ALL THE WORDS OF THE LAW

Joshua 8:1-35

Key Verse 8:34-35

Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and the curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the aliens who lived among them.

It has been observed and said that three enemies stand in our way to God's kingdom (our spiritual Promised Land): 1) the world, 2) yourself; and 3) Satan.

The world has a materialistic dimension.

Yourself has a humanistic dimension.

Satan has a spiritual dimension.

This coincides with Jesus' temptation as recorded in Matthew 4:1-10 where we see the Lord being tested on three levels - money, flesh, and spirit. 

It has also been observed and said that Jericho is symbolic of the world (materialism), Ai is symbolic of flesh (humanism), and Gibeon is symbolic of Satan (spiritual deception mainly coming with legalism). 

We can study Joshua 7 and 8 together under one title, for they talk about the campaign against what is human, i.e., the battle against humanism (in the sense of man standing above God).

Now, the previous chapter, 7, talks about how the Israelites "failed" in this battle, but now in chapter 8, we see how they "won". 

Already we saw that in Chapter 7, the Lord helped his children to remove the spiritual tumor, unrepented sin. Now here are some details on how to wage the battle against flesh and win. 

Let us note that the battle is the Lord's battle, not our own, meaning that the Lord wants to achieve the goal he has for us, that is, to let us be restored in His image and live by His Spirit, rather than by our own feelings, ideas, or will. 

Let us also not underestimate the enemy. Flesh will fight back. Humanism is strong. It is not going to be a pushover. See how Nicodemus kept talking back to Jesus. See how our flesh ever so treacherously tries to deceive us into doing what we are not supposed to do, and not doing what we are supposed to do. Just as Ai looks "deceptively" weak, so also our body, and the force of humanism look deceptively weak. And in fighting against this tricky enemy (of the Lord and of course of us, his children born of His spirit), we can NEVER afford underestimating the power of our enemy. 

1. Read vs. 1-2 and compare this passage with Joshua 6:17-19. In the case of Jericho the Lord did not allow the Israelites to take material things, but in the case of Ai, the Lord allowed them to take them. What does this difference suggest to us about the difference between the battle of Jericho and that of Ai?  

** The purpose of the battle against Jericho is to teach the Israelites how to conquer materialism. It is like the Lord God giving Abraham training to overcome material, so he would know how to tithe, how to put God above money, how to solve money problems through faith in God, and how to use money for God and for men, so that Abraham and his descendants would not end up becoming like the descendants of first man Adam (cf. Deu 8:33; 3:19). 

The purpose of the battle against Ai is to help them fight against what is of human, so they would rise above and beyond man’s level and grow to be like God (not to be God but to be ‘like’ God, for we are made to be like him. So at this time the Lord God allowed them to take material things. 

2. Read vs. 1-2 again and describe the significance of the following statements in conducting the battle against Ai: 

1) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Jer 12:5; 2Ti 4:10-18); 

2) Take the whole army with you (Eph 6:10-18); 

3) Go up and attack Ai (Gen 1:28; Rm 1:5); 

4) I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land (Jn 19:30); 

5) You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king (Gal 6:14; Rm 8:13); 

6) You may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves (Gen 13:7-9); and 

7) Set up an ambush behind the city (Rm 7:11)? 

** Do not be afraid... 

This teaches us that we should not lose heart because of many failures in waging battle after battle against the power of flesh (which causes us to commit sins like gossip, greed, anger, jealousy, envy, lust, etc. and so forth.)

** Take the whole...

This order reminds us of the need for us to 'muster' (or devote, if you will) our "best" as well as "all" possible resources we have in fighting against the evil desires working in our body which is dead because of sin. 

** Go up and attack...

This command teaches us that we should never remain passive but rather be proactive in fighting against fleshly desires. Like Jacob who devoted himself to studying God's word and who struggled all night in a wrestling match with an angel of the Lord, we must be very aggressive in defeating the sinful nature working ever so surreptitiously within us. 

Notice that in case of the battle against Jericho, it was the Lord who did the fighting from the beginning to the end. All Israel had to do was just believe and obey. This is like Jesus giving his disciples Matthew 6:33. 

But it is not so in us fighting against the fleshly desires. This enemy sits within us. Because God gave us free will, it is each of us who (through God's help) must do the fighting. 

** I have delivered...

This promise reminds us of the fact that Jesus has already won the battle on the cross. Speaking of the same transaction the Scripture says that Christ died while we were still sinners! Didn’t the Apostle Peter also say that he bore our sins in his “body”? 

** You shall do...

Ai's king, citizens, city, and land, are all symbolic of human leadership, its followers, systems, and environments, that promote man-centered rather than God-centered lifestyles which sets itself up against the rule of God. 

Knowing this, what is demanded of us is to completely "decimate" every hint of what is of  the sinful nature in man.

This is expressed in such New Testament Scriptures as: 

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Mark 8:34-35 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

** You may carry off...

This means that after subjecting our bodies to the rule of God's Spirit, we need to 

carry” and use the members of our bodies (like hands, eyes, feet, mind etc.) all for the name's sake of our Lord Jesus. 

** Set up an ambush...

This reminds us of the fact that our body (which is like the city of Ai itself which is to be set on fire) remains already dead because of sin and therefore is to be set aside (Heb 9:27). Note that ambush means "trap" or "surprise attack". Just as Joshua set an ambush, so also Jesus has set an ambush against all who promote humanism (humanism in the sense of man putting himself on the throne of God, usurping the authority that uniquely belongs to God alone).  

3. Skim through vs. 3-29. What do the following statements teach us in waging the Lord's battle in our generation: 

1) "They will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before" (6); 

2) "Do what the Lord has commanded" (8b); 

3) "But he did not know that an ambush has been set against him behind the city" (2Pe 3:7-10); and 

4) "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand" (Rev 2:16)? 

** Joshua capitalized on his past failures. The lesson he picked up from his previous failure was to recognize that pride is the mother of failure. In the past (in Chapter 7) he was proud so he failed. But this time he made his enemy become proud, so he could catch his enemies in their craftiness.

** God's command is to be "done" (implemented or obeyed), not to be "discussed" alone.

** We must remember that the present world in its own form (as well as the physical bodies we are in) is to be baptized by the fire. 

** Just as Joshua was to hold out his javelin towards Ai, so also Jesus is always fighting against what if of the flesh. Read: John 16:8,9. 

4. Read vs. 30-39. Why do you think Joshua put the Israelites through a Bible conference like this (Pro 16:18)? What can we learn from Joshua who "copied" the law of Moses onto the stones?  In what respect might it not have been easy for Joshua to read "all" the laws of Moses. Yet why do you think he bothered to do this? What can we learn from him in waging the Lord's battle in this so-called ‘Information Age’?

** He did this to make the Israelites not become proud as before, but remember that they won victories not because of their own merit but because of God's special help. 

** Just as Joshua did, we need to write the word of God on our hearts by writing Bible testimonies, memorizing key verses, etc. 

2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

** They were on a battlefield. So they might have been worried about the possibility of invasion by the enemy nations. Or a lot of them might have suffered from ill health, so that it might not be easy for them to be seated in a chair for a prolonged period of time. Yet, he did this to help all of them pick up God's spirit. 

** Some people are seated in front of a TV or computer all day long in order to play video games or watch worldly movies. But, we must secure more time to study the Bible than time spent  on ungodly stuff. Otherwise we will fall victim to the heathen culture. We will never be able to overcome our fleshly desires.

The end.

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