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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. You are listening to A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. Today we're talking through the Book of Joshua, chapters seven through nine. What's going on in these chapters, Scott?
- [00:16]
B
All right, well, we're coming off the battle of Jericho from chapter six. And that was the first, you know, battle Israel experienced in the promised land. Though, as we saw, they didn't actually do any fighting. They just marched around the city. And the Ark of the Covenant we talked about was carried around the city as well, showing that, hey, God is the one who provided this victory. God is the one who caused the walls to collapse. And as I said yesterday, this showed that the Israelites, their success on the battlefield was not due to numbers or superior fighting skills, but ultimately God himself and their fidelity to him. Most of today's chapters are about the next battle, the battle of AI, which the Israelites do need to take up arms for. But things go a differently than they do in Jericho here.
- [01:01]
A
Yeah, walk us through what happens in this battle.
- [01:03]
B
So after Jericho's fall, God had commanded some of Jericho's items to be set apart. That is used for his purposes. A man named Achan, though, took some as personal plunder. And this disobedience causes Israel to fall in their first battle with the people of AI. And God tells Joshua this happened because Israel violated his covenants. And only after the community stones, Achan, are things made right and they're actually able to achieve a victory over the city, the city of AI. So it's a similar lesson to the battle of Jericho, only now stated very negatively that if the Israelites are disobedient to God, they will not succeed in battle. So you've got these two victories now. One, the Israelites fought in one they didn't that make the same point that God alone can give them the victory and that they alone, they only will flourish in this land if they're obedience to God. And this is further stressed by this covenant renewal ceremony you see at Mount Ebal. You know, it's helpful to remember a couple of chapters in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 11 and 27, where Moses told the Israelites that when they get into the land, they were to gather at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal and proclaim out loud all the blessings and curses of this covenant. And they were to set up an altar on Mount Ebal and make sacrifices. So the Israelites are carrying out these commandments from Deuteronomy. In these chapters, they're following through. Joshua sets up the altar, they offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord, indicating their consecration to Him. They offer fellowship offerings which reflect their. Their intimate relationship with God. And then I love. Joshua just reads the law out loud to the nation of Israel. I'm curious how long that took. It's just, it's. This is a giant worship service, basically, in which they're reminded of who God is, what he's done for them, and again of the importance of obeying Him. And they. They commit themselves to doing so, to being obedient.
- [02:57]
A
Yeah, I love that. Any other thoughts on these chapters? What do we take away?
- [03:03]
B
I really love. The study highlights the contrasts between Achan and Rahab, who we talked about yesterday or a couple days ago. God brings judgment on this Israelite who was unfaithful, and yet we see him extending mercy to a Gentile who is faithful. And it's just this beautiful demonstration throughout Scripture that God does not show partiality, God doesn't show favoritism. And this is a wonderful illustration. God again welcomes all who will come to him in faith. And Rahab's a great example of that.
- [03:33]
A
Yeah, I love how those two examples, we kind of see them, you know, here in Joshua together, and it highlights that for us. That's really cool. A cool takeaway that I have from this passage. We see in these chapters that the place where Achan has like, stolen these items, that's a valley that's renamed the Valley of Achor or the Valley of trouble. But then if we look later in Scripture, we have in Isaiah 65:10 and in Hosea 2:15, two places where it prophesies that because someone will come and change things, then there will be no longer trouble in that valley. So that valley instead, it says in Isaiah 65:10, will be made a place of peace and rest. And in Hosea 2:15, we say, See that it says it will be made a place of hope. And so here we have Achan's rebellion and sin, and it's led to trouble. And. But we're going to get to these eventually. As we go through the Bible in the year, we have these two prophecies further that say, hey, someone's going to come. That's going to change that. That won't be a valley of trouble anymore. It'll be a place of peace and rest and hope. And what an encouragement for us in our own sin. Because as much again as we can be judgy towards Achan, we talked about this. We are all sinners at times. And in. In Christ, we see this transformation of. Instead of trouble in place of that we're given peace and hope and rest. And so praise the Lord for that amazing truth and that we get to see that here. And we'll continue in Joshua. We're going to pick up Joshua 10 starting tomorrow.