Sunday, July 9, 2000   

It is obvious that something was terribly wrong. The battle should have ended in defeat of Ai, not the defeat of God’s people. The thing that defeated Israel is that which defeats God’s people and God’s local church today— SIN!

God wants us to have victory BUT sin defeats us. Israel did not have to be defeated and neither do we. We need to examine Israel’s defeat at Ai and learn from it.

I. VERSES 1-5, OVER CONFIDENCE AND DEFEAT

      A. One reason that the army of Israel was defeated at Ai because of overconfidence.

      B. Because Jericho had fallen so easily, they saw Ai, which was a much smaller city, as a pushover.

           1. As we read the account given in verses 1-5, we see that overconfidence and a dependence on human wisdom were part of the cause of Israel’s defeat.

           2. Joshua, it seems, had acted on the suggestions of the men who had been sent out to reconnoiter.

                a. The spies saw Ai as no big deal. Why bother the whole army, just send two or three thousand troops and take care of this situation.

                b. The reason that the spies were not concerned about Ai is because of what had happened at Jericho. They supposed that since THEY had defeated Jericho, surely they could defeat Ai.

                     1) They needed to see that it was God who defeated Jericho not them.

                     2) The army of Israel walked around the city walls and shouted. God destroyed the city.

      C. In my Christian life, my greatest defeats and discouragement's have come after the greatest victories.

           1. Pride in self is a terrible thing. We are to boast in the Lord and not in the flesh. Paul had learned a lesson that benefits every Christian: “In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.”

           2. We all need to “take heed we stand lest we fall.” Of course, we are to stand in the Lord not self-confidence.

      D. Israel failed at Ai because of over-confidence in self. Friend, apart from the grace of God, we are doomed.

           1. Victory is in Jesus through His shed blood, His death, His burial, His resurrection.

           2. We must trust Christ for victory on a daily basis for yesterday’s triumph does not bring victory today.

           3. Misguided self-esteem can lead to spiritual defeat.

II. VERSES 6-10, DELAYED PRAYER AND DEFEAT

      A. In these verses, we find Joshua praying earnestly to the Lord. As you read verses 6-9, you can feel the intensity of his prayer, the concern of his supplication.

           1. Joshua was pleading in time of defeat. If he had prayed in time of victory, he would not be pleading now.

           2. We need to learn to “pray without ceasing,” to always pray. Pray in time of victory and in time of defeat.

      B. Go back to verse 2. As you look at verse 2, you find that Joshua acted without prayer.

           1. He should have prayed before making a decision about Ai, but the great victory at Jericho had blinded him of the need of prayer.

           2. Every time your pastor meets with the deacons of this great church, we open our meeting with prayer. Why? Because we want God to lead us, to direct our steps.

                a. We ought to pray before we are forced to.

                b. It is better to pray everyday than to just pray when you can do nothing else.

      C. In verse 10, God says to Joshua: “Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?”

           1. Joshua should have prayed before going into battle. He should have sought the face of God before he took action.

           2. God is going to bless Joshua in the future because he is more concerned about the name of the Lord (verse 9) than he is about the discouragement he has experienced because of defeat (verses 7-8).

      D. If only Joshua had prayed, defeat could have been avoided. Do you pray like you should? Don’t wait until you are defeated to pray. “Pray without ceasing.”

           1. Remember, a lack of prayer will dull your spiritual senses.

           2. People who do not pray excuse sin and are headed for defeat.

III. VERSES 11-18, DISOBEDIENCE AND DEFEAT

      A. Israel suffered defeat at Ai because of the sin of disobedience.

           1. Verse 11 says: “Israel hath sinned, and they have transgressed....”

           2. Sin caused defeat. Sin will always cause defeat. There is no victory in sin, only guilt and pain.

      B. The Bible account tells us that one man Achan had stolen and hidden that which was devoted to God, that which belonged to Him. Achan had taken the spoils of war that were set apart for the Lord God.

           1. One man sinned. One man disobeyed, and the whole army was defeated.

           2. “When Achan hid the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment, the Lord would not allow the children of Israel to win in battle. He caused them to be defeated by the men of Ai” (Haldeman Volume 1, pg. 105).

      C. The sin of Achan affected the whole nation of Israel because God dealt with them as a corporate body, a body through which His purposes for man were to be executed.

           1. God said, “Israel hath sinned.” That’s His verdict. You say but only one man sinned. Yes, but it affected the entire body.

           2. Friend, when one member of the local church, the body of Christ sins, the sentence from God is, “My people have sinned.”

                a. Church members, you cannot sin without affecting the whole church because we are all one body (I Corinthians 12:12)

                b. Alan Redpath said: “No child of God can grow cold in his spiritual life without lowering the temperature of everybody else around him. Let me say that the testimony of your church in its community and throughout the world depends on the victorious life of every man and woman on your church rolls” (119).

                c. We should want God and not the Devil to get the glory in the church. You see it is in the church that God receives and fails to receive the glory due Him (Ephesians 3:21).

                d. Church member, how you live and what you do affects this entire body.

IV. VERSES 19-26, THE DEMANDS OF VICTORY

      A. Verses 19-20, to have victory that has to be confession.

           1. Achan confessed his sin against God. He was guilty of the blood of those thirty-six men who died in battle, and he was guilty of disobedience to God.

           2. Can’t you see how his sin had hurt others? The damage was done!

      B. Verse 21, Achan had taken that which belonged to the Lord and kept it for himself.

           1. Note with me the progression in this verse: “I saw.... I coveted took... hid.”

           2. If we cover our sin, God will uncover it. If we uncover it to God, He will cover it with His blood.

           3. Spurgeon said: “The further a man goes in lust and iniquity, the more dead he becomes to purity and holiness. He loses the power to appreciate the beauties of virtue or to be disgusted with the abominations of vice” (Hutson 116).

      C. Verses 23-26, For his sin Achan and his family were destroyed. How sad it is to see selfish mom’s and dad’s destroy their own children because of their lusts.

           1. The only way that Israel could have victory was to blot out the evil.

           2. You cannot have victory, and the church cannot have victory until sin is dealt with and blotted out (I John 1:9).

           3. We cannot defeat the forces of evil if we regard iniquity in our midst (Joshua 7:13, Psalm 5:4-5).

CONCLUSION: Members of this body, listen to the plain teaching of scripture.

     1. Christians are to walk in holiness before God (II Corinthians 7:1)

     2. Christians are to walk worthy of their calling (Ephesians 4:1).

     3. Christians are to be pure, keeping their bodies set apart to God (I Thessalonians 4:7).