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Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, undo my anxiety, dismantle my arrogance and make me wholly Yours. I want to please You today.

Read Joshua 8:1–17

^[1] Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ^[2] You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.” ^[3] So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night ^[4] with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. ^[5] I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. ^[6] They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, ^[7] you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. ^[8] When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.” ^[9] Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai-but Joshua spent that night with the people. ^[10] Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. ^[11] The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. ^[12] Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ^[13] So the soldiers took up their positions-with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. ^[14] When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. ^[15] Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. ^[16] All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. ^[17] Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

Meditate

Achan’s story tells how one man’s sin brought a nation to defeat. But now, humble repentance and dependence upon the Lord have turned the temporary defeat into a victory against Ai. A telling lesson for us.

Think Further

After the tragedy of Achan’s sin and the clear actions taken against it,

Israel was led by God to attack Ai again. It is difficult to revisit a place of shameful defeat. What

fears and hesitations were in Israel’s heart? As in Jericho, however, God assured Israel of his

presence and victory. “I have delivered into your hands…” (1; cf. 7). God was leading the army

again. Victory was assured. Using warfare strategies, Joshua’s army lured the king of Ai and his

men out of their city to ambush and defeat them.

We must note two points. First, God asked Joshua to take the “whole army” (1). This was a

lesson for Joshua. In the first (unsuccessful) attack against Ai, Joshua took the advice of his spies

and sent a smaller force. Now he had to mobilize his whole army. He realized that he should not

be presumptuous or be guilty of pragmatic military arithmetic. Victory is not based on the size of

the army but on God’s presence and how we trust and obey him. The army must not be divided

between active players and idle spectators. How can anyone stand idly by and watch fellow

soldiers fighting a battle (Neh. 4:16–23)? The same principle applies in church: how can the

majority stand idly by while a few take on heavy responsibilities of ministry (Acts 6:1–7)?

Second, God allowed the Israelite army to carry off the plunder and livestock from Ai. If only

Achan had waited! Jericho was special, being the first city in Canaan to be conquered—so its

plunder belonged wholly to God. Ai, however, provided supplies for the Israelites. Sometimes

the sin is in not waiting for God’s timing, grabbing from his hands before he gives to us. If

Achan had waited, so much heartache (God’s heart included) and tragedy would have been

spared.

After the tragedy of Achan’s sin and the clear actions taken against it, Israel was led by God to attack Ai again. It is difficult to revisit a place of shameful defeat. What fears and hesitations were in Israel’s heart? As in Jericho, however, God assured Israel of his presence and victory. “I have delivered into your hands…” (1; cf. 7). God was leading the army
again. Victory was assured. Using warfare strategies, Joshua’s army lured the king of Ai and his men out of their city to ambush and defeat them.
We must note two points. First, God asked Joshua to take the “whole army” (1). This was a lesson for Joshua. In the first (unsuccessful) attack against Ai, Joshua took the advice of his spies and sent a smaller force. Now he had to mobilize his whole army. He realized that he should not be presumptuous or be guilty of pragmatic military arithmetic. Victory is not based on the size of the army but on God’s presence and how we trust and obey him. The army must not be divided
between active players and idle spectators. How can anyone stand idly by and watch fellow soldiers fighting a battle (Neh. 4:16–23)? The same principle applies in church: how can the majority stand idly by while a few take on heavy responsibilities of ministry (Acts 6:1–7)?
Second, God allowed the Israelite army to carry off the plunder and livestock from Ai. If only Achan had waited! Jericho was special, being the first city in Canaan to be conquered—so its plunder belonged wholly to God. Ai, however, provided supplies for the Israelites. Sometimes the sin is in not waiting for God’s timing, grabbing from his hands before he gives to us. If Achan had waited, so much heartache (God’s heart included) and tragedy would have been spared.

Apply

How am I involved in the church’s spiritual battle? Am I an active participant or an idle spectator?

Closing prayer

“Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more” (Richard Blanchard, 1925–2004).

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