Joshua Part 9 - When God Goes With You

Andrew Grey continues the series on the book of Joshua. This sermon was given at Immanuel Church Brentwood on Sunday 16th November 2025.

The Bible passage is Joshua 8v1-35.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

For you. We're continuing our studies in the book of Joshua. Last week we were in Joshua chapter 7, and it was a word of, well, disaster. Do you remember God's people? They broke faith with the Lord. They broke the covenant. God's wrath came upon them. They experienced defeat and disaster. God is holy. He desires a holy people. God's word today, chapter 8, well, it's like from darkness to light. It could not be more different. So Joshua 8, it's it is the story of what happens when the Lord is with you. So what difference does it make when the Lord is with you? So let me pray for us and then I'll read. Let's pray. Almighty God, Heavenly Father, your word tells us that you are holy, you are a consuming fire. And we're commanded and invited, therefore, to offer to you acceptable worship with reverence and awe. And we pray that as we receive from you now, by your Holy Spirit and through your word, you would enable us so to do. And we ask that for Jesus' name's sake. Amen. Amen. So Joshua chapter 8. Let's listen to the word of the Lord. And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you and arise. Go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai and his people, his city and his land, and you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city behind it. So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them out by night, and he commanded them Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready, and I and all the people who are with me will approach the city, and when they come out against us, just as before, we shall flee before them, and they will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, They are fleeing from us, just as before. So we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you. So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people. Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai with a ravine between them and Ai. He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city. So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city, and its rearguard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them. And as they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the city. Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. Then the Lord said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city, and the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they hurried to set the city on fire. So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, some on that side. And Israel struck them down until there was left none that survived or escaped. But the king of Ai they took alive and brought him near to Joshua. When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai. But Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day. The chapter before us shows us a new beginning and a new start. When we mess up, uh when we mess up big time, if we are Christian people, it is a new start with the Lord that we crave more than anything else. We crave the forgiveness of God and we crave his power for change. Now that is what is always available to the Christian. Every single day, the presence of God to forgive us and to help us. Every single day there is always a new beginning with Jesus. The words that we read at the very start of Joshua chapter 8 must have come as a tidal wave of joy and relief to God's people back then. From wrath, chapter 7, to relief. Do you remember back in chapter 7, verse 12, I will not go with you? The story of God's holy wrath, and then the disaster that follows, this tiny little city, and yet Israel is crushed, they are defeated. And the point, if the Lord is not with you, you will lose. Okay, if God is not with you, you will lose. But now the beauty of God's grace, and that's what this is in this chapter, the Lord has turned from his burning anger, and chapter 8, verse 1, he speaks to his people. Now, the chapter that follows, there are obviously unique things about it. It is a special moment in the life of the Old Testament church. But these are also the same words that the Lord speaks to anyone who turns back to Jesus in trust and obedience. He comes and he says, Do not fear, and he says, I have given to you. So what happens when the Lord goes with you? That is the main message here in verses 1 to 29. What happens when the Lord goes with you? Well, he comes to us and he says, Do not fear and receive from me. Let's just consider each of those words from God that we see in verse 1. Do not fear and do not be dismayed. The people then, the Lord had turned from his wrath against them. Consider ourselves as Christian people, if we belong to Christ, then you, I, we are someone from whom the Lord has turned aside from his holy wrath. We are joined to the Lord Jesus, we are pardoned our sins. And with gentleness and compassion, he then comes to us, just like he said to Joshua and Israel, and he says, Do not fear, do not be dismayed. Does not drag up the past. It's a glorious word, isn't it? After the mess of terrible sin and betrayal, do not fear, do not be dismayed. And then he says in the next breath, See, I have given to you. And for them back, then I have given into your hand the king and the city. Just reflect on that for a moment. Little Ai. It was not a great big city like Jericho, but even the little city of Ai, it needed the aid of the Lord. Okay, you cannot have success. I cannot have success. We cannot have success, in the Lord's definition of that term, without the Lord's constant aid. And wonderfully, the Lord comes to Joshua and he says, That is just what I'm giving you. So I've got all of the strength, I've got all of the power. I'm going to make it available to you. There is a promise of the Lord's success in the endeavors that the Lord calls us to. Now just pause and reflect on that for one moment. Trusting, repenting, obeying. That's what Israel had done. It is not a guarantee of freedom from hardship. Trusting, repenting, obeying. It's not a guarantee of freedom from hardship. God's church back then they had very specific promises, which included things like success in battle and the enjoyment of the land. The blessings of Christian people in the church age were somewhat different. But even back in the Old Testament, remember, remember people like Job. He trusted, he obeyed, and the Lord gave to him hardship. But the unchanging message is this: that when we trust and repent and obey, we put ourselves in the place of God's blessing. When we trust and repent and obey, we put ourselves into the place of God's blessing, his favor, his smile, if you like. And whatever he chooses to give us, we know will be for our good. A gift of fatherly love. Both those things we would choose and those things we would not. And do you see how truly he gives? Do you remember back at Jericho chapter 6? God's people, they were forbidden to take plunder for themselves. Everything was for the Lord's, either for the Lord to use or for the Lord's judgment. But now he says in verse 2, okay, the next city, you can have whatever you want. Now Achan. We read about Achan last week. Do you remember? I saw, I desired, I coveted, I took, and I hid. If Achan had just waited a few days, he probably could have found some gold and silver, maybe a beautiful cloak. He could have enjoyed it with the blessing of God and a clean conscience. He fell for Satan's lie, uh, the temptation from Eden onwards, God is stingy, God is out to spoil your fun. Whereas God gave to Adam the whole world to enjoy, he forbade one single tree. That's the nature of our God. So he comes to his people and he says, Here are good things for you to take. And then the bulk of the passage that follows, verse 3 down to verse 29, we're given the story of this ambush by which AI was taken. I'm not going to say very much about it. Uh it's the Lord's plan, and it's then recounted in a really repetitious way. Did he notice? And in a sense, that's the point. The plan. Here it is, in exhaustive detail, and then they do it, exhaustively obeying it. And that's the point. Do it exactly as the Lord says. The people trust and obey, and they receive. Notice one thing in the middle of the story. Look down at verse 18. Try and imagine. Here is Joshua. The Lord tells him to stand there and stretch out his hand, holding, well, it's probably not a javelin, actually. It's probably a curved sword. And he holds his sword out until in verse 26 victory's completely complete. And this is a sign that it's a miracle. Okay, this is not just an ordinary battle. He's a bit like Moses, uh holding his staff high at the Battle of the Red Sea, but it's not a staff for the journey like Moses, it's a sword for the fight. But Joshua's not using it. So he's standing there, he's not smiting Canaanites, he's simply holding it in the air. And the point is, it's the power of the Lord by which his people will win. And this next Canaanite city, it duly falls. The people are put to the sword. Remember what we said back in chapter six. This is an utterly evil culture coming under the Lord's sentence of death. We have to assume they could have repented like Rahab, but chose not to. Verse 29. The king, he is publicly executed. We might be troubled by that. He comes under the curse of God's. So what happens when the Lord goes with his people? Well, do not fear but receive God's good gifts. The Lord is with us to bless us and to help us. It's a great encouragement, isn't it? As we seek to trust him, repent and obey. And repeat. Trust him. Repent, obey. What then uh happens next, in a sense, it feels a bit like an interruption, except it isn't. So take up your Bibles again. I'm going to read from verse 30 down to the end of the chapter. Let's listen again to God's word. At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the people of Israel. As it's written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones upon which no man has wielded an iron tool. And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. And all Israel, sojournate as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded at the first to bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. So in the middle of a battle campaign, the people of God stop to worship. Why? The battle campaign is back on track. Jericho, Ai, and Bethel have been captured. But then the pause button is hit. A bit like back in chapter 5, when the Lord made everyone stop so that the men could all be circumcised. That sign of belonging to the Lord that they needed to have on themselves. It's a bit like that. All of a sudden, everyone has to decamp about 40 miles north. And they engage in this worship service, one that is amazing and beautiful. But why? Why must they stop to worship? Well, first, to obey God. Back in Deuteronomy, chapter 11, chapter 27, and by the way, it would be well worth reading those chapters. They so help us make a sense of what's going on here. Back in Deuteronomy, God gave this command when you enter the land, gather my people here, at this spot, on these two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim. Build an altar, do it exactly like this, rehearse my law again, and so renew the covenant. And everything that follows here is Joshua and the people obeying what the Lord had commanded. But this covenant renewal worship, we should not think of it simply as ticking a box, you know, do this, tick, do this, tick. It is not a dry, contractual, legal thing. This covenant renewal service, well, the people stop to worship in order to enjoy God. Now I wonder if you realize that is actually the purpose of everything, that we might enjoy God. You remember how uh question one of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks us, what is the chief end of man? So why is it that you and I exist? And the answer is it's to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And that's not just a new covenant answer, that has forever been the plan of God, that his people would enjoy him. So the covenants, that marriage-like relationship between God and his people, at the heart of it is this the Lord comes to us and he says, I will be your God and you will be my people. It's about mutual giving and mutual possessing. The Lord gives himself to his people, his people that give themselves to him and to enjoy him. And in this worship service, that is made clearest when we look at what is on the altar. So down in verse 31, what is on the altar? You know, this pile of stones which uh Joshua has formed into an altar. Well, first there are burnt offerings. They bring burnt offerings, literally ascension offerings, going up offerings, uh, offerings of animals that are entirely consumed by fire. Uh they go up in the fire and the smoke into the presence of God, and it's a picture of God's people. You know, the animals stand for the people entirely dedicated to God, going up into the presence of God. And then they sacrifice peace offerings, sometimes called fellowship offerings. A few years back we preached through Leviticus, and when we got to this offering, we called it the come and eat offering. Because in this offering, the worshipper didn't just spectate some of the meat, it was kept for the worshiper to enjoy. Actually sitting down symbolically to eat in the presence of God. Think about ourselves for a moment. When the Church of Jesus stops to worship, why do we do it? Well, we do it out of obedience, we are commanded to gather. The Church of Jesus is most churchly when she gathers, and as we do so, we enjoy God. He is present with us. Through the gospel, we are able to enjoy Him, to draw near to Him, have Him draw near to us. In His Word, through His Spirit, at the Lord's table, we have fellowship with Him. And of all of the things that happened to Israel that day, just imagine the battle, the plunder, marching north, setting up this great worship service. Of all the things that happened that day, that was the best thing. They had just won a battle. They'd gone from defeat to total victory. They'd come away with stuff, you know, tangible emblems of God's generosity. That was not the best thing that happened to them that day. You know, the greatest blessing, the greatest blessing of the covenant. Do you remember how the high priest was to bless the people of God? The Lord make his face to shine upon you, to have the smile of God's face upon you. That's what matters. So the Church of God does not worship God to receive things from God, though he is so kind. We meet to receive him. He is the best gift of all. They worship to obey, to enjoy, and third to listen. So at this worship service, the law of the Lord is written down. It's even written down on stones. And then it's read out. And did you see in verse 35, did you see the alls? All the law for all the people. We're not going to leave any bits out, and we're not going to leave anyone at home. Men, women, little ones. The church has always been an all-age gathering. And sojourners, old-fashioned word, for people like Rahab, um, outsiders, ex-pagans who had joined the people of God. They needed the word of God. We need the word of God. But I want us to try and see and imagine how the word was given to them that day. It was quite extraordinary. And this is where a bit of geography is helpful. Try and imagine this. There are two mountains, Mount Gerizim, Mount Ebal, two mountains, and in the middle, the land's a bit like a natural bowl. And six tribes gather over here, and six tribes gather over here, and in the middle is God, that is the Ark of the Covenant, and the Levites. And the law of the Lord is read out. And when we read those chapters in Deuteronomy, it tells us a bit more about how it was to happen. The Levites read out the law, and they read out promises of blessing. That is, if you trust and obey, you will be blessed. And the six tribes standing over on Mount Gerizim, okay, that's Eulot. Okay, you're representing those who are trusting, obeying, and are blessed. But they also read out the warnings of God's curse. So you guys, you are Mount Ebal. Sorry. If you distrust, if you disobey, you will know God's curse. Promise, curse. And the point of it was to say graphically, there is a choice, people. God is speaking, trust and obey. Be on the side that receives his blessing. If you don't, you will know only curse. There's no fuzzy place in the middle. So he says to his people, You belong to me. I've redeemed you, I've rescued you, you're mine. Trust me. I'm full of goodness and grace. Obey me. I am your Lord and God and King. Then and now, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And at that worship service, the people of God, they were to hear these words, assent to them. And then they were to go away and obey them. So this very extraordinary covenant renewal service. It interrupts the conflict, their pilgrimage into the land. But it's also not that different from what we are called to do every single Lord's Day when we gather. We're commanded to meet, to enjoy Him, to receive from Him in the Word, in the sacraments, baptism and the Supper. As we trust and obey, we remember the wonderful blessings that He offers us. And at the very top, at the very top of that list of blessings is Christ. And really wonderfully, this chapter it shows us the Lord Jesus who came to bear the curse in our place. It's quite tricky to imagine the geography of this chapter, but it is very, very wonderful that the altar was built over there with you guys in Mount Ebal. So the place of the curse. Did you notice that in verse 30? Joshua built an altar to the Lord on Mount Is Mount Ebal, just as God had commanded. So the altar, this place of atonement, this place of fellowship. It's actually not built in the middle by the ark. It's built on the hill of the curse. And it's a lovely, lovely picture, isn't it? Of the work of Jesus upon the cross. He bore the curse as he hung upon the cross. He was troubled. He was cursed so that Christian people would not be. So it's a really serious and a really joyful thing, isn't it, when we gather for the worship of God? Lord, would we respond with a hearty Amen? Would we trust and obey? Let's bow our heads, I'll lead us uh in prayer. Father, we thank you for this word which you have given for us. Much in it that seems strange and alien to us, much in it that is very precious to all your word for our blessing. We pray for a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit, whereby we would desire to trust you and daily repent and believe. Thank you for your compassion and your forbearance with us. Thank you that you delight to go with any Christian person, no matter what the past looks like. Thank you that with Christ every day is an opportunity for a fresh start. As we hear your holy character and your holy law, your grace and your holy demands, we pray that we would each respond with a hearty Amen, and in the power of your Holy Spirit seek to trust and obey. And we ask that for Jesus' name's sake. Amen.