Joshua 7:1-9
Jos 7:1
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the
accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah,
of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was
kindled against the children of Israel.
No one can sin and think that God does not see it.
Woe unto them that seek deep to
hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say,
Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? (Isaiah 29:15)
Notice the Scripture states that Israel committed a trespass concerning
the spoils at Jericho. The nation
itself was held accountable for the sin of one man, Achan.
The name Achan means “he that troubles.”
The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel on behalf of one man who
chose not to obey the LORD and allowed his lust for wealth to override his
obedience. Achan disobeyed by
taking some of the spoils for himself which were supposed to be taken to the
Tabernacle and consecrated.
Jos 7:2
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is
beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go
up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
Joshua, at this time, did not know about the sin of
Achan. Joshua was now considering
his next offensive which was against the city of Ai.
The city of Ai was located about 12 miles (19 KM) northwest of Jericho
and Gilgal. So Joshua sent a group
of men to spy out the area around Ai to see how the terrain is and to see how
difficult it would be to conquer them.
Jos 7:3
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not
all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite
Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but
few.
They returned to Joshua with the report that the city of
Ai would not require the entire army to conquer them since the town was small
and had a small population. They
had suggested that only about two to three thousand men was all that was needed
and the rest could stay behind and rest from the Jericho battle.
If the entire army went up they would have to carry their tents, weapons
and other things. The smaller the
group sent to Ai, it could be a quick defeat if only a portion of the army went.
Jos 7:4
So there went up thither of the people about three
thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
In this case 1 Kings 20:11 is apropos.
And the king of Israel answered
and said, Tell him, Let not him
that girdeth on his harness
boast himself as he that putteth it off. (1 Kings 20:11)
In other words, don’t anticipate a quick victory because you do not know
the circumstances. So about three
thousand men went up to Ai but they were surprised because instead of a quick
victory, they had to flee from the men of Ai.
Jos 7:5
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men:
for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and
smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and
became as water.
The Israelites had suffered the loss of 36 men which was
not a huge loss but they must have fled before any real engagement occurred.
There was fear instead of boldness in these
men and they were chased to Shebarim which is a place unknown at this time.
They were smote in the going down because near Ai was a hill and that
must be where the men were smitten by the men of Ai.
Just as the hearts melted in the people in Jericho, the Israelites were
now facing the same tremendous fear and probably confusion because they just
experienced a victory over Jericho and here they could not even conquer a small
town.
Jos 7:6
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon
his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of
Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Then Joshua knew something was wrong and went to inquire
of the LORD as to what happened. So
in complete contrition, Joshua had rent or torn his clothes and cast himself
down in front of the Ark of the LORD until the evening.
It was he and the elders had prostrated themselves and in a sign of great
sorrow put dust upon their heads which indicated they were just human and were
subject to the Creator who formed man from the dust.
Jos 7:7
And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at
all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the
Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the
other side Jordan!
Joshua is distraught as he speaks to the LORD but it
seems Joshua jumped to the extreme which most people do in situations where
there is limited understanding to a certain point.
It seems Joshua was asking the LORD did he bring them over the Jordan to
be slaughtered by the Amorites? He
then states that they would have been content on the east side of Jordan but he
momentarily forgets that God promised a certain land to Abraham and the east
side of Jordan was not it. How many
times when we run into hard times or even just a singular serious situation that
our first thought is that God has abandoned us?
He did not abandon Joshua and he will never abandon the true Christian.
Let your conversation
be without covetousness;
and be content with such things
as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
(Hebrews 13:5)
Jos 7:8
O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs
before their enemies!
Then Joshua was at a loss for words because he could not
understand why Israel had turned their backs to the enemy, that is, why were
they routed by the enemy instead of being victorious at Ai?
How could he explain this setback to the people who were probably
becoming restless in their thoughts and Joshua remembers how the people spoke
against Moses every time they ran into a situation.
Jos 7:9
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land
shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from
the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?