I hope you’ve noticed that we’ve been studying the person of our Saviour. In our first message we simply said: “Behold the Christ.” Then we said look at Him in the guidance of His chosen people. Following that we looked at Him in our many moments of crisis. And last week we said, “Look at the Lord in the midst of our successful ministry.” Thus far we have been following the Ark of the Covenant historically or chronologically. Our application as been – Without Christ we are nothing. “He is the vine and we are the branches.” “Without Him we can do nothing.” “We can do all things through Jesus Christ which strengthenth us,” but we will do nothing without Him. Only “God is able to make all grace about toward us; that we, always having all sufficiency in all things. may abound to every good work.” Without the Lord we are ever and always going to be falling on our faces. Like the lady filled with so much vanity she can’t admit that she needs glasses. We need the Lord in the days of decision, but also in days calamity. And we need the Lord in the days of our greatest despair. Some picture life as they do a river – ever flowing downward to sea of death. But It may better picture life like ebb and flow of the tide, in and out, in and out – good and bad.
Israel had taken up one of the false doctrines being rejuvenated today – Prosperity.
Now that we’ve “asked Jesus into our hearts” life will be nothing but beds of roses and veins of gold. As they leave the city of Jericho, we see a confident bunch of Christians. They have come through the blood of the Passover, and are now the peculiar people of the Lord. They had languished as babes in Christ for over 38 years out there in wilderness. They learned what the Lord expected from them through His laws and commission. They were under governors and tutors, failing miserably to learn and obey. But then came the day of genuine revival – the day of spiritual crisis. “How long halt ye between two opinions if Baal be god, serve him, but if the Lord be God serve Him.” Israel stepped out by faith into the midst of the river of Jordan. She was doing nothing more than following the Ark of the Covenant – a type of the Lord Jesus. The life of the nation has never been any better than it was at that time.
And then there had been a bit of victory and glory. There was the successful search of Jericho with the protection of the spies. Israel even found a heathen woman willing to follow Christ. There is nothing that makes a church feel more self-righteous as baptizing 1 or 2 people every year. The Passover was observed for the first time in decades, down at Gilgal. Oh, this bunch of saints is really closer to the Lord than ever have been. The Angel of the Lord then appeared to Joshua. It is always a thrill to know that the pastor is on speaking terms with the Lord. Then Jericho fell: “Jericho is fallen, has fallen.” Nearly every penny found in Jericho was given to the Lord. What a generous bunch people. “Oh, how we love Jesus. Oh, how we love Jesus.”
Through it all, Israel was growing a terrible cancer. It was the idea that they likely were never going to loose another battle. From now on the blessings of Jehovah are going to be rolling in upon us in waves. Never again are we going to be sick; or hungry or defeated by the enemy. Our crops will never fail, the rain will always fall in due season. Our ewes will always lamb, and our cows will always calf. We have whipped the Devil; Jehovah has bruised the serpent’s head under our feet.
Oh, isn’t it good to be Christian? Indeed, it is good to be Child of God, but not because there will never be another problem in our lives. No sir, you have not yet seen troubles, until you are taken from the Promised Land to the Land of Glory. You are going to have problems as long as you are playing church, and even if your service is genuine. When you allow sin to taint your black little Christian heart watch out. The world’s most miserable person may be the Christian who I living in the land but away from the Ark. Little did Israel know that the blessing of the Lord had already been taken from her.
It was seen in the debacle at Ai.
What brought about the fall of Israel at the insignificant village of Ai? Was the Ark no longer in the midst of the camp? No, it was there as usual. Has the Lord, represented by that Ark, passed away and left us orphans? Don’t be silly, “He is the King eternal, immortal and invisible “ Has He forgotten His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Joshua? No, No, He is the Lord – He lies not and can’t forget a thing. Well then what brought about that terrible accident at Ai?
There were several things. Israel had begun to take the presence of the Lord for granted. Things had been going so well since crossing Jordan, that Israel had forgotten the power which accomplished it. Spurgeon once said, “No trial is so great as no trial.” Things were going so smoothly that Israel was forgetting who they were. The Ark was becoming nothing more than a symbol of the presence of the Lord. The nation was looking at it as a superstitious charm or fetish. Just so long as we have our symbols of religion, then we have religion itself. In the less than 10 miles between Jericho and Ai, Israel’s religion became just another useless world religion. What, me pray? Hey we have Levites, priests and Joshua to do that for us. Meditate on the Word God? Are you kidding. I’ m a soldier not a scholar. Lead my family in devotional exercises, I leave that to the women. Real men don’t eat quiche or act religious, except on Sundays.
Israel had grown presumptuous after her victory over the Jerichoans They should have seen the effects of presumption at the crossing of the Red Sea. When the Lord had dug that tunnel through the waters, Israel walked by faith and God’s commission. When Egypt tried the same route it was with obvious disaster, because they walked with presumption. There was no faith, no permission or obedience, and thus they couldn’t expect God’s blessing. Apparently Israel hadn’t learned that lesson and was now taking the Lord for granted.
Thus they had left the Ark of the Covenant in the heart of the Tabernacle, but it was not in the hearts of Israel. They had become self-reliant – as self-reliant as a man with gangrenous leg. “What shall we do about Ai, men?” “I think we should send some scouts over there and measure her strength.” “Good idea.” “Scouts how do you think we should proceed?” “It’s a small place, we recommend shock and awe by sending two to three thousand men.” When Israel was in wilderness they didn’t make a move until the Pillar and the Ark moved. What makes them think that they don’t need the Lord now? Do you think that Joshua consulted the Lord? If he had, Jehovah would undoubtedly have shut the whole operation down. The lives of thirty-six men would have been spared.
On February 27, 1972 the tug boat, “Haro Straits” sank near Roberts Banks in Vancouver harbor. They refloated the ship trying to see what brought her down, but there wasn’t a scratch on her. Finally, after a lengthy study, J.A. Smith, a naval architect told the inquiry, “She sunk herself.” It seemed the tow line to the barge which “Haro” was pulling got tangled in prop, pulling it down. Self-reliance will sink any saint – any saint “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. “
What brought Israel to her knees at Ai was her sin. You know the account of the theft by Achan back at Jericho. It was just a little thing, but Achan wanted a bit of the spoils of the city. The Lord had demanded that everything be destroyed or dedicated to the Lord Achan couldn’t trust Lord to provide other blessings, and he didn’t believe the threat. That man’s theft cost Israel the lives of 36 brave soldiers. There were a hundred children left without a Dad to care for their needs. 36 women were made widows, because one man chose to disobey the Lord. Oh, but it was such a little bitty sin. About how many soldiers walked around that city? 600,000? One man out of 600,000 committed this sin. That is not 1% of the nation or on tenth of a percent of the nation . That as about .00017% It is only a tiny sin that I indulge myself. “Be sure even the little ones will find you out,” you foolish soul. It does not pay to try to outwit the Lord.
Israel fell because neither Joshua, nor Eleazer; nor Israel remembered the Ark of the Covenant. That was not particularly Achan’s sin. If the leaders had put the Ark first, the Lord would have exposed Achan’s sin before disaster fell.
Once the judgment fell, Joshua knew where to go.
He went back to the Ark – the symbol of God’s presence. It doesn’t matter what the cause of the trouble might be – the solution is Christ. Is it sin? Then take that sinful heart to the Lord. Is it circumstances, then talk to the Lord about changing the circumstances or giving you grace to endure.
But, there must be a proper approach to the Ark of the Covenant. “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.” Joshua came to the Lord with the symbols of repentance. There was utter speechlessness until the time of the evening sacrifice. Joshua wasn’t going to begin to make any charges or excuses, until he knew where he stood – or knelt. There has always been too much talking to the Lord and not enough listening. Joshua and other like-minded people tore their clothing as symbols of mourning. They cast dust upon themselves. The lost blessing of God was considered worse than a death in the family. And they waited for the evening and the sacrificial blood.
No only did Joshua approach with apparent repentance, but with a willingness to glorify the Lord. “Lord what are the heathen going to think about thy great name, if Israel falls in battle?” I can’t say that Joshua’s heart absolutely perfect in his talk with the Lord. He seems to have an accusing finger pointed towards Heaven. And for this we can’t excuse him. But I believe that he sincerely wanted the Lord’s glory.
And he was willing to do whatever was necessary to correct the problem. That meant the punishment of Achan and his supportive family. That man was of the tribe of Judah, the people of Caleb. What if Caleb put pressure on Joshua to spare him; what if Achan was a relative? It would have made no difference to Joshua. The only way to return to the blessings of the Lord is to take every action that Lord requires.
What am I trying to show you in all of this?
When things go wrong, and not according to God’s perfect will, the reason is not in the Lord. There are occasions when it is simply God’s will that we suffer loss. But usually the problem is ours. And in either case the solution is the Lord’s.
Once again it is time to get back to the Ark of the Covenant –- the Lord who has brought us across Jordan. “Now Lord, what must I do to correct the Ai’s of my life? Should I forget that I was ever defeated and go on down the road to Gibeon? Should I blame the problem on someone else?” No, we come back to the Lord, once again confessing our faults and pleading for His mercy .
Israel’s problem was corrected by the man of God on his face before the Ark. Praise the Lord, “if we confess our sins, he is still faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And it doesn’t have to be confined to the leader of the nation either. We need the Ark of the Covenant when things are going just great, and when we are in depths of despair.