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8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.” So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.
Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.
When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
(ESV)
Joshua 7 left a bad taste in our mouths. After discovering the sin that had caused Israel to be defeated at Ai, Joshua was left to pick up the pieces. Even though they had broken the covenant, the Lord was still committed to them. We pick up Joshua 8 with the Lord instructing Joshua not to fear and to take all his troops to attack Ai, promising victory and allowing them to plunder the city. Joshua set an ambush behind Ai and devised a strategy to lure the city’s army out by feigning retreat.
As the men of Ai pursued Israel, leaving their city unguarded, the ambush force seized and set Ai on fire. The Israelites then turned back, trapping and defeating Ai’s army, killing twelve thousand people and capturing the king, who was later executed. The city was burned and left in ruins, with Israel taking its livestock and spoil as commanded by the LORD. Following this victory, Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal, offering sacrifices and writing the law of Moses on stones. He read the entire law to the assembly, including blessings and curses, ensuring all Israelites and resident aliens heard it.
I find it interesting that back in Joshua 7, Israel’s initial attitude was “We only need about 2,000-3,000 men to fight the little city of Ai.” Here in Joshua 8, the Lord’s strategy is to gather ALL the men.
“The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all the troops with you and go attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.”
Joshua 8:1 CSB
These are two sides of the same coin. Whether it is the flesh, the world, or the enemy of our souls, we cannot underestimate their power to overwhelm us. It is also crucial to recognize that we cannot rely solely on our own abilities to combat these forces. Let us not misconstrue the purpose of this narrative as a means to reprimand and condemn Israel for their folly, but rather perceive it as a cautionary tale, for we ourselves embody Israel’s role in this account!
Here in Joshua 8, Israel needed to thoroughly evaluate their loss. It is a task that many of us are reluctant to undertake personally. In fact, admitting defeat is something that many of us (myself included) try to avoid altogether. Israel faced a significant amount of introspection, and I believe that if we honestly analyze the battles we are currently losing and humble ourselves like Joshua, mourning and showing genuine remorse as we process with the Lord, we would uncover valuable insights.
Think of the battles in your life right now. Examine those defeats. Is there a sin issue? Is there pride involved? What is the Lord teaching you in your defeat?
There is only one way to control the flesh and it involves staying connected to the source. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do NOTHING.” Doing it our own way is like trying to spray a little cologne on a heaping pile of manure. It’s not going to work, yet, every day people (even those who call themselves Christians) are relying on themselves and continually justifying or blame-shifting their losses instead of falling before God in repentance and shifting their dependence to Him. Guilty as charged.
Jesus Christ died and rose again so that our sins would be covered, but that’s not all. He conquered death and sin so that our sinful nature could begin to be dealt with from the inside out. The Holy Spirit could not dwell within us until Jesus Christ accomplished the victory. Where are you overestimating your own abilities and relying on yourself instead of God? Where are you underestimating the enemy within your current battle? The battle belongs to the Lord.