Ai’s smoke

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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Ai’s smoke

Joshua 8:18-29 (JDV)

Joshua 8:18 Then Yahveh said to Joshua, “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, because I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward it.
Joshua 8:19 When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
Joshua 8:20 The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
Joshua 8:21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
Joshua 8:22 Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,
Joshua 8:23 but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
Joshua 8:24 When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.
Joshua 8:25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand – all the people of Ai.
Joshua 8:26 Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.
Joshua 8:27 Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to Yahveh’s command that he had given Joshua.
Joshua 8:28 Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.
Joshua 8:29 He hung the body of the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.

Ai’s smoke

When people read in the book of Revelation that “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever” they often get the mistaken notion that it is describing eternal conscious torment. But passages like this remind us that the metaphor of smoke rising signifies complete destruction. As verse 26 says “all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.” Verse 28 says “Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.”

God is not obligated to keep his enemies alive forever, even in torment. His plan is to rid his people of the obstacle of their existence by destroying the wicked.

Lord, thank you for a future eternity without sin or sinners.

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what the king didn’t know

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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what the king didn’t know

Joshua 8:14-17 (JDV)

Joshua 8:14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city.
Joshua 8:15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and ran toward the wilderness.
Joshua 8:16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
Joshua 8:17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.

what the king didn’t know

Why did the king of Ai send all his troops to fight the Israelite soldiers? Why leave the city exposed by sending out all your fighting soldiers? I imagine he felt it would be a strong encouragement for all the soldiers to experience a victory like they had experienced before. He was acting a coach, who puts his second and third string players in the game after the score indicates that the opponent is weak.

But “he did not know” (verse 14). He did not know about the ambush. He also did not know that this was a different Israelite army. It was an army of a nation reconciled with God.

If you have come to Christ, and become born again, expect people to misjudge you. They are basing their expectations on the old you. But you are not the same person, with the same weaknesses.

Lord, thank you for the joy of regeneration.

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night with the troops

Posted on August 28, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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night with the troops

Joshua 8:9-13 (JDV)

Joshua 8:9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.
Joshua 8:10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.
Joshua 8:11 All those who were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city.
Joshua 8:12 Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
Joshua 8:13 The troops were positioned like this: the main camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

night with the troops

Joshua’s night with the troops is significant because he knew that they needed his presence. They needed his assurance that God had not abandoned them — that they would not suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of this small city again. He wanted to be with them, to pray for them, interceding and seeking God’s wisdom for the next day’s battle.

Thank you, Lord, for leaders who encourage us, take time for us, and seek your wisdom for the battles we will face.

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the second confidence

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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the second confidence

Joshua 8:3-8 (JDV)

Joshua 8:3 So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his ablest soldiers and sent them out at night.
Joshua 8:4 He commanded them: “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.
Joshua 8:5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will run from them.
Joshua 8:6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, because they will say, ‘They are running from us like before.’ While we are running from them,
Joshua 8:7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city. Yahveh your God will hand it over to you.
Joshua 8:8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow Yahveh’s command – see that you do as I have ordered you.”

the second confidence

Joshua and his soldiers had been confident in attacking Ai before, and it had resulted in death and shame. Now, they come against the city again, with a new confidence, not based on their numbers or the presumed weakness of their opponents, but on their relationship with God. Joshua’s words were not “you can handle this” but “Yahveh your God will hand it over to you.”

Lord, draw us first to yourself, then give us the confidence of knowing you will give us victory.

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not the time

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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not the time

Joshua 8:1-2 (JDV)

Joshua 8:1 Yahveh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all the troops with you and go attack Ai. Notice, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.
Joshua 8:2 Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king, except that you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

not the time

Why did God change the rules concerning the taking of spoils after the Achan incident? From the standpoint of the people, they had passed the test. They had eliminated the defiled ones, and removed the curse from among them. The destruction of Achan and all of his things cleansed the land of its impurity.

But there is another reason. I have been relating these events to the reality of God’s final punishment of the wicked in hell after judgment day. Gehenna will destroy all traces of evil from God’s universe. What will happen then? God’s people will be set free to enjoy all the beauty and glory of God’s creation, with no threat of defilement, and no prohibition. Our hearts will have been cleansed, so that the treasures among us can be enjoyed without idolatry and shame. Given that, it makes sense that God would allow the Israelites to take plunder after the Achan incident.

Lord, give us the wisdom not to hold on to earthly treasures today, because now is not the time for our inheritance.

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valley of cutting off

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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valley of cutting off

Joshua 7:22-26 (JDV)

Joshua 7:22 So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the silver underneath.
Joshua 7:23 They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in Yahveh’s presence.
Joshua 7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:25 Joshua said, “Why have you cut us off? Today Yahveh will cut you off!” So all Israel stoned them to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them,
Joshua 7:26 and raised over him a large pile of rocks that remains still today. Then Yahveh turned from his burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor still today.

valley of cutting off

Traditionally, this passage was interpreted and translated as if Achan was being accused of causing trouble, but (as my translation shows) the verb used means to cut someone off by making them taboo. By his sin, Achan has cut the people off from their relationship with God, and destroying him and everything he had (including his family) restored the relationmship.

I have been looking at this entire story as a depiction of the reality of future judgment. Hell will be a place where all whose sin have cut them off from God will be cut off from life itself. This cleansing of the universe is part of what makes an eternity in fellowship with God possible.

For the Israelites, that pile of stones in the valley of cutting off showed the severity of sin, and the need to eliminate it in their community.

We will either be cut off from our sins, or be cut from God by our sins.

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the shame of selfishness

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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the shame of selfishness

Joshua 7:16-21 (JDV)

Joshua 7:16 Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
Joshua 7:17 He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected.
Joshua 7:18 He then had Zabdi’s family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
Joshua 7:19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to Yahveh, the God of Israel, and make a confession to him. I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.”
Joshua 7:20 Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against Yahveh, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing a pound and a quarter, I craved them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under the cloak.”

the shame of selfishness

The damage had been done. People had lost their lives in battle through no fault of their own, because Achan had disobeyed orders and took things for himself that belonged to God. Oh, when I think of all the times I have done that, I bow my head in shame. I know God has forgiven me for my greed and lack of concern. I stand forgiven for all my sins of the past. But it humbles me to think of the seriousness of showing disrespect for God. Achan put himself before God. He had hidden the evidence of his shame, but it was not hidden from God.

Lord, change our selfish hearts.

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loser lottery

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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loser lottery

Joshua 7:14-15 (JDV)

Joshua 7:14 In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe Yahveh selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan Yahveh selects is to come forward family by family. The family Yahveh selects is to come forward man by man.
Joshua 7:15 The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has, because he has violated Yahveh’s covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.”

loser lottery

I don’t recommend lotteries, because they have a lot of losers, and only one big winner. That is not a good investment strategy. This lottery, however, is different. It was God who would be picking the offender, and it was for the purposes of narrowing the field so that the entire nation did not have to suffer for the sins of Achan.

Hell will be like that. Everyone who goes there will be sent by God, who only punishes those who deserve it.

The bad news is, we are all Achans. Thanks to God’s grace, and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we can avoid destruction. But the day of grace is ending — the day of judgment and permanent destruction is coming. Flee to God in repentance, now. Tomorrow may be lottery day.

Lord, give us the wisdom to accept your grace. We do not want what we deserve.

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disabled warfare

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Joshua - 1

disabled warfare

Joshua 7:12-13 (JDV)

Joshua 7:12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you what is set apart.
Joshua 7:13 “Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow, for this is what Yahveh, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.

disabled warfare

The city of Jericho had been set apart for destruction, and the indestructible things in it — the treasures — had been set apart for the tabernacle. Jericho had been intended as a visual aid for the day of coming destruction in Gehenna. But Achan spoiled the picture by stealing some of the consecrated items for himself. The Israelites had to be purged of the consecrated items, and the offending violator of the command.

God intends his people to conquer their enemies. But violating the command by coveting earthly treasures for ourselves will make us unfit for battle — in the spiritual realm.

Lord, purge us of the stuff that disables our warfare.

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standing up against sin

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Joshua - 1

standing up against sin

Joshua 7:10-11 (JDV)

Joshua 7:10 Yahveh then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown?
Joshua 7:11 Israel has failed. They have violated my covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put those things with their own belongings.

standing up against sin

God told Joshua to stand up because it was time to be a leader, not a complainer. It was time to obey God, not use him as an excuse. A failure has happened. But adding failure to failure is not the right solution to the problem.

My friends, we have to stop the cycle of failure leading to depression, leading to more failure. It is time to stand up and lead God’s people back to him.

Lord, wake us up to our sin cycle, and show us how to stand up and fight back.

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