The Scripture reading this evening is from Joshua chapter 8. I invite you to turn in the Bible with me to Joshua chapter 8. And Joshua 8 will be our text. It's a rather lengthy reading, and I obviously will not go by it verse by verse, but I want us to see the main contours, the main points of what God is doing here. and how so prophetic this story is of what you and I have in Jesus Christ our Lord. Joshua chapter 8, hear now 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 rise and go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai and his people and 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 30,000 mighty men of valor and set 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 rose 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 5,000 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 rear guard 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 Erebah 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, and so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and 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 turn 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 the 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." 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 is 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, sojourner 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 blessings 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." This truly is the word of the Lord. And I would encourage you to keep this passage open as we will be looking at it more closely this evening. Dear congregation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, if you are a citizen in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, there are at least two things, probably more, but at least two things that you must know. First, you must know how you are saved. We are saved through Christ alone, by grace alone, received by faith alone. But secondly, we must know how to live. We live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. And these two things are woven together in this story of how God gives direction to his people to defeat and devote to destruction the city of Ai, and then Israel will gather at these two important mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, to renew their covenant under the word, the law word of the Lord. And so in this chapter, we have accounts of two quite different things, don't we? Many verses are given to describe how Israel laid an ambush for the men of Ai and Bethel and defeated them. But the chapter then ends with Joshua leading the whole nation in this episode of covenant renewal. Interesting history? I suspect some of you don't think that was all that interesting. But God never wastes words, does he? And what does this have to do with New Testament Christianity after all? Well, very much. For when you read the Bible closely, then some very interesting and crucial details begin to emerge and come out. And all of these details will point to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things, therefore, are written for us. And therefore, in Joshua chapter 8, we read about, first, this crushing defeat of the enemy at Ai, and then concludes with this very impressive worship ceremony where all Israel renews her covenant, renews her loyalty, her devotion to the victorious Lord. The events of Joshua 7 are also in the background. Now, we didn't read that, but I suspect many of you know what happened. In taking the city of Jericho, there was a man of Judah who took some of the things from the city for his own, and he hid them in his tent. Now, the things that had been part of Jericho were things that were devoted to destruction, all of it. people, silver, Babylonian coats and clothing, all of it was devoted to destruction. And in the rules of holy war that the Lord gave His people, if you take something that He has devoted to destruction, then you are devoted to destruction. So that even when Achan confesses, yeah, I took it, I'm very, very sorry, he still had to be devoted to destruction. But then the city of Jericho had been taken, wasn't it? And before Achan was ever discovered, the Israelites then set their sites, their military sites on this village of Ai. Now the word Ai means ruins, ruins. And it was a small little podunk, pick town. And the spies told Joshua, we don't need all the troops. We got this. A smaller force should be adequate in capturing the village of Ai. Well, they attack Ai, and guess what? Thirty-six Israelites are dead. Ai won the first skirmish, and 36 men of the city of the Israelites are dead. And then the text says that the hearts of the Israelites melted. It was like water, which was the way the Canaanites were described when the Israelites first began their conquest of the land. Well, what was Israel's problem? Pride. Sin in the midst. Pride. Lack of humility. a lack of following closely the directions of the commander-in-chief who was the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God has to humble them in their pride. And in that process of humbling them, 36 Israelite soldiers are dead. But God, you remember that passage, those two words from the New Testament? Ephesians 2, but God. When we were dead in sins and trespasses in which we used to walk, we followed the demons of the air and we walked in all kinds of pagan ways. But God, who is rich in mercy, in Christ, brought that mercy to bear in our lives, in your lives, and He turned us around. But God is patient, isn't He? He's the God of second chances, and third chances, and 70th chances, and 777th chances, isn't He? Some of you can testify about that. and talk at length about how God has given you and me multiple second chances. And why is God patient? Well, that's the nature of God, but related to that is that this defeat of the Israelites earlier in chapter 7. is not going to stop Him. It's not going to stop Him of His great and grand agenda of filling the whole world with people who are His disciples from all the nations and who walk in His ways. Teach them to obey everything that I commanded you and look, I am with you to the close of the age. God doesn't just drop His whole agenda. He doesn't just point out Israel's sins and mistakes, he comes back again to assert himself as the commander-in-chief. You see, back in Joshua chapter 5, before the walking around Jericho had begun, Joshua is out checking out Jericho, and he meets a man, in Joshua 5, 13 and following, he meets a man who has a drawn sword. Now, if you have a sword drawn, that means you're ready for action. And Joshua asks him the obvious question, and the obvious question is, are you for our enemies or are you for us? And the man says, no. Literally, he says, no. I don't fit, Joshua, your categories, but I have come here as the commander of the armies of the Lord. I've come not to take sides, I've come to take charge. This was Christ manifesting himself as the great general of the whole conquest. That's why Joshua has to take his sandals off because the ground has now become holy. You see, the Lord is always in charge of his church, right? If the church ever forgets that, and church history is filled with instances where we have forgotten that, whenever we forget that, he will humble us. And he will remind us that he is in charge and that we are not. He takes charge and then gives direction on how the tables will turn against I. We don't need to go into the details of it, but basically an ambush is arranged so that behind the city, on the west side of Ai, there will be Israelite soldiers in hiding, and they too are filled with pride. The soldiers of Ai, we defeated these Israelites before, and here they come again. Well, make my day. Come on, Israel. And so the Israelites go forward, but then they retreat, they act as if they are running away, and now the soldiers of Ai and Bethel join together to pursue the Israelites. The men of Ai think, we got this. We got them, see how they run. Chase these Israelites down, crush them. But brothers and sisters, I want to point out to you how this victory over the soldiers of Ai is clearly the victory of the Lord, of Yahweh. It's not Joshua's, it's not Israel's. Listen to the text, verse 1b. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai and his people, his city, and his land. The Lord is talking, verse 7, last part. The Lord your God will give it into your hand. The Lord says in verse 18, I will give it into your hand. And in the end, 12,000 people, men and women, are struck down. All the inhabitants of Ai are devoted to destruction except for the livestock and other spoils. Set apart for destruction. The Lord brought about this victory. More heaps of stones at the entrance to Ai, thus tying these events at Ai to what happened earlier in the crossing of the Jordan River and also what happened with that grand thief, Achan. But why these heaps of stones? That's an interesting detail in the text. You know why, parents, especially you fathers? When you go to visit the Eye National Park, and you're walking around with your children, and your children say, why are these stones here? That gives you an opportunity to tell your children the great things the Lord has done. It's a catechism moment. It's like during the Passover, and we are in the Passover week according to a Jewish calendar, one of the children will ask his father at the Passover meal, Father, why is this night different from all the rest? On other nights we eat leavened and unleavened bread, but tonight we only eat unleavened bread. It gives the father the opportunity to tell the story of the Exodus. It's another story, it's another moment to instill in you boys and girls an understanding of what our God is like, that our God has won the victory. But then, then come the ceremonies described in verses 30 to the end. Sometime after the victory at Ai, the tribes of Israel head north to the central area There's a city called Shechem, but to the northeast of Shechem is Mount Ebal, and then to the south-southwest is Mount Gerizim. Six tribes, or at least tribal leaders, are by one mountain. Six tribes or tribal leaders are by the other mountain for the recitation of the blessings and the curses. Levitical priests are there. They carry the ark. And Joshua builds an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal so that the two kinds of sacrifices might be offered there. Now, I want to point out some very important things here. First, who is there? Well, Joshua is there, all of Israel, native born and sojourners, elders, officers, judges, But then look at verse 35. The women, the little ones, yeah, those children were in church. The sojourners, that is non-Israelite people who had joined themselves to God's people, they're all there. In other words, the whole church is there. If not in person, then certainly present in terms of their leaders and their representatives. And this very solemn ceremony includes the entirety of the people of God because this involves their very life. God created the people of Israel for the good works that they might walk in them, and they need to know what God defines as good works. So the law is going to be read. The covenant law is read. It refers to their peace and their prosperity, their very nature of how they should live in the promised land. Salvation has come for the nation through the victory that was brought about by the Lord, but now the administration of that people, the rule of the people must also come for the whole nation. The text seems to go out of its way to point out that all of Israel is there. young and old, male and female, native Israelite and sojourner, they're all gathered at this very solemn assembly by the two mounts, Ebel and Gerizim. Why? Because there is only one way back to the Lord, and that's through the sacrifices of the altar, and there is only one king in this universe, because there's only one kingdom in which God's people live. And the entire community must hear this, they must see this, they must know this. Second, notice how Joshua is said to do almost everything in this section of the story. Joshua builds the altar. so that the sacrifices could be accomplished. Joshua writes the words of the law upon the stones. Joshua reads the words of the law, every word, verse 35, every single word. All of Moses is read, and all of Israel must hear this, and who's doing it? Joshua, Joshua, Joshua. This is momentous. This is huge. This apparently is the first time since the death of Moses that Israel is gathered together and the law is read in its entirety. The people of God, the church, is being confronted with life and death, blessings and curses, shalom and prosperity on the one hand, and death and destruction on the other. And clearly, Joshua is the man of the hour. Clearly, he is serving as a very important mediator between his commander-in-chief, Yahweh, and the people under his command. He's doing here what a later Joshua would do. For the name Joshua is simply an Old Testament form of what Jesus is a New Testament form, what Jesus would do for the church. What does Jesus do for the church? What has he done for you when you messed up again in your pride? Jesus died to take your sins away. He really did. That's what Good Friday is all about. Jesus conquered that enemy called death. He trampled it down and he is now the first fruits of the resurrection. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father where he reigns over the entire universe as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus intercedes for you constantly. He knows your name. He never sleeps, he never slumbers. He's preparing a place for you. and he rules us by his word and spirit, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them into the name of the triune God, and then teach them to observe everything that he commanded you. And guess what? I'm with you. I'm with you. I am Emmanuel. God is with us to the end of this age. This is what a later Joshua would do. Because this Joshua in Joshua 8, He would mess up, he would fail, and he would die. Joshua 24 tells us about his death, but our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, is alive. Buddha is dead. Muhammad is dead. Joseph Smith is dead. Jesus is alive, never to die again. This is great news, but third, Notice also this, the presence of the altar built by Joshua, verse 30, and the presence of the ark carried by the Levitical priests. Altar and ark, altar and ark, the two great pieces of redemptive furniture. The altar is where the sacrifices are offered, whole burnt offerings that represent our total dedication to God, and peace offerings, where you got to eat a meal with the Lord, together with Him, because there's peace between the Lord and us. But there's something else. You know, when you build an altar in a land, as Abraham built an altar, Genesis 12, Jacob built an altar, you're setting up a worship center You're invading another land with worship. Now, hopefully it's the worship of the true God, but what is it like to set up a new congregation in a Hindu community? What is it like to set up a new church in a Muslim community? What is it like to set up a church in some neighborhoods of Chicago? You're introducing, you're invading the enemy's turf and you're setting up a very visible place where the true God should be worshiped. You're demonstrating that He is the sovereign in this land. Thank you very much. And the ark, that beautiful gold-plated box contained the law, it contained the manna that fed Israel for 40 years, it contained the rod of Aaron that had budded. This beautiful chest was a symbol of God's throne upon which He sat as King of kings and Lord of lords. Altar and ark, altar and ark, redemption through sacrifice, rule through His law word from His throne. This is how God deals with sinners so that they might become right with Him. This is how God begins to administer life in our age. Altar and ark. How we are saved? It's by the sacrifice, the shed blood of the mediator. How shall we live? By every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. This will be a church service long remembered by the children, by the young people, by the sojourners who would be relatively quite new to the whole ways of the Lord. 12 tribes, all Israel. What the Lord does here is so typically Yahweh, isn't it? This is so typically Yahweh. I'm not giving up on you. I'm patient. If church discipline needs to be carried out against an Achan, it will be, but then let's go on. Let's meet the next enemy and let's conquer him. And when we get some breathing room, we're gonna gather together and we're gonna hear the wonderful word of the Lord again. The great things he has done, the great things that he calls us to do. Salvation and administration. These are the two critical focal points of the divine work of God. And Joshua 8 gives us an amazing picture of how that plays out in the real events of the conquest. In other words, Joshua 8 is telling the old, old story of God's kingdom, an old, old story that reveals the great and wonderful things that He has done for you and for me in Jesus Christ our Lord. As I said at the beginning of the sermon, the Bible holds before us these two great questions. How shall we be saved? How are we saved? And how shall we live? Let's be clear on this. We're not saved by how we live, oh no. Nothing we do merits or earns our salvation. We all know Ephesians 2, eight through 10. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Israel in conquering Jericho, in conquering Ai, in conquering all the other cities in Canaan could not boast. Because the moment they think they've got it, we've got it. When pride starts to take over, the fall is not that far away. No one can boast, for we are his workmanship. Why is he working in us? Why is he holding his word before you and me constantly? Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Yes, brothers and sisters, because of salvation, you and I walk, live, think, in a much different way. Even food and drink, whether you eat, whether you drink, you do all for the glory of God. God does not give up with His great and grand agenda. That's why He's patient. For His glory, the glory of His name, until the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. If the conquest is to move ahead, and it will, Israel will be humbled because she must be holy, and she must become obedient, and she must give all praise and glory to God. Amen. Let us pray. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for salvation that is full and free. Thank You for not giving up on us, but once again coming to assert the fact that You are in charge, and that's a wonderful thing. For therefore, Lord, we are not in this world as orphans. We don't have to figure it all out for ourself. We have Your Word, we have Your Spirit to empower us. We have You, Lord Jesus, as that mediator who now lives with an indestructible life, who is our great prophet, king, and priest, who ministers for us so that We receive the salvation that you have worked and won for us. We praise you, we glorify you, gracious God, for Jesus' sake, amen.