GOD'S VICTORY IN DEFEAT
Scripture: Joshua 8:1-8:
1Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”
3So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.
4And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them.
6For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them.
7Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand
The battle of Ai is a perfect example of a biblical theme that I call “God’s Victory in Defeat " What looked like defeat, set up Victory over the enemy—
IT WAS THE RETREAT THAT MADE THE VICTORY POSSIBLE.
In each of our lives God sends Victory In Defeat.
God not only lets us have Victory but uses the Defeats to accomplish his PURPOSES IN OUR LIVES.
This Morning
I want to see how when you feel defeated and
the world seems to be crashing down around your ears and you can’t imagine what good could come of it,
GOD WILL BRING VICTORY IN SPITE OF ALL THE DEFEATS.
Let us look at the battle of Ai as an object lesson to help us see some things we need to remember when we’re facing victory out of our defeat.
The first thing we need to remember in those dark days is
I.GOD HAS A PLAN
A. When you’re facing seeming defeat it can be hard to believe that God has a plan in all of this.
Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way.
A. I wonder what the average soldier on the battle line was thinking.
• They knew was that a few days before they had faced Ai and been thoroughly defeated--36 had died.
• Now they were going back to the city that had defeated them.
• This was the first time they had been defeated in Canaan .
B. In the New Testament Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus
What about you? What if you were sick and Jesus waits around for a few days to come.
1. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus is dead.
2. I Can Hear The Disappointment In The Sisters as they sob, "Lord if you would have been here my brother would not
have died."
3. They had a hard time believing there was a plan. A Plan!? You got To be kidding!! People don't die if You 've got a plan
• Martha sums it up when Jesus orders the stone removed from the tomb, the Bible says:
• "Lord by this time he stinks!"
• What about the disciples of Jesus
1. The soldiers arrested Jesus in the garden;
• *They watched his body being whipped.
• *He was laid upon that rugged cross and spikes were driven into his hands and feet
• *They watched as his life’s blood poured out on the ground.
They doubted that this was part of a plan. Plan? You got to be kidding—This ain’t no plan
What about you?
• How bad has it gotten in your life?
• Are there circumstances that seem beyond the reach of God’s plan?
• Would you say like, Martha "Lord, by this time it stinks?"
• I want to encourage you, no matter how things look, God has a plan for you and for your life—for your family and their
life.
NIV Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
E. In Jeremiah God is promising a time of difficulty-- 70 years of exile.
1. It is about that time of defeat that the Lord says "I know the plans I have for you. He goes on and says:
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
The next thing you need to remember when God Brings Victory from Defeat:
II. GOD HAS A PURPOSE
A. In the battle of Ai, the retreat wasn’t a mistake, it was the plan and it had a purpose, == it drew the defenders out of the city
where they could be totally confused and defeated.
1. I can hear some say as they are running away “I hope this works!”
When Jesus waited two extra days to visit the dying Lazarus, He said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it."
He wanted there to be no doubt that this was not just a healing but a resurrection.
When Jesus died on that cross, He hadn’t fallen into Satan’s trap;Satan had fallen into Jesus’ trap,
On the cross the price for sin was paid so that the broken relationship between God and man could be mended.
Death was defeated.
Christ won, because death could
not hold Him in the grave.
Illustration: At the age of 7, he had to go to work to help support his family. At 9, is mother died.
At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. At 23, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store.
At 26, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of 35, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress.
At the age of 37, he won the election. At 39, he lost his reelection bid.
At 41, his 4-year-old son died. At 42, he was rejected for a land officer role. At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost.
At 47, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At 49, he ran for Senate again and lost again.
At the age of 51, he was elected President of the United States.
During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history--Abraham Lincoln.
B. Perhaps in your life you can look back and see how what seemed disastrous in your life brought you to the place the Lord
wanted you.
1. God uses the rough spots in life’s road to draw us closer to Him, to drive us to our knees, to make us depend upon Him.
2. If you can’t understand why things have happened the way they have, Remember, God isn’t just trying to come up with a
solution to your problems. He always had A plan with a purpose.
When you feel your back to the wall.
1. God brings victory from defeat
2. God has a purpose
III. GOD HAS MADE A PROMISE
A. In the very first verse that we read together, God said to Joshua "Don’t be discouraged, go up and attack Ai, for I have
delivered them into your hands."
NOTICE----- He said I have delivered = NOT I WILL deliver
Jesus said to Martha as Lazarus lay cold in the grave ", “Your brother will rise again."
24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though
he may die, he shall live. 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never
die. Do you believe this?”
B. Jesus promised his disciples on at least three different occasions that although he must die and that on the 3rd day he
would rise again.
C. What promise has he made you?
1. The greatest one is if you put your trust in what He did on the cross and repent of your sins that you have his gift of eternal
life.
2. When it seems your world is in ashes that is the promise found in Joshua 1: 5. I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee.
3. even if you walk, as the Psalmist says "in the valley of the shadow of death," you need fear no evil for he is with you.
.
a. No matter what you face,
b. how impossible it seems
c. When you can’t see him or feel him no matter--Just Trust HIM!!
d. Anchor Your faith in His promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Conclusion:
A. When the victory you desire seems to Have been swallowed by defeat,
B. When your faith is failing and you’ve begun to doubt God’s care for you
Remember these things:
1. GOD HAS A PLAN--Even if you’re eyes and your nose say "by this time it stinks" let your faith say "God has a Plan."
2. GOD HAS A PURPOSE--Even when your reason says "this makes no sense" let your faith say "God Has a Purpose"
3. GOD HAS MADE A PROMISE--Even when your heart says "God has left me hanging" let your faith say "God has made a
promise"
HE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME NOR FORSAKE ME.
