The Valley of Trouble and the Door of Hope - Joshua 7:10-26

And you'll turn with me to Joshua chapter 7 Joshua chapter 7 we're going to be looking at the remainder of the of the chapter today

Last week we saw the defeat of Israel in their attempt to conquer the city of Ai this is

Coming right off of the off the heels of the victory in Jericho this resound resounding

Defeat of the city of Jericho this this miraculous act of God in bringing the downfall of the city of Jericho We saw last week the reason for this defeat of AI the subsequent defeat that took place

Joshua starts the account and what we have is verse 1 of chapter 7

I See the reason for this defeat that Aiken Took some of the things that were supposed to be totally devoted to God God gave them instructions when you go into the city of Jericho Don't take anything the gold and the silver the bronze the iron though.

They are to be devoted to the Lord They are to go into the Treasury Everything else was supposed to be destroyed along with all the people except for Rahab and her family

And so we saw in verse 1 last week that the the anger of the Lord burned against all

Israel We also saw last week that the the reason for Israel's defeat was was obviously not immediately obvious to to Joshua we left off in verse 9 of last week with Joshua lying face down before the

Ark of the Covenant and and Wondering what was going to become of the nation of Israel and crying out to the

Lord And this week we see God's instructions his response to Joshua and his instructions to the people of Israel So again, we're picking up in verse 10.

And so the Lord said to Joshua rise up. Why is it that you have fallen on your face?

Israel has sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them They've even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived

Moreover, they have also put them among their own things Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.

They turn their backs before their enemies for they have become accursed. I Will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst rise up consecrate the people and say

Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow for thus the Lord the God of Israel has said There are things under the ban in your midst.

Oh Israel you cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst and The morning then you shall come near by your tribes and it shall be that the tribe which the

Lord takes by lot Shall come near by families and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households

And the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man It shall be that the one who has taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire he and all that belongs to him

Because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought

Israel nearby tribes and the tribe of Judah was taken He brought the family of Judah near and he took the family of the

Zarahites and he brought the family of the Zarahites near man by man and Zabdi was taken

He brought his household near man by man and Achan son of car me Son of Zabdi son of Zerah from the tribe of Judah was taken

And Joshua said to Achan my son I implore you give glory to the Lord the

God of Israel and give praise to him and tell me now what you have done Do not hide it from me

So Achan answered Joshua and said truly I have sinned against the Lord the God of Israel and this is what

I did When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold 50 shekels and weight

Then I coveted them and took them and behold they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it

So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent and behold it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it they took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel and they poured them out before the

Lord and Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah The silver the mantle the bar of gold his sons his daughters his oxen his donkeys his sheep

His tent and all that belonged to him and they brought them up to the valley of Akkor Joshua said why have you troubled us?

The Lord will trouble you this day and all Israel stoned them with stones and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones

They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day and the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger

Therefore the name of that place has been the called the valley of a core to this day

Lord we Come to you and we acknowledge

You first of all are holy You are the only true

Living righteous Holy God You are the author the creator the sustainer the owner of all that there is

You alone are holy holy holy Lord we we acknowledge that we have no

Right and no share in your kingdom If it were just up to us

That we would rightfully share the the legacy the judgment of Achan Lord we thank you

That you are rich in mercy That in the fullness of time you sent forth your son

We would be freed from the curse of the law That we would be made righteous

That we would have the righteousness of God that we would be freed from the bondage of sin and made free to serve you

Father would we come to your word this morning with humility? Recognizing the seriousness the deadly nature of sin

Lord, would you bring us to the throne of grace?

That we would see that in Christ Jesus. There is a remedy for our sin.

Would you minister? to our hearts would you Convict our hearts through the work of your

Holy Spirit We ask this in Jesus name Amen, so the

Israelites as we saw last week have faced a a clear defeat at AI and And this is of course the the result of God's judgment

God's punishment of the nation of Israel for their disobedience

This of course is not the first time that Israel has suffered on the account of sin if we read the

Pentateuch that particularly Exodus Leviticus Leviticus and and and numbers

We see multiple points at which the Israelites grumbled or they disobeyed or they they committed idolatry and they received judgment from God because of that As we talked about and considered at the outset of this study of the book of Joshua What should have been a journey through the wilderness that that could have been even for that time period could have been as short as 11 days under optimal conditions

Or at the most a few months instead took the Israelites 40 years because of their disobedience

When the people created a golden calf and worshipped it barely out of bow shot of Egypt God commanded the

Levites to kill 3 ,000 of the men who were guilty of idolatry

We see in Numbers chapter 16 that when Korah Nathan and Abiram Rebelled against God and they spoke out against Moses and against his leadership of the people of Israel God caused the earth to open

Book of Numbers says maybe God will do a new thing This was not a good new thing.

This was the opening of the earth and it swallowed Nathan and Korah and a

Byram and their families and all of their possessions and In an ensuing plague killed another 14 ,000 people again in Numbers 25

We are told that Israel participated in worship of the God Baal and they were involved in immorality with Moabite women

Bringing the worship of God of this this false God Baal into the nation of Israel and this resulted in the death of 24 ,000 more

Israelites So again, this defeated AI is far from the only time that God has brought

Judgment upon the people of Israel for their disobedience However, it's the the first time that under Joshua's rule.

There's been this defeat in the promised land as they are conquering these cities and it's a reminder of the days to come that if if God commands

Israel to put to death these wicked nations around them to to utterly destroy cities like Jericho He's not commanding them to do anything that he hasn't already done to Israel itself

God has made it abundantly clear that he does not tolerate idolatry he does not tolerate rebellion against his rule again, he is the

Creator the author the sustainer of the universe. He alone is worthy of worship and devotion

And so now on the heels of God's decisive judgment of of Israel They've experienced

God's judgment and this coming itself on the heels of of this victory over the city of Jericho We See three steps in these these instructions that God gives to Joshua in the aftermath of the sin and this defeat

And we'll see even here this this low point of Israelites conquest conquest

And the aftermath of their defeat that even here in this dark Period of time that the gospel is foreshadowed that God does not leave his people without hope

We see first of all that God gives the diagnosis that there is sin in the midst of Israel verse 10 we pick up as as Joshua has been on his face and We could assume that that's been

Most if not the entire day that he has spent and in prayer before the Ark of the Covenant He's filled with grief.

He's asking God what will become of the nation of Israel? He even questions why

God brought them across the Jordan in the first place There's a little twinge of this questioning that the

Israelites did all through the wilderness wanderings Why have you brought us into this desert? God's response snaps

Joshua out of his faltering despair Get up Rise up the the implication is that the answer is obvious The reason is clear for their defeat

He Tells Joshua that there is sin in the camp Verses 12 and 13 and 15.

He refers to this this guilt that is shared Commonly by the people of Israel.

I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst There are things under the ban in your midst of Israel You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst in verse 15

He's transgressed the covenant of the Lord because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel a

Sin of Achan didn't just affect him. It didn't even just affect his family and affected the entire nation of Israel leading to The defeat that they experienced in battle this language all speaks to this corporate guilt and responsibility

This God says is why Israel was not victorious over the city of AI and why

Israel will not be victorious over any other enemy until the sin is dealt with ultimately this defeat of AI was not because the spies came back and gave

Incorrect information and it's not because Joshua didn't pray before they went up to the city of AI of AI Although It could be that God perhaps allowed both of these things to happen as part of his judgment over the nation of Israel but ultimately the real reason that God identifies is because of Akin's sin

Akin has become accursed and by extension God says that the entire nation has become accursed and And that's why they will turn their backs before their enemies and so the

Lord gives Joshua instructions what he is supposed to do First the people are to be consecrated

There's this first step that happens before anything else. They are to be consecrated

This this indicates that what happens next is going to be a holy act It's going to in a sense be an act of worship

Second God will sovereignly take the tribe of the person who is guilty And then he will indicate the family and then the household and then the individual

The word here indicates that that this choice the selection process is going to happen by lot

Indicating that the priests would be involved if this was the use of the

Urim and the Thummim the lots that would be cast and Those occasions when

God Instructed the Israelites to make a decision using that method. This reinforces that this was a holy procedure

This was something that was taking place That the that the priests were integral to this process

This is a holy procedure And finally the person that all belongs to him is to be burned with fire.

I imagine what Joshua would have been feeling as God is giving him these instructions

To know that just in a few hours time that he is going to be a part and lead the process of putting a man

And his entire family to death previously there have been there have been those accounts like the the worship of the

Golden Calf where the Levites went in and killed Those who were guilty, but in many cases

God's judgment is is through plagues It's it's it's through dangers that were not seen

I wonder what

Joshua would have thought and was thinking during this as he's listening to this and as he's on his

On his bed or on the ground that night sleeping or trying to sleep What a gut -wrenching thought this would be of what was going to be asked of him by God And this is how seriously

God takes sin It's not a funny thing it's not something to chuckle about and roll our eyes about God calls us to be holy

To such an extent that because Aiken took what belonged to God It will cost him his life the life of his family members the life of everything that draws breath under his control

Will be killed we see second the discovery that God's justice is inescapable

It occurs according to his sovereign plan Joshua gathers the nation early in the morning and we're told that things happen exactly the way that God says that they will happen the family the tribe of Judah is indicated and then the family of the

Zarahites and then the household of Zabdi and Finally God indicates that Aiken is the guilty person

Joshua commands Aiken not to just simply confess what he's done. This is not a criminal investigation

This is not an interrogation where the investigator comes in and says, all right We we know more than you think we know so you better you better confess and you better let us know right now

What you did? It's not merely a confession The command that Joshua gives is to give glory to Yahweh to praise him

Aiken's confession is not just a confession It's an act of acknowledging that God is who he claims to be

It's giving God the honor and the recognition that is due to him And so Aiken confesses his sin

He gives this process he goes through the steps that took place He saw the mantle

Or the cloak from Shinar or another word for Babylon He saw the silver and the gold

He says he coveted the items These were items that were to either be destroyed or to be given devoted to the temple treasury

He took the items and then he concealed the items in his family tent this progression

Is as old as mankind When we look back at Adam and Eve in the garden the first sin

We see the same account from Eve She saw that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food.

The fruit was a delight to the eyes The tree was desirable

And so she took of the fruit and ate and then she gave it to Adam and he ate And finally they covered and hid themselves

We considered this deadly progression when we studied the book of James First book that we went through as a church family

James warns his readers each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust

Then when lust is conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death

We see this progress this progression Playing out here in the account of Achan and his sin

This unchecked seeing of these prohibited things gave birth to the sin of coveting and this unchecked

Coveting gave birth to the sin of theft and this theft led to death

And so we see the third and the final step that God ordains destruction

Joshua sends men to verify and they find the stolen items just as Achan says that they will find them

And Achan and his family and the stolen items and all of his other possessions

Joshua tells us even his tent There's nothing left. It's brought to the valley that would soon be known as a core or trouble

The fact that his family is included with him that he hid the stolen possessions in his tent this strongly

Indicates Suggests that his family knew of his sin that he was hiding this and it was known to the members of his family

Achan's sin has an infected and affected the entire nation and now the entire nation

Will grieve as they put Achan and his family to death I can't help but wonder if this process of the of the

Urim and the Thummim And as everyone is is wondering that was it me?

Did I do something? Was it was it my father? Was it my neighbor as they are participating in this stoning of Achan and his family?

that memory of That process is fresh in their minds. It has just happened the full awareness

That it's only by God's grace that they are not in Achan's place this was not to be a

Vindictive process this was to be one that was taken undertaken with tears and with grief

We're told that a heap of stones is then erected over Achan and his family and all of his possessions

This idea of a heap of stones being erected as a memorial We saw this not very long ago

The last time we saw a heap of stones they were erected on the banks of the Jordan as the nation rejoiced after being miraculously carried across the

Jordan a memorial of God's protection and provision and now we see this

Heap of stones that is a memorial of mourning and this place has given the name the valley of a core or the valley of trouble a reminder of the deadly trouble of sin

And with this we're told that the Lord turns away from the fierceness of his anger

It's dark valley reminded the Israelites and it reminds us of the deadly nature of sin of the of the fruit of Sin the penalty that sin brings about But this is not the last time that God will speak of the valley of a core

Some six hundred and fifty years later. God would raise up a prophet Prophet Hosea who would speak under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit of the future of this valley in Hosea chapter 2 verses 14 through 23

God says therefore behold, I will allure her bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her then

I will give her her vineyards from there and the valley of a core as a door of hope and She will sing there as in the days of her youth as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt It will come about in that day declares the

Lord that you will Call me is she and no longer call me by a lie

For I will remove the names of the bales from her mouth So that they will be mentioned by their names no more

And that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field The birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground

I will abolish the bow the sword and war from the land and I will make them lie down in safety.

I Will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice and Loving kindness and in compassion and I will betroth you to me in faithfulness

Then you will know the Lord It will come about in that day that I will respond declares the

Lord I will respond to the heavens and they will respond to the earth The earth will respond to the grain to the new wine and to the oil

And they will respond to Jezreel. I Will sow for her myself in the land.

I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion And I will say to those who are not my people.

You are my people and they will say you are my God The hope of this

Advent season is that through Jesus Christ God turns the valley of trouble into a door of hope

Every one of us if we are honest with ourselves know that we have committed the sin of Achan and Adam and Eve before him

We've seen what God does not have for us. We've coveted it. We've taken it and then we've hidden our sin but God being rich in mercy

Because of his great love with which he has loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions

Jesus Christ Has made us alive together

With Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus So then the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God Not as a result of works So that no one may boast

For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

God prepared so that we would walk in them You are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for God's own possession

So that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

The fulfillment of the words of Hosea for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God You had not received mercy

But now you have received mercy how fitting how gracious of God that on the first Sunday of the

Advent season this time that is traditionally given the theme of hope focuses on the prophecies of Christ's coming that we would come to a passage that smacks us square in the face with the

Reality and the seriousness the deadly seriousness of our sin It reminds us that sin deserves death

It shows us this depressed valley of trouble and Doesn't leave us there

It shows us the prophetic word that points to a day when Christ would turn the valley of trouble into the door of hope

Akin was the troubler of Israel John tells us that Jesus Was troubled for us for our sin as he suffered for us

Akin was taken outside of the camp and stoned the writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus was taken outside of the camp for us

Akin died for his own sin Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross

So that we might die to sin and live to righteousness For by his wounds you are healed

When Akin died for his own sin and God turned from the fierceness of his anger

When Jesus died for our sins, he took on God's wrath for us

Since we have now been justified by his blood how much more will we be saved from God's wrath through him?

and then this is love not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and Sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins

Akin became a curse that brought shame upon all of Israel Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written

Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the

Gentiles So that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

How much clearer can God be in his word? How much clearer can he be that what sin brings forth this death

Jesus through his death and his life his resurrection and now his intercession reverses what sin brings about This is the message of the

Advent season of the coming of Christ So what do we do?

With this warning from the life of Akin And clearly this is a gracious call from God to confess for unrepentant sin

We're reminded in this sad testimony of Akin's life that sin is deadly There are no points of exception we can make on this.

There's no there's no peace treaty That we can make with sin Taking what belonged to God cost

Akin his life It cost the life of every living thing that drew breath under his household

Our sin my sin cost Jesus his life He walked among us he suffered in agony on the cross

He experienced the full wrath of God It was not empty words when

Jesus said my god my god, why have you forsaken me because of my sin?

Know this full well, we cannot make peace with our sin We can't make treaties with it your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour

We fool ourselves into thinking that we can tame a lion like a circus trainer tames a lion lion in the zoo

We could control it we could somehow harness the lion and we can jump off when we want to unscathed

The Bible tells us that the lion will sink its teeth into us and drag us where we don't want to go

It will devour you Just as God sovereignly brought

Akin's sin to life. He does the same for us as the psalmist Reminded us in our reading today.

God knows the secrets of our hearts So Heed this morning the cry of Isaiah To seek the

Lord while he may be found To call upon him while he is near but the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the

Lord and The Lord will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon

Perhaps you have never called upon Jesus for salvation It's maybe the first time that you've been faced with the reality of your sin the weight of sin

Jesus took the penalty of Sin The death that we deserve for you and for me

So that the story of Akin does not have to be your story. It doesn't have to be my story As we read a moment ago

Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness

We don't have to subject ourselves to the carnage and the spiritual wreckage that comes through giving quarter to sin

Jesus died for us So that we can live in righteousness for him a

Righteousness that is also for our good Today is the day for you to call on Jesus for salvation if you're in Christ and you're

Growing weary of doing good. This gospel message is for you, too The gospel is for those of us who are in Christ.

We must speak the gospel to ourselves every day We must speak it to one another it is not for nothing that we are told to come to the throne of grace with confidence

A Message of Christmas is not of giving gifts and going to parties and Santa Claus and mistletoe

It is of the baby that was born to die To be the perfect Passover lamb

Who died so we could live and we could receive and be active participants in this grace and this mercy

And it finally that we would rejoice Not just at this

Christmas season But that every day that God gives us that we would rejoice that Jesus has turned

What was the valley of trouble into a door of hope? That he has undone the curse of sin by becoming a curse for us

At the valley of trouble Hosea points to will become a door of hope.

So it's no accident that Jesus proclaims Truly truly I say to you.

I am the door of the sheep All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them

I am the door If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and we'll go in and out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy

I Came that they may have life and have it abundantly

Do you see the contrast here the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy but Jesus comes to give to resurrect from the dead to build

May it be that every battle we do with sin every gospel -filled word that we say would be an opportunity to rejoice in the door of hope

That in this Advent season in every day of life that we have on this earth That we would walk through Jesus as our door that we would find the pasture the nourishment the protection that he has for us

And then when we do sin that we will find in Jesus Christ an advocate

But we will call upon him again and again

And seek help in every time of need father what a a great

God you are that you would

Work in so many miraculous ways for your people

We've seen over and over again throughout your word that you would create

All that there is by Just your command Let there be and it was that our

Savior Jesus upholds the world by the very word of his power that you alone are holy and Righteous that you demand holiness and righteousness and that to fail to deliver that is deserving of death and yet in your mercy in your loving -kindness

You sent your your righteous son Jesus To die for us to fulfill all the promises that were made of him throughout your word

That we would be partakers of this grace what a great awesome mighty fear inspiring and Loving God you are would you draw us ever closer to the throne of grace?

That we would love you and we would love your word and we would love your people and we would hate sin

We would hate The author of sin and we would hate his works. We ask this in Jesus name.