Ai and the Accursed Thing

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When Israel was defeated at Ai, what does Joshua do — the man of God? Alas! he rends his clothes and falls to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord (Josh. 7:66And 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 7:6)). Where was the ark in the war with Ai, before which the walls of Jericho had fallen? Joshua’s godly soul acknowledges its worth, but he does not know what to do, and, ignoring the accursed thing, he gives vent to regrets. These are not primarily regrets as to what he has done, nor as to what the people have done, but, alas! as to what God had done when He brought them over Jordan! “Would to God we had been content and dwelt on the other side Jordan,” said he. How plainly these words show what man’s heart is! This blessed place, across the Jordan, is the only one that Joshua would gladly have avoided.
The tone of his request betrays weakness. First it is the name of Israel which occupies his thoughts; then it is the Canaanites — the world. “Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!” “The Canaanites ... shall hear of it.” They shall “cut off our name from the earth.” Then quite at the end, “What wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?” (vss. 8-9). The example given us in the history of God’s faithful servant Moses is very different (Ex. 32:11,1311And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? (Exodus 32:11)
13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. (Exodus 32:13)). He had been on the mount of God, and there God reveals to him the evil which had gone on in the camp. The sin of the people does not remain hidden from the eyes of Moses. Aware of it before coming down from the mount, does he think of Israel’s shame? No, he is occupied with what is suited to the Lord’s name. He recognizes the claims of offended holiness. As for the nations, his only concern is as to whether God would be glorified in the eyes of the Egyptians by the defeat of His people. As for Israel, he appeals to the grace of God — to the only thing which glorifies Jehovah’s name in the presence of guilty Israel. Moses had no need, like Joshua, to recover lost communion; he can intercede for the people, and he is heard.
Joshua, on the contrary, is found precisely in the attitude in which he ought not to be. “Get thee up,” said the Lord to him. “Wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” (vs. 10). To humble himself for his lack of power was not the only thing to be done; it was time to act. We find the opposite to this in Judges 20, where Israel ought to have humbled themselves first and then acted. Miserable flesh! What disorder it introduces into the things of God! It is always outside the current of His thoughts, if not in open hostility to Him. May we join with the Apostle in saying: “We ... have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:33For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3)). Joshua had to act; the accursed thing had to be put away from among them.
Food for the Flock, Vol. 9