THE CONQUEST OF AI

Part 38

Joshua 8:1-8, 26

Morning Meditation 12/10/16

Verses 1-8 say, “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. So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor, 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.”

Verse 26 says, “For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.”

Israel had suffered defeat at Ai only a short time before. It had not been because they did not use good strategy.. It had not been because of the strength of the enemy. It had been because of sin in one of the men of Israel. After they had dealt with Achan according the word of the LORD, they were now ready to go up against Ai again. There are some tremendous lessons to be learned from this event.

Verse 1 says, “AND the LORD said unto Joshua, fear not, neither be thou dismayed . . .” This chapter starts differently from chapter seven. It was Joshua that sent men to spy out the city and bring back a report. They determined after a look at the city that it could be easily taken. They were pumped up because of the victory at Jericho. It is easy to come off a victory with such self confidence that the next battle is undertaken without caution.

I have thought on this and wondered what they could have done differently. It is my opinion that the LORD’s silence should have given them a hint. God had been completely involved in the detailed strategy of the victory over Jericho. It was His battle, the Jews were only His instruments. In chapter seven, Joshua sends men to view Ai and they come back and say, “Ai is a piece of cake.” So Joshua sends three thousand men which seemed more than adequate. He did this without any evidence in the Word that he consulted the LORD. Was this a sin on the part of Joshua? The Scripture does not say it was. But I’m trying to find a way that the death of thirty-six could have been avoided. The LORD may have been teaching Joshua a lesson in his need to consult Him before any battle. I do know that after the victory at Ai that Joshua built an altar. An altar is a place of worship and communion with the LORD.

When we enter chapter 8, we enter with the words, “AND the LORD . . .” He is giving encouragement and instructions concerning Ai. The first words out of the mouth of the LORD are, “Fear not . . .” Now why would the LORD say that? All you have to do to understand that is to get in a battle and be utterly defeated. You have a little more respect for your opponent now than before. In fact, you may dread this opponent to the point of distraction. Remember the nations of the land of Canaan typify the world, the flesh, and the devil. They are firmly situated in the land that belongs to the people of God. They are skilled in war. They are not to be taken lightly. The respect Israel gained for Ai’s ability to fight may distract them and draw their thinking away from the truth. Israel didn’t win at Jericho. God did. God didn’t lose at Ai, Israel did. The strength to win will never be in Israel’s skill, no matter how carefully developed, it is in the LORD that wins. The LORD said, “Fear not,” everything is ok now.

The LORD said, “ . . . neither be thou dismayed . . .” The word “dismayed” means “to be shattered, to be broken in pieces, to be afraid.” The LORD’s use of this word means He is meeting a need. Joshua is in no condition to lead the nation in the battle against Ai. It is good for us to see this. Are you afraid? Are you dismayed? You have tried earnestly to do the will of God (the conquering of Ai was the will of God) and utterly failed? Now you know that you are going to have to attempt the same thing again and the memory of the past defeat has you so broken up that you are in no shape to reclaim lost ground? The LORD brings Joshua to attention with the words, “. . . Fear not, neither be thou dismayed . . .” Can’t you just hear Joshua say to himself, “How did He know I was having this internal struggle?” The sooner we learn that the LORD knows what is inside as well as what is outside the better off we will be. Jesus said, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). We live and act from within in the kingdom of God.

The LORD said, “I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.” This is a victory given before the battle begins. Faith speaks of things it desires in the past tense. The LORD gives Joshua the truth on which to base faith that regards the victory over Ai as an accomplished fact before the enemy is engaged. This is the LORD’s battle and He never fails. He wins all His battles. Romans 4:17 says, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” The words, “ . . . who (God) quickeneth (resurrects) the dead, and calleth (to speak audibly) those things that be not (things that do not yet exist) as though they were (already had being in the present tense). (parentheses mine for emphasis). This is how God operates. He talks to Abraham about His son Isaac like he existed before he existed. This is FAITH. Do you know that God has faith? He talks about what doesn’t exist like it does exist so it will exist! The LORD told Joshua, “ . . . I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.” Now Joshua can act by faith that the victory over Ai has taken place so it will take place.

Now faith does not set aside strategy. There are two important things the LORD says in verse two. First, the LORD tells them that the spoils of this battle will be their’s. It is ok to take in this city, what was wrong to take in Jericho. What makes a thing right and what makes a thing wrong? Wrong is wrong because God says it is wrong. Right is right because God says it is right. There are things in the Christian life today where this principle is at work. There are things that I have liberty to do under grace that the Jew could not do under law. Eating certain meats is one of them. But it is wrong to eat meat under grace if it causes a weak brother to stumble (Read Romans 14 and 15:1-3). It was wrong to take of the spoil in Jericho but it is not wrong at Ai.

Second, the LORD gives the strategy for victory. He tells them to set an ambush. The LORD knows that Ai’s over confidence gained by their victory over Israel in the last battle will defeat them in this battle. The flesh is over confidant and blind to it’s own limitation. Ai’s skills in war will not help them in this battle. They are defeated before they start.

Every Christian has an Ai in them. The strategy for victory is spelled out in the Word of God. If we go up against the flesh (living in the same body with us) in our own strength, we will not win. The battle is the Lord’s. Let me give you a verse for this. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:16-17). If you will notice, the conflict in verse seventeen is between the “Spirit” and the “flesh..” It is not a matter of self discipline which is the flesh’s control over the flesh. It is a matter of walking in the Spirit. What is it to walk in the Spirit? It is to walk by faith. Faith that speaks of things that are not as though they were! It is taking a victory already won.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White