and purpose for you and your life. Stand firm in your belief in Him through any and all circumstances because He is ever with you…every second of every minute of every hour of every day, 24/7, 365 days a year. Because of this, let us commit ourselves to never ever be afraid or discouraged for our Lord is indeed in control and working things out for the good of believers who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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