Joshua 8
Leaders Prep Section
Watch this video, read these notes, and send the pre-written email (below) to your group 2-3 days before you meet.
Notes
Joshua is lost. This flesh and bone, full-of-fears-and-hopes man, just like us comes to a complete standstill, hopeless with failure. If it weren’t for God’s next move, Israel would probably have been destroyed. But God picks them up, gives them a plan, and gets them moving.
Group Guide Starts Here
Context of scripture
Joshua has killed an entire family of his own people. They are in enemy territory, in the middle of a fight that they picked. And worst of all, they feel like God is not with them. This had to be true, because it’s the only way to explain what God said next.
Read Joshua 8: 1-2
Notice the very moment that Joshua addresses the problem (dealing with Achan), God immediately says, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”
Is this a new idea…that God will let go of failures instantly, once the problem that created the failure is addressed? Or have you thought God carries grudges?
Read Joshua 8: 3-9
God’s plan of attack is different than Joshua’s earlier plan (ten times the men and an ambush). But more importantly, God is now calling the shots. (That’s what’s meant by “You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”)
Is God talking to them like they’re toddlers or trying to give them confidence that he’s in control?
Read Joshua 8: 10-14
Ai and Bethel are less than 2 miles apart. 5000 Israeli troops hid in that small an area, in ravines and behind boulders while all the men in Bethel walked right past them.1
Have you thought of God as a commander of an army…as a warrior? Does that bother you?
Read Joshua 8: 18-20
If you were getting into a fight and were told, literally by God, that you were going to win, how would that impact you?
Read Joshua 8: 24-29
In Deuteronomy 21, God says any dead body hung on a tree must be taken down and buried before dark on the same day. Notice how carefully and closely Joshua is following commands now.
Could it really be this straightforward…follow God’s commands and let him do the real work? Or is that an over-simplification?
Read Joshua 8: 30-35
After all this, Joshua recognizes God in front of all the people, reminding everyone the only way to find success after failure is to return to God’s plan and follow his commands.
Are you open to the idea that God would use a current failure in your life to get you to talk to him and ask for a plan?