In other articles in this issue of The Christian, we have spoken of Joshua’s training, his desire to follow the Lord, and his faithfulness to the Lord throughout his life. However, the Spirit of God faithfully records failure as well as faithfulness in the Lord’s servants, and we find failure on at least two occasions in Joshua’s life. Bearing in mind that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning” (Rom. 15:44For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)), let us look at these two occasions of failure in Joshua’s life.
Defeat at Ai
In the first case, we find Joshua prostrate on the ground before the Lord after a disastrous defeat at Ai. Joshua had led Israel to a great victory in taking the city of Jericho, because they acted in strict obedience to Jehovah’s commands. But when it came to taking the much smaller city of Ai, it seems that Joshua and Israel took matters into their own hands. They made plans without asking guidance of the Lord, and the result was defeat, with the loss of 36 men. Understandably Joshua was very upset, as were also the elders of Israel. All of them fell on their faces “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)) and put dust on their heads.
Joshua’s reaction, however, shows weakness and failure, for his concern is first of all for Israel, and then for the expected reaction of the Canaanites. Worse still, he almost reproaches the Lord for even bringing them over Jordan, saying that it would have been better for them to have dwelt on the other side of Jordan—and all this from a man who, more than 40 years before, had strongly advocated, along with Caleb, that Israel immediately go over Jordan and conquer the land of Canaan! It is only at the end of his speech to the Lord that he says, “What wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?” (Josh. 7:99For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? (Joshua 7:9)). This is in great contrast to Moses’ discernment when Israel had made the golden calf. Up on the mount, he was intelligent as to what was happening in the camp of Israel; the Lord revealed it to him. More than this, his concern was first of all for the Lord’s holiness and glory, rather than for the people.
Joshua ought to have known the cause of Israel’s defeat, and had he and the elders of Israel consulted the Lord before making their own plan of attack on Ai, surely God would have revealed the sin of Achan to them. It was a serious sin — a presumptuous sin, for which there was no atoning sacrifice. Instead of lying on his face, the Lord tells Joshua, “Get thee up” (Josh. 7:1010And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? (Joshua 7:10)). Humbling himself before the Lord was good, but more was needed; Joshua needed to act for the Lord’s glory.
Restoration: The Door of Hope
Thankfully, Joshua was restored to communion with the Lord and immediately followed His instructions for dealing with the sin. It might have seemed a harsh judgment for one act of theft resulting from covetousness, but God’s holiness must be maintained. It is always the way of blessing, for only when God’s holiness is vindicated can He come in and bless. Achan and his family were stoned and then burned in the valley of Achor, and much later in Israel’s history, we find the prophet Hosea referring to this very act. In speaking of millennial blessing, he says, “I will give her ... the valley of Achor for a door of hope” (Hos. 2:1515And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:15)). The millennium will be introduced by judgment, for “when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:99With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)). Joshua had to learn this, for the sin of one man defiled the whole congregation and occasioned their defeat at the hands of the men of Ai. Only after the sin was dealt with could Israel go forward in their conquest of Canaan. The second time they attacked Ai, they did so according to the Lord’s instructions, rather than with their own ideas.
The Deceit of the Gibeonites
The second failure in Joshua’s career concerns the Gibeonites, and in one sense it is the same failure, for once again, it resulted from a lack of asking the Lord for His mind and His guidance. Having seen the power of God in Israel and the defeat of Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites resorted to deceit in order to save their lives. Pretending to have come from a far country, they brought moldy bread, worn-out garments and shoes, old sacks on their donkeys, and old wine bottles. They pretended to have heard of the fame of the God of Israel and asked that Israel make a league with them. Joshua and the men of Israel were taken in by this ruse, but it is specifically recorded that they “asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord” (Josh. 9:1414And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. (Joshua 9:14)). Accordingly, “Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live” (Josh. 9:1515And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. (Joshua 9:15)). Three days later Joshua and the men of Israel found out that the Gibeonites lived in the area and were actually some of the Canaanite nations whom the Lord had commissioned Israel to destroy. But after swearing by the name of the Lord to let them live, Israel recognized that “we may not touch them” (Josh. 9:1919But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. (Joshua 9:19)).
Once again Joshua’s reaction to this discovery of the true identity of the Gibeonites is rather regrettable. Instead of reproaching himself and Israel for not having consulted the Lord, Joshua rather turns his anger on the Gibeonites, asking them, “Wherefore have ye beguiled us ... when ye dwell among us?” (Josh. 9:2222And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? (Joshua 9:22)). Their answer was simple: “We were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing” (Josh. 9:2424And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. (Joshua 9:24)). We cannot expect the world around us to act uprightly before the Lord, and especially when they act simply to preserve their lives. It would have been better for Joshua to confess his own failure first and realize that this was the real cause of the problem.
The Gibeonites were made “hewers of wood and drawers of water” from that time on, and they were no doubt thankful that their lives had been spared. But trouble came many years later because of them, for in misplaced zeal, King Saul tried to destroy them and brought a famine upon the land during David’s reign. Sometimes failure in our lives can have far-reaching consequences.
In summary, then, from these two incidents in Joshua’s life, we learn that there is no substitute for acting in dependence on the Lord and seeking His guidance in every circumstance of our lives. We also learn, in the case of Ai, the supreme importance of maintaining God’s holiness and His glory.
W. J. Prost