Joshua 8

After the Lord's people have endured a frightening moment of His discipline, it helps to hear His Word again assuring us. “Do not fear and do not be dismayed.” The conquest will continue. The Lord will lead us forward.

This time the victory will come by ambush, and not by marching around the city walls, but the battle will still be the Lord's. He will use the overconfidence of Ai to bring about that city's destruction. They would leave the city unguarded as they pursued Israel into the wilderness. But then they would look back at the Lord's destruction of their undefended homes.

At the earlier defeat of Israel by the men of Ai, the hearts of Israel's warriors had melted in fear. The sin of Achan had quickly overcome the camp. They had proudly presumed that they could easily defeat Ai with very few men. When 36 of their own had been killed, they were completely undone, and looked for the fault in the Lord.

But now that they have been brought back to Him. They have executed the Lord's civil justice over His united civil and spiritual kingdom, their trust in the Lord has returned, and they have courage in Him to go forth in judgment against His enemies. 12,000 people of Ai die, and the king of Ai is hanged on a tree.

This is the world of Israel. It was not Abraham's world, and it is not our world. In Israel's world, the kingdom of civil life was one with the kingdom of heaven. The church and the state were virtually inseparable. Joshua was the one supreme leader under the Lord God. His was a holy army that could not abide with even one covetous man if the Lord should choose to note sin among His troops. The death penalty was administered and courage returned. The army of the Lord went forth to inflict vengeance against His adversaries in Ai.

We live after our King, our Joshua, has been lifted up upon a tree for our salvation. His death for our sins has changed everything. The One Redeemer of Jew and Gentile has come. We are now sent forth to every land with the message of the cross and the resurrection. The civil and religious kingdoms have returned to their two kingdom state. Jesus is Lord of all, and decisions in both realms have moral considerations, but the church does not have the power of the sword, and the state does not have the Bible as its constitution. The civil realm is always a mixed realm now. Within its protection are those professing faith in the Lord and those who do not believe. We are commanded to follow the law of the land in civil realms in obedience to the Lord of all. See Romans 13.

The covenant that Joshua renewed with the Lord was a one kingdom covenant, where the King of heaven insisted that the Law of Moses be the law of Israel in every sense. We live in a two kingdom world now, and the law of love, the love of the cross, goes forth into all the kingdoms of the world through the church. That's the way it is supposed to work. We are to love one another, and our love for Christ should overflow everywhere in displays of order, goodness, and beauty. Wherever possible, we are to submit to all lawful authority as to the Lord. And we are to live quietly and fruitfully in all kinds of societies, with all godliness, dignity, and sincerity.

One day the King who was lifted up on the cross for our salvation will return in glory. Then the kingdoms of this world will in every sense become the kingdom of the Lord for all to see. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He will reign over that one kingdom forever and ever. There will be no more sin.

Whenever we gather together on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection, He renews covenant with us around His table. He speaks to us again, “This is My body. This is the blood of the New Covenant.” We receive the hope again that will find its greatest fulfillment at His return. Together we believe and we know that the Kingdom will be the Lord's. This Lord, who took the curse of the Law for us, has become for us the Source of every eternal blessing.