When we last saw God’s chosen people, trying to enter the land of promise, they were actually living into the promise of Trouble. God told them, for Jericho, this first city I am giving into your hands, devote all the spoils to Me. Set apart, devote everything to Me. Don’t take any thing for yourselves. But one person got into some trouble. Achan. His name even sounds like the Hebrew word for “trouble”. Achan troubled the entire nation by taking what was devoted to God. They were all still God’s people, but their fellowship with God was broken. God removed His hand of blessing (because of what ONE GUY did!). So then, when Israel attacked the next city, the town of Ai, they got whooped. Ran away like a bunch of scaredy cats. Joshua and the whole nation are shocked beyond belief. Instead of melting the hearts of Canaan with fear, now Israel’s hearts are melting with fear. There were deadly consequences. Joshua - for the first time? - lost 36 men, good soldiers under his command [for a soldier, there may be no worse result that that of losing men]. And as for Achan, his entire family had to be executed when he didn’t confess. How does Joshua feel? DIS-couraged. Loss of courage, fear threatening to derail the entire enterprise perhaps? The whole mission seems to have ground to a halt. Joshua is tempted to give in to fear. Fear of failure. Fear holds us back.
So on the heels of that devastating defeat, the God of overflowing love shows up and says, don't be afraid. And don’t be dismayed. The root idea is something that’s broken, or shattered. [Shattered], so - unusable. That happens sometimes when we fail. When we fall. When things don’t go the way we thought or hoped they would. Dismayed. Shattered. Our confidence is shattered. Shattered hopes. Shattered dreams. We get off track, our momentum goes sideways or goes away completely. And God says, DON’T get off track. Don’t let this deter you. Because you get a re-do. Our God is the God of the Re-Do. [v2] You will do as you did, He promises. It’s a re-do on two levels: they will conquer Ai the same way they conquered Jericho, BUT this is also a do-over. Cuz they already tried it once. And they had some trouble. The promise of a re-do. And this next time? It’s going to go even better for you! You get to keep the spoils…
So [v1] get up, and go up. Get off your donkey, and get going. Move past it. Deal with the failure (or loss), make it right (as best you can, in the grace that God supplies). Which Israel did. And now, having done that, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get right back at it, at doing IT, whatever it is. Living (and serving) in the land of God’s promises. Cuz if we’re not dead, we’re not done. A Re-do. No guilt - it’s been dealt with. That’s the idea of forgiveness we find in Yeshua, in Jesus. Justification by faith [Rom 5.1] Justified: just as if we never sinned. There is no reminder of sin. Grace greater than ALL our sin. God’s grace - and God’s Word - never fails. And His Word says that when we’re in Christ, in God’s eyes, we’ve done everything right. Because in His eyes, when Jesus is in our heart, when we’ve trusted in Jesus and His blood covers our sin, all God sees is Jesus. White as snow. Yes, we still blow it, make mistakes. When we do, we confess, and move on (The three calls: Call it sin, Call it forgiven, Call on God to change you). Get up, and get back in there, Joshua. Cuz you get a re-do. Take all your people of war, and go back to Ai. Go back to the scene of the catastrophe. It’s the promise of unlimited re-do’s. Like [Golden Corral, i.e. the Golden Trough]! Grace: an endless all-you-can-eat buffet of spiritual not-leftovers but do-overs. Some say, that sounds too good to be true. Sure does. God’s grace is the good-est. It really IS amazing. Some ask, what about those who abuse this grace? Can you take too many trips to this buffet line?
Two thoughts on that. 1) Grace isn’t grace unless it CAN be abused. That’s what’s so amazing about grace. There is never a [shortage] of God’s forgiveness. And His grace covers it all: the deepest need; the foulest, filthiest sin; the most wretched. Saved a wretch - like me. The promise of God. 2nd) Having said that, the one who actually does abuse God’s grace probably hasn’t properly understood or received God’s grace. Cuz grace is not freedom TO sin. It’s forgiveness of sin, and it’s freedom FROM sin. That’s the story of [amazing grace]. That’s the promise of a re-do.
So, Joshua, Israel, get up, and go up - to Ai. It IS uphill (Camp Gilgal is 800’ below sea level, and Ai is at 2800’ above). And this is the thing - sometimes we do need to go back to Ai. To the ruins. Back to that place of defeat. The place where we fell. That place of loss. Cuz we need to bring God into it. And this journey is 15mi, uphill all the way. This might be a [tough road]. For this re-do, we probably DO need to trust the Lord to do a miracle. To do to Ai exactly what He did to Jericho. We do need to see God do His wonder-working thing in Ai. To gain victory over the place of defeat! The Promise of a Re-Do. Our God IS the God of 2nd chances. Not saying it’s always easy. It’s not easy to go back to the ruins. But yes, sometimes we need to revisit Ai. Cuz we need to get past Ai in order to move into all the rest of God’s land of promise. We need to get on with living the life that God made us to live. Including and especially serving Him! Cuz if we’re not dead, we’re not done. He's left us here for a season for a reason. THIS life is not only about getting ready for the next - it's about learning to glorify Him by enjoying Him forever. All the days of our life. He has something for us. He’s made us and is remaking us to enjoy Him AND to serve Him.
Look at [v7]. You will arise, and take possession, for the Lord will deliver it into your hand. The Lord will give it into your hand. But so, in whose hand is it really? Who has it, whatever IT is? The Lord has it. He’s got this. And He gives IT, whatever it is, to those who trust Him. Whether it’s some battle, or some thing we’re meant to do, or some place we’re meant to live - God has a plan, He is up to something, He has a work He wants to do, and He intends to complete it. [Phil 1.6] Our mission is to get in step with Him [Gal. 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.]. Walk by the Spirit, keep in step w God’s Spirit, and with what HE wants. OK, Lord, You really are Lord. Not what I want, but what You want. And don’t miss how Joshua responds. [10] Out of this heartbreak, and this devastating defeat, he gets up. Early in the morning. Don’t delay. What God wants you to do, get after it.
Full disclosure: archaeologists are uncertain as to the exact location of Ai. Skeptics seem to find fodder for unbelief in that. But I’m thinking, locals were calling it “The Ruins” 3000+ yrs ago? (Typically, archaeology begins by assuming the Bible is mistaken but then finds that it was right after all.) But there’s also a question about the numbers here - they don’t seem to add up. v3 says Joshua sets 30k men in ambush. And then v12 says he sets 5k men in ambush. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Well all you need to do is read v13. This is a third force. The Hebrew word literally means, to lie in wait. The 5k are lying in wait, protecting the western flank of the main army, and 30k are lying in wait [BEHIND] the city, to take the city once the main army draws the defenders out.
Here’s the deal: unbelievers are always looking for an(other) excuse to not believe. To not surrender their heart to the God Who made them. The world finds lots of excuses. Sadly, even we the church provide them with excuses to unbelieve. When we don’t love one another. When we are lukewarm in our following. That’s why the lesson of Ai, the promise of a re-do in the midst of the ruins, is so powerful. Nobody’s perfect. We all fall short. We all need a re-do. And God’s grace is more than sufficient to cover all our Ai’s. Bring Me your faults. Bring Me your failures, your losses. Bring Me your hurts. Bring Me your questions and doubts. And lay them at the feet of the One Who walked up - beaten and bloodied - up that hill onto the Cross, laid down His life, and then walked up out of that grave, sat down at the right hand of Heaven, and Who’s coming again as King. The Ultimate Re-Do. Not that there was anything wrong w the first Do. His grace is greater…
Further reflections:
“In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
OR
The very fact that humans look for justice in the universe should tell us something. What if the justice and fairness for which we instinctively insist and pursue from our youth (and too often DO fail to find) points out that said universe is broken at some level - and that people are actually hardwired for a place and time (a realm) where Justice will reign - one which is being put in (and opposed) even as we speak...
Prov. 28:1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are 1bold as a lion.
Rom. 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson once went to the mountains on a camping trip. After enjoying a delicious meal, they retired for the night. Around midnight, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful companion.
“Watson,” he said, “look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
Watson, used to Holmes’s tests of his observational acumen, observed, “I see millions and millions of stars.”
Holmes asked, “What does that tell you?”
Watson pondered for a minute. “Well … astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is omnipotent and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes was silent for a minute, then said, “Watson, someone has stolen our tent.”
The world, like Watson, seems to have great difficulty with the obvious. God has built certain consequences into life so we might recognize His authority and power. i.e. Numerous scientific studies have documented how people live longer when they live better. Righteousness (right living and being) is good for a person’s health.
For example, one magazine offered the findings of a study done at a research center on the University of Michigan campus. The authors of the study concluded that doing regular volunteer work significantly increases life expectancy. Doctors rated it a more important factor than jogging, aerobics, or a healthy diet.
During World War II, it was discovered that people who were suffering from acute anxiety attacks during bombing raids on London improved their condition by setting their own troubles aside and volunteering to help the victims of the German air raids. In helping others, they helped themselves.
