After their easy victories over Sihon and the Amorites , Og king of Bashan, various Midianite cities, and Jericho, the defeat by the tiny village of Ai shocked Joshua and the Israelites. They obeyed God in addressing the sin that caused their defeat, executing Achan, but there was still some concern whether God would bless them again. What if it happened again? They were hesitant to try again. Over the Years, I have seen many Christians in similar situations.
When they obeyed, God reassured them that he would bless
them, in Joshua 8:1-2. “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not,
neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go
up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his
city, and his land: And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto
Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye
take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.”
The first time they had just sent a minimal army in the
expectation that the people in ai would retreat inside their walls like the
people at Jericho had done and God would miraculously give them the victory. This time Joshua made strategic plans, as
described in Joshua 8:3-9. “So Joshua arose, and all the people of war,
to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour,
and sent them away by night. And he
commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even
behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: And I, and
all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come
to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee
before them, (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the
city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we
will flee before them. Then ye shall
rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will
deliver it into your hand. And it shall
be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according
to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you. Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they
went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai:
but Joshua lodged that night among the people.”
Because their rushing Israel had been so successful, Joshua
expected the men of Ai to try it again. He
sent thirty thousand men to hide around the city that night, instructing them
to rush into the village and take it over when the troops rushed out to chase
the main army. Once they were in
control, they were to burn the village, leaving the people of Ai nowhere to
go. He set another five thousand men between
Ai and Bethel to prevent any survivors getting to Bethel, as Joshua 8:10-13
describes. “And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and
went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. And all the people, even the people of war
that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and
pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai. And he took about five thousand men, and set
them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. And when they had set the people, even all the
host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of
the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
Things went exactly as Joshua planned. When they were attacked, the Israelites fled
and the men of
Ai chased them, leaving the city open to the thirty thousand hidden behind the
city. The people from Ai came ot help
out leaving Bethel open as well, as Joshua 8:14-17 describes. “And it
came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early,
and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his
people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were
liers in ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were
beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. And all the people that were in Ai were called
together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn
away from the city. And there was not a
man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the
city open, and pursued after Israel.”
When the defenders had been lured away from the city, God
commanded Joshua to stretch out his spear toward the city, promising him
victory. The hidden troops invaded the
city, setting it afire and the fleeing Israelites turned against their
pursuers, as Joshua 8:18-21 describes. “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out
the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand.
And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. And the ambush arose quickly out of their
place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered
into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire. And when the men of Ai looked behind them,
they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they
had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the
wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the
ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they
turned again, and slew the men of Ai. And the other issued out of the city against
them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that
side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.”
Trapped between the main army and the thirty thousand who
had set the city on fire, the men of Ai had no chance and were killed, as
Joshua 8:23-29 describes. “And the king of Ai they took alive, and
brought him to Joshua. And it came to
pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the
field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all
fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the
Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. And so it was, that all that fell that day,
both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith
he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants
of Ai. Only the cattle and the spoil of
that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of
the LORD which he commanded Joshua. And
Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree
until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they
should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the
gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto
this day.”
God is a forgiving and merciful God, and he did not hold
Israel’s sin against them when they repented.
As Christians we need to understand he is just as forgiving today and learn
not to sit around and pout when we get into trouble but to get up and put it
behind us, as Hebrews 12:11-13 describes.
“Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is
lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment