Curses and blessings - Seek God to be blessed

Text Joshua 8:30-37 Time 26 07 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)

I want us to look this evening at the end of Joshua 8 - verses 30-37. In this section, without any announcement, we are not in Ai, where we were least week, but in Shechem or Sychar (modern Nablus on the West Bank), twenty miles away to the north. Some people are quick to find fault with the Bible and so they say, look this story is in the wrong place. It should be somewhere else. In fact that is not the case.

If you look carefully at the section that in our Bibles is in Chapters 5-8, although there is a lot about fighting and battles, it is bookended by two sections all about covenant keeping. Chapter 5:1-12 is all about circumcision and the Passover then this section in 8:30-37 rounds off with the renewal of the covenant at Shechem.

But how did they travel that distance without being attacked? That is to forget the fear the Canaanites had been gripped by. No, God's people had duties to perform and they wanted to get them done as soon as possible.

I have often alerted you to the fact that the covenant is important in the Bible. We touch the children that a covenant is an agreement between two or more persons and it is the way that God relates to people. You know that in the Bible there are two covenants old and new and all the way through the Bible there is this willingness on God's part to relate to us as by means of a covenant. He promises to be our God and we are to be his people with all that entails.

Here we are reminded of the importance of the covenant relationship. Yes, it is important to press on in the Christian life and to be faithful warriors in the war to overcome sin in our lives but if we do not stop and take things in on a regular basis we will be in trouble. That is why things like holidays and day offs are important. God has made us though that we work best when our lives are punctuated by times of sleep and rest - daily, weekly and so on. It is good for us to stop each day and simply to read the Bible and pray, reminding ourselves of the covenant relationship between God and his people.

It was common in Ancient Near Eastern covenants to have a ceremony of ratification and that is exactly what is carried out here. As for these verses themselves, I think we can get at them by asking five questions.

1. Where did it happen?

The section begins with a reference to Mount Ebal and in the second part of verse 33 we read that Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

Shechem with the mountains of Ebal and Gerazim either side was described in the 19th century by Anglican Dean Stanley as “the most beautiful, perhaps it might be said the only very beautiful spot in central Palestine.” Ebal to the south is about 3000 feet and Gerizim to the north a little lower.

A natural amphitheatre, the place is an obvious one for the sort of thing that is described here.

Shechem is where Abraham first made sacrifice in the Promised Land and where Jacob first settled when he returned from Paddan Aram.

You can picture the scene then to some extent - the two mountains, the green grass, the narrow valley - less than 200 yards across. One traveller suggests that Gerizim is green and fruitful and Ebal, because it is beaten by the sun is much less so - it is parched and fruitless. I have looked at photographs from today and that is not obvious but may have been more obvious then.

2.What happened there?

There were three things.

1. An altar of uncut stones was erected and solemn sacrifices offered on it. 30, 31

Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses - an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.

All worship must be as God directs and so Joshua does that. Uncut stones were as far from idolatry as one can imagine.

Sacrifice is central here. This is a reminder that we can enter into the new covenant only because of the sacrificial death of our Saviour. He has been made a burnt offering to bring us into fellowhip with the Lord. We too must live lives of sacrifice to his praise.

2. The Law was inscribed on large stones which had been coated with plaster. These memorial stones were set up on Mount Ebal. It was common in Egypt to erect such writings.

32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.There is more detail back in Deuteronomy 27:2-4, 8 When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the LORD your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. ... And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up.

Exactly what was to be written on the stones is not clear – the Ten Commandments? The blessings and curses? Other portions from Deuteronomy? It is not likely to have been the whole of Deuteronomy. I would gues sit was the Ten Commandments written twice - for them and for God.

3. The priests with the Ark stood in the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, surrounded by the elders, officers and judges while the curses of the Law were read aloud by the Levites. Half the tribes situated on Mount Gerizim (Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin) responded to the blessings of the Law with a loud Amen, and then the other half on Mount Ebal (Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali) in the same way curses of the Law.

This is described in verses 33-35 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. 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 foreigners who lived among them.

So imagine then further, the ark, the priests and Levites, the Law written up, the curses and blessings and the response from either side of the pass. It was intended to be most solemn and God exalting.

3. Why did it happen?

It happened, of course, because they were commanded to do this in Deuteronomy. Firstly in Deuteronomy 11:29, 30 we read

When the LORD your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses. As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.

Then in Deuteronomy 27 and 28 it is spelled out exactly what needed to be done and what the curses and blessings were. Scripture is always to guide us.

4. Who was present?

So Joshua took the lead here. He it is who set up the altar. He is alos the one who wrote out the law on the large stones and had them set up. In the middle of the valley was the ark of the covenant. Either side of the ark stood all the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges. In verse 33 the writer adds Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Carrying the ark were the Levites and other Levites appear to be with them. The people are divided into two groups - half in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal. One half pronounces on the curses and the other half on the blessings. It is Joshua who is said to read the curses and blessings here although in Deuteronomy it is the Levites who are commanded to do it.

5. What was said there?

The final thing I would like to make clear is something you will not find in the text but that can be found by going back to Deuteronomy 27 and 28.

Curses (12 of them)

"Cursed is anyone who makes an idol - a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of skilled hands - and sets it up in secret." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who dishonours their father or mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" "Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbour's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" "Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" "Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbour secretly." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" "Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (27:15-26)

Blessings

There is no real equivalent of these curses but the sorts of blessings that come from God are spelled out in 28:1-14

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity - in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground - in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

28:17-68 takes us back to the curses and contain a horrible catalogue of curses that are hard to believe unless you know the history of the Jews and their persecution down the years.

The new covenant like the old is a source of blessing to all who keep it through Christ but if we merely go through the motions it will lead rather to a curse.

We must not be crass about this and suppose that under the new covenant all believers will always be healthy and wealthy. There are other factors at work and sometimes obedience will lead us to be disadvantaged in worldly terms. We must always remember that not only wealth and health are gifts from God but also the ability to enjoy them. It is possible for someone poorer and less healthy than the next man to still be more blessed because he recognises where what good he has comes from while the other man does not. There are other things to bear in mind then but the general rule is that those who obey God's Word will know his blessing.

We deserve God's curses but because Christ has taken these curses on himself, we have hope that all will be well in him. Trust in him today.

Victory - the plan, its execution and the aftermath

Text Joshua 8:1-29 Time 19 07 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)

I don't know if you ever look at those lists they produced - hundred best novels ever, fifty best novels, etc. Even though those who write those lists are often not at all interested in Christianity two novels you often see listed are Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. One list for example has them number one and two (probably because they are the oldest in the list). They say

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). A story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic.

2. Robinson Crusoe (1719) By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.

"Simple clarity and beauty"; "irresistible". They really are excellent well written books. The men who wrote them were both Christians and if you read the full editions properly you'll learn useful things about being a Christian. Chapter 6 of the latter begins

JULY 4. - In the morning I took the Bible; and beginning at the New Testament, I began seriously to read it, and imposed upon myself to read a while every morning and every night; not tying myself to the number of chapters, but long as my thoughts should engage me. It was not long after I set seriously to this work till I found my heart more deeply and sincerely affected with the wickedness of my past life. The impression of my dream revived; and the words, All these things have not brought thee to repentance, ran seriously through my thoughts. I was earnestly begging of God to give me repentance, when it happened providentially, the very day, that, reading the Scripture, I came to these words: He is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and to give remission. I threw down the book; and with my heart as well as my hands lifted up to heaven, in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud, Jesus, thou son of David! Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour! give me repentance! This was the first time I could say, in the true sense of the words, that I prayed in all my life; for now I prayed with a sense of my condition, and a true Scripture view of hope, founded on the encouragement of the Word of God; and from this time, I may say, I began to hope that God would hear me.

I say all this because in coming this week to Joshua 8:1-29 and the eventual second victory in the campaign to take the Promised Land - the victory over Ai - we are coming to a well written story, one written with great skill.

As we've said, the reason for the ruthlessness against the Canaanites is that the Israelites were not only being given the Promised land but they were acting as God's instrument of justice against the wicked Canaanites, who, as we have said, were guilty of all manner of violence and depravity.

When we ask what we can learn from such a story today then we need to remind ourselves that we too as New Testament Christians are in a war - not under Joshua but under Jesus and not in a war against Canaanites and Amorites but against the world, the flesh and the devil. Our battle is entirely spiritual and so we employ spiritual weapons such as prayer and preaching and self-control rather than swords and shields and spears or guns and tanks and bombs for that matter.

So let's say three things about the victory of the Israelites under Joshua over the Canaanites at Ai.

1. Hear the victory plan explained

The chapter begins with the LORD speaking to Joshua. We are not told how the LORD manifested himself - whether he came again as the commander of the LORD's army or came in some other way we do not know. There are five things to notice.

1. Don't be afraid or discouraged

Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. This sounds a note sounded earlier on when Joshua is told (1:9) to Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; he is told do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Here Joshua is reassured afresh after the disaster following the sin of Achan in Chapter 7.

God speaks to us in similar terms today. You are facing battles. You are in a war. But don't get discouraged or be fearful even though you may have miserably failed in the past.

In Hebrews 13:5, 6 the writer says Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

As Paul puts it in Romans 8, If God is for us who can be against us?

2. Fight the good fight.

The LORD goes on Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. They had thought a reduced army might have been sufficient against Ai and may be it would have but at this point God wants to see the whole army fighting. In Gideon's time he would famously reduce the size of the army. God has various ways of showing his power. The point is that few or many, we need to be ready to fight.

As Paul says to Timothy ... pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called (1 Timothy 6:11, 12). Be ready and willing to fight and fight.

3. Know that God has aleady secured the victory

It goes on For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, .... There is no doubt about this. Israel are going to win. Now, we do not know if we will win every battle, of course, but we do know that we will win the war. Victory is certain. It has already been secured for us in Jesus Christ.

Imagine playing football for a team and you know you are going to win. I don't think it would make you lazy and not try so hard. I think that in reality you would try all the harder as you would be sure all your efforts were likely to be successful.

We are in the position where we know we cannot lose in the end. Victory is certain. Don't forget that.

4. Sometimes there are rewards when a battle is won

After the battle of Jericho all the plunder was to be devoted to the Lord but this time they are told after Ai is defeated you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Sometimes God is very gracious.

5. There will always be a strategy of one sort or another

Joshua is also told how he is to secure defeat against Ai, the strategy. Against Jericho victory had been secured by a miracle and the people simply had to what they were told. Here it involves a more obvious human strategy. There will be differences from victory to victory. Even here it is the power of God that is crucial.

This victory was to involve setting an ambush behind the city. It is on this basis that Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. We are told how Joshua chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night with orders to set an ambush behind the city. Joshua and others would then advance on the city, and when the men came out against them, as they did before, ... flee from them. By this means they would lure the people of Ai away from the city, as they would presume they were running away from the Israelites as they did before. At that point the others would rise up from ambush and take the city. Joshua adds The LORD your God will give it into your hand. When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders. So it is the LORD who will give them Ai but they need to use a strategy,

Again, it is the same today. Victory is in God's hands but that does not normally mean that we can sit and do nothing. We must use our skills - develop strategies, employ methods. It is that combination that makes the difference.

2. Consider the victory executed

From verse 9 we read of how the plan is executed. Joshua sends the men off to form the ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai and he spends the night with the people. Early the next morning Joshua muster(s) his army, and he and the leaders of Israel march... before them to Ai. The entire force that was with him march ... up and approach... the city and arrive... in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city.

Joshua has about five thousand men and set(s) them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. This presumably is a group taken from the 30,000 whose job was to burn Ai. So you have the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush probably in two sections to the west of it. That night Joshua goes into the valley. The king of Ai sees this and he and all the men of the city hurry out first thing to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah (the area to the south near the Dead Sea). Of course, he does not realise an ambush has been set up behind the city. Joshua and his men allow themselves be driven back before them, and they flee toward the wilderness. Everyone from Ai gives chase and so are lured away from the city. We read Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

It is at this point that (18) the LORD says to Joshua, Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city. Don't miss the emphasis again on the fact that it is the LORD who gives victory. So Joshua holds out the javelin towards the city.

19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire. It is only then that the people of Ai look back and see the smoke of the city rising up into the sky. They suddenly realise what has happened but they have no chance to escape in any direction; as the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. At that point Those in the ambush also come out of the city against them, so that they are caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives

It is an exciting description and explains well how victory was won. I don't think it gives us much practical help as to how to go about our spiritual battles today except in that it gives us the general principle that we should not be afraid to look weak. It is through looking weak that this victory is won. It is their running away that fills their enemies with an over-confidence that is their undoing in the end.

I think that is in part what happened at the cross. Who put Christ to death? It was evil men who hated Jesus. They conspired together to bring about his death. It looked as though they had won a great victory. But they had not. The very opposite was true.

When we seek to live out a Christian life we need to learn what Paul learned - that when he was weak then he was strong. It is a strategy of apparent weakness that is most likely to win the day not one of self-confidence and a mere show of strength.

3. Take note of the victory won and the aftermath

In the final part of the chapter (verses 23-29) we read of the victory itself.

First, they take the king of Ai alive and he is brought him to Joshua. All the men of Ai are put to death wherever they are found - in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them. When everyone had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it too. We are told (25) that Twelve thousand men and women fell that day - all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. This total destruction was necessary, as we have said, because of the gross evil of the Canaanites.

In a similar way our sins must be put to death not merely returned to the back burner. Be ruthless with your sin.

Unlike with Jericho, this time Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.

28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. The word Ai means ruin. We read that He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. The king was already dead but he was under God's curse and so was impaled on this pole so that all would see. All the more remarkable that in due time Christ himself would hang on a tree also, cursed by God in the place of sinners.

At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. One of the laws of Deuteronomy was that a body should not be left hanging over night. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day. It was a reminder to all of the victory over Ai.

A day is coming when Christ will return and the victory will be complete. Every enemy will be judged and will burn forever in hell. Just a heap, as it were, will mark the place. We who are believers will enjoy the plunder on that day. Look forward to that day of victory and pray that God will hasten the day it arrives. Are you ready?

Two final things

1. As we noted Jericho was defeated in one way and Ai in another. it is important that we remember that while God has only one way of salvation yet he may use various methods to save someone. It is not always the same. An old Scots preacher used to imagine the blind man from Mark 8 and the one from John 9 discussing how it was when Jesus healed them and one asking how did it feel when he put the mud on your eyes and them then falling out. No need for such dissensions.

2. The way a disaster can turn to a victory. The very failure against Ai fed into the victory over Ai. God can do that. One writer gives the example of Alexander Whyte Scots preacher in the 19th century born of a single mother. Not a great way to start out in life but he was converted and became a faithful preacher of the gospel. Many such example. Be encouraged.

When Problems Come

Text Joshua 7 Time 12 07 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)

We are looking at the Book of Joshua and we come this week to Joshua 7. If Joshua 6 is one of the high points in the book and indeed in the Old Testament then the chapter that follows is one of the low points. The opening verse sums up the chapter But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel.

Right from the beginning then the writer tells us what this chapter is about. It is about the LORD's anger. In fact, there is evidence to say that the writer has carefully constructed these verses so that he not only begins with the LORD's wrath but ends with it too - in verse 26 we read that it was Then (after Achan's death) that the LORD turned from his fierce anger. At the heart of the narrative is the LORD's statement (12b) I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. Before that comes a poor show, perplexity and a problem revealed and after an explanation, exposure and execution.

One of the rules for the conquest of Jericho was that all the plunder was devoted to God. In one way or another - by fire or by being devoted to the temple - everything had to be given to the Lord. That would not be required in every battle they fought but in this first one, it was. Generally speaking, the Israelites had done what was required. However, there was an exception - it was the case of Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.

There is a saying or proverb “one bad apple spoils the barrel”. It is true - one bad, overripe or mouldy apple can cause all the other apples around it to spoil. The culprit is apparently ethylene gas - a naturally occurring gas that causes fruit to ripen. Riper pieces of fruit emit more ethylene than unripe fruits, leading to an over-concentration of the gas and signalling all the fruit around it to over-ripen as well. The same is true for mould. One mouldy apple can lead to a bunch of mouldy apples, because the mould will spread, looking for a new food source. So if you see a bad apple in your fruit basket, get rid of it asap! Save your other apples from a much-too-early end.

God has built this feature into his creation to teach us something. It is a lesson useful in all sorts of areas. Many years a go I spent a year training to be a school teacher. I remember being given a sheet on the subject of dealing with children who misbehave. It was a step by step list of escalating discipline measures. It began with what was called proximity control. Many kids in school, once a teacher comes near will stop doing what they are doing that is wrong. Much further down the list was what was called antiseptic bouncing. Do you know what that is? That is making the child stand outside the classroom where they can no longer cause problems. There are many other areas where the principle can be applied. In a nutshell this is what happens here - a bad apple is removed; some antiseptic bouncing goes on.

1. When you are seeking to serve the Lord you may find that a problem arises

I don't know if Manny Pacquiao is a name you know. He was a professional boxer and is a Filipino senator. It was when I was in The Philippines that I first heard his name. The local people were telling me how when he fought Ricky Hatton in 2009, Matt Gamston who was there with GBM had been quite confident Hatton would win but he didn't. Pacquiao won it. In fact he has rarely lost and has won most of his fights (39) by knockout. He is left-handed and has been called the greatest southpaw fighter of all time and even the best boxer of all time. Very unusually he has world titles in eight weight divisions and 12 major world titles all told.

Yet in 2017 when he faced the Australian fighter Jeff Horn in Brisbane, he lost his WBO welterweight world title in what was described as "a stunning, unanimous points decision". They say "The 11-time world champion entered the fight at Suncorp Stadium as a hot favourite but got more than he bargained for against the 29-year-old former schoolteacher, who had most of the 51,000 fans on his side and won at least three of the first five rounds on all three of the judge's scorecards. Still, Pacquiao appeared to dominate most of the rounds from the eighth. Pacquiao was close to finishing it in the 9th when he pounded Horn and had him wobbling - to the point where referee Mark Nelson asked the 29-year-old Australian's camp before the 10th if he could continue. But no, Pacquiao was defeated even after the fight was re-judged. Unexpected defeats happen.

We are told here in verses 2, 3 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there."

Knowing what we know, it sounds rather arrogant but it really was a matter of proceeding in the way they thought best.

So what happened (4, 5) was that about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

Suddenly all arrogance, indeed all self-confidence good or bad, is gone. Verse 7 Joshua himself we are told tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads.

We have the words of Joshua in prayer. Going from hero to zero, he says "Alas, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! This is not what we would expect from Joshua. But it is more despair than unbelief. Pardon your servant, Lord he says (8, 9) sort of recollecting himself What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name? This last bit is better.

What a mess then. They have been routed. People have died. Joshua is not speaking or thinking straight. Sometimes suddenly problems hit us and we don't know why or what to do.

2. When such problems arise you need to do something about it

The next thing we read is (10) that The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Another surprise then. Here is Joshua praying. He is genuinely sorry. The problem is not a lack of prayer, however. God says stop praying, get on your feet. Sometimes simply praying is not enough. We need to act.

So God says (11, 12) Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

The message is very clear. There is a problem because there has been a sin, a violation of the covenant. There has been stealing, lying of some sort. This is why they have been defeated at Ai. Further, God will not be with them any more until this is sorted.

So they are told what to do. 13-15 Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them. 'In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the LORD chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the LORD chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the LORD chooses shall come forward man by man. Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!'

There is a problem and it has been caused by one man. He needs to be discovered and then he needs to be dealt with as God directs.

For Israel it has been relatively straightforward as God has directly spoken to them, told them the sort of problem they have and told them what to do about it.

It is not quite so easy for us today. We need, however, to see that sometimes when there is a problem, praying about it is not enough. Something needs to be done to put it right - to discover the problem and to excise it.

When we hit problems as individuals we recognise there can be various reasons for such things but we ought to ask - is it me? Has God sent me this problem because I am guilty of a serious case of stealing or lying or covenant breaking of some other sort.

Similarly, at a family, church or state level we need to ask whether there is some sin present that has led to the defeat or other disaster that has come. Here, however, we need to be particularly careful. It would be very easy in a church or a community to hit problems and start thinking someone has done something wrong and then start looking around for a scapegoat.

You've heard of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, New England in 1692 and 1693. What happened there was that various people were accused of being witches and put on trial. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty were found guilty and 19 (14 women and five men) were killed by hanging. (One man was also pressed to death refusing to plead, and at least five died while in jail).

(It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. Only 14 other women and two men were executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut in the 17th century.) It is a notorious case of mass hysteria and has been used ever since to warn against isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations and lapses in due process. It also warns against the dangers of deciding - this problem must be someone else's fault. I don't think this is what this passage encourages. Rather, in these New Testament days when there are problems, we should engage in self-examination, realising that how we live can have an effect on others. If Achan had thought things through, he would have realised that his actions could have a deleterious affect on his fellow Israelites but he simply didn't think it through.

If you watch crime dramas on TV you will notice that often the story is of someone otherwise quite honest who thinks that they can make money by selling drugs or some other nefarious activity. You find yourself thinking but did they not think of the harm they were doing by engaging in such activity. Sadly, part of our nature is a certain selfishness where we fail to think of the consequences that our actions may have for others.

We have quoted before I am sure that poem by John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

We could say too "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind". Especially as believers in Christ we are brothers and sisters and how we live will have an effect on others. If you can't resist temptation for your own sake, at least do it for the sake of others.

There is a man I new, a Christian minister. This month he is on trial accused of 40 crimes in Wales, here in London and elsewhere. It is a tragedy - not just for him but for his family and for every evangelical Christian. How easy for someone to say "that's what they're like."

3. When such a problem arises you need to discover what is the root of it and deal with it

Joshua has to find the culprit. It is a situation sometimes faced. You know it is someone in the room.

I remember my dad telling me a story from when he was a boy in school. Somebody had done something wrong the day before but it was not clear who it was. So the teacher said to them that he wanted someone to come to him at break and confess or there would be no football that afternoon. As soon as break came round my father went straight to the teacher to confess - the last thing he wanted was football to be cancelled. As soon as he started to confess the teacher said to him "Go away Brady, you weren't here yesterday!"

When someone is guilty you would think they were so eager to get it off their conscience they would confess straight away but they do not so often. Achan did not. He was found out, however, by means of lot the next morning. First it became clear it was someone from the tribe of Judah then from The clans of Judah ... the Zerahites were chosen and from the Zerahites ... Zimri was chosen. And so they knew it was someone from Zimri's family and so they went through them one by one until it became clear that the culprit was Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah

19, 20 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and honour him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me." Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. Then and only then did Achan confess. How foolish to think he could keep such a thing hidden.

He then described how during the invasion of Jericho he had seen in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I coveted them he says - sin so often begins in the heart - and took them. Once he had stolen them he could not enjoy them. He had to hide them. He hid them in the ground inside his tent, very vividly he describes how he buried the things with the silver underneath. The family clearly knew but they were no doubt sworn to secrecy.

When Joshua sent messengers to Achan's tents they found everything just as he had described. 22 ... there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. The things were brought to Joshua and they spread them out before the LORD.

Achan had to be punished. These are the people of God and Achan has confessed to trying to cheat his brothers and sisters and to cheat God. There is nothing for it but that he and all that belonged to him should be destroyed.

24-26 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

Only Then did the LORD turn(ed) from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since. Achor both sounds a little like Achan and means trouble. In English we might say Achan was killed in the Valley of aching.

The lesson is clearly the need to take sin seriously. It does matter whether we obey the Lord or not. We need to examine our own lives to see where sin lurks. If we are living in disobedience it is no wonder that we have problems. Sin has to be confessed and renounced if we are ever to expect God to bless us.

Where sin is discovered in a church it cannot be merely ignored. It has to be dealt with. It has to be confessed and renounced. Sin has to be dealt with. We are not under the old covenant where a man has to die but we are under the New Testament where people are to be expelled from the church for serious sins. We see that spelled out in Matthew 18 (the whole chapter) and in 2 Corinthians 5 there is a reference to a serious case of sin that Paul encourages the Corinthians to deal with by expelling the sinful church member. There has to be repentance if the person is going to be brought back into membership.

So it's a very sobering chapter, To think that such things happened at the very beginning

I don't want to end on a down note but on an upnote. Some of you know that in Hosea although there are the usual judgements, in Hosea 2:14-17 God says "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

It is looking forward to that New Testament time in which we live when the valley of trouble is turned into a door of hope. The end of idolatry and the time of turning to the Lord.