FINALLY ISRAEL CONQUERS AI

Joshua 8:1-35
Key Verse: 8:1

    "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.'"

     In the previous chapter we studied one person, Achan's sin. The
entire Israelites experienced tragedy. And Achan's desire to wear a
three-piece suit made in Babylon and to buy a chariot drawn by four
black stallions was not achieved. Rather, his sin was discovered. He
and his wife, including their parents, were stoned to death. And even
more pitifully, his cute sons and lovely daughters were also stoned to
death. Even his flocks and herds, which did not know the concept of sin,
were also stoned to death. Achan might have had an Egyptian dog. It was
also terribly stoned and died. The scene was bloody and miserable. Many
children's stomachs were torn and blood gushed out. And the tragic
cries of children were too pathetic to hear. Finally the place where
Achan and his family members and his flocks and herds were stoned became
bloody. This tells us that one person's sin causes his children to be
cursed. All the Israelites felt that they were once more defeated by the
people of Ai. Achan's petty desire for a three-piece Babylonian suit and
to drive a chariot drawn by four black stallions blinded his spiritual
eyes and caused his family members such a tragic death by stoning. What
is more, he caused the Israelites to sink into deep defeatism being
defeated by the people of the small city Ai. These days many think,
"I am I, and you are you." There is no sense of unity. There is no sense
of community. There is no sense of national identity and loyalty and
stewardship because of selfishness which Achan had.  "I am not just I,
I am one of the precious members of a nation as well as an indispensable
member in the kingdom of God." Today's passage teaches us the Israelites
won the victory by God's help. There is no defeat in God. There is only
victory in God. Therefore, this lesson is a very precious one.

First, God's strategy for the Israelites in defeating Ai (1-2). After
Achan's tragic event, the God of Israel did not give them time to think
over their defeat and Achan's tragic sin and death by stoning. As soon
as Achan was stoned to death, his place of death was covered by many
small and large rocks, like an ancient king's tomb. Nevertheless, God's
thunderous command was given to the Israelites. This time God taught
them how to defeat Ai. God also taught them the strategy to destroy the
entire army of Ai. Look at verse 1. "Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do
not be afraid; do not be discouraged.'" God Almighty knew very well that
they were doubly discouraged and fearful of the power of Ai. They were
even more fearful about God's wrath and punishment. But God Almighty
forgave their sins and wanted to muster the Israelite soldiers and
bolster their morale.

     Verse 1 continues, "Take the whole army with you, and go up and
attack Ai." In this command of God Almighty, we learn how the attitude
of soldiers should be. There is a saying about a lion's pouncing on
a rabbit. He takes his form and jumps on it with all his strength
and speed. Because of his attitude, the lion is called the king of
the animal world. Tigers' front two paws have great punching power,
even to knock down a big tree and smash a rock.  But a tiger's boxing
skill is very inferior to a lion pouncing with his full concentration
of power and spirit. Here God Almighty teaches the Israelites to be
as brave as a lion, not a good boxer like a tiger. Verse 1 again says,
"For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his
city and his land." God promised victory over the soldiers of Ai if
they follow God's strategy. But this time, God satisfied good and evil
people's desire. Almighty God said at the end of verse 2, "...except
that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves."

     The last part of verse 2, "Set an ambush behind the city," has
deep meaning. This is God's strategy. God's strategy is God's wisdom
for all men.  God's strategy is perfect and sound. God's strategy gives
all men the final victory. God's strategy is God's word. God's strategy
is wisdom for all men.  Many people have their own idea. A student who
could not finish junior college in eight years still thinks that he is
a smart person, pointing his finger to his head. Not only the student,
all people of the world mostly think that, "My way is the best way. My
plan is the best plan. If I follow God's plan, I would only maintain a
hand-to-mouth kind of family security. So I must live according to my
wisdom." Still they attend church meetings at least three times a year:
at Christmas Worship Service, the Summer Bible Conference, and one time
at the Easter season, for the salvation of their souls. But they cannot
save their souls in that way. They must follow God's strategy and God's
wisdom and God's words. They must live with their concentration like a
lion. Let's see how General Joshua obeyed God's word.

     Now! General Joshua ordered the whole army, "Move out to attack Ai"
(3). This time not three thousand, but the whole army moved out. General
Joshua chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out
at night 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. I
and all those with me will advance on the city..." (3-5). This time
General Joshua followed God's ambush strategy. The ambush strategy was as
follows: "When the soldiers of Ai come out against us, as they did before,
we will flee from them. 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. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Now we are gonna to have a big feast after
cutting all their heads with our sharpened swords'" (5-6). The soldiers of
Ai were very proud because they defeated three thousand of the Israelite
soldiers not long before. General Joshua commanded, "So when we flee from
them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city.  The Lord your
God will give it into your hands. When you have taken the city, set it
on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it; you have my orders"
(6-8). General Joshua's orders cut to the hearts of his soldiers.

     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. Early the next morning, General Joshua mustered
his soldiers and marched before them to Ai (10). 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 (11). General Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them
in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city (12). General
Joshua's plan was to attack from the north and from the west so that
he may surround the soldiers of Ai.  General Joshua had his soldiers
take up their positions–all those in the camp to the north of the city
and the ambush to the west of it. That night he went into the valley
(13). General Joshua's war plan was thorough and intense.

Second, the king of Ai (14-17). 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 (14). His great mistake
was overlooking Arabah. He did not know that the soldiers of Israel were
in ambush. He never imagined that there was an ambush set against him
behind the city. The king of Ai was very complacent. A student studied
hard and he got all A's in a semester. Then he thought he would get
all A's the next semester without fail.  But he went to a theater and
watched a movie and that night he did not write a report. The next
night he wanted to watch TV just fifteen minutes. But fifteen minutes
prolonged to four hours. So he did not study well at his classes the next
day. At the weekend test he got a C-. He wanted to study harder but his
sinful nature overwhelmed him. Finally at the end of the second year
he flunked out of the school. The king of Ai was just like that. Many
people say to themselves, "Only ten minutes of TV watching, just one
time of oversleeping doesn't make any difference." But it makes a big
difference. Those kind of people cannot graduate from a two-year junior
college in two years. Usually those kinds of people take nine years
to finish a two-year junior college. And their smart minds lead them
to destruction. As we studied, life is war. In the war, complacency is
not allowed.

     When we see contemporary people, there are many of those who have
much money. There are those who work hard. There are many who think
they are smart. But they don't follow the strategy of God, that is the
wisdom of God. Their final destiny will be marked with F- and they will
all be like the soldiers of Ai led by the king of Ai to be destroyed
completely. They lost their so dear children and dogs and cats and
everything. In short, they will become losers in the war of life. Let's
see how the army of Ai, led by the king was destroyed. All the men of
Ai were called to pursue the Israelites, not knowing General Joshua was
luring them to come out of their fortress, and they pursued General Joshua
who lured them away from the city (16). Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel
who did not go after Israel (17). They thought that they would catch the
soldiers of Israel and kill them all. So the soldiers of Ai and Bethel all
came out to pursue them. It is common sense that the palace guard or the
city guard must remain to watch the city or the king's palace.  However,
the Bible says that the king of Ai left the city open and went in pursuit
of Israel (17). We call these kinds of people smart and stupid people.
They think they will get all A+ s but in the end they get F- s. We call
these kinds of people the losers in the war of life.

Third, the Lord gives the Israelites great victory (18-25). Then the
Lord said to General Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in
your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city" (18). This means
that God commanded General Joshua to hold out his javelin and ordered his
soldiers, "Advance!"  and "Charge!" and "Destroy them!" As soon as he did
this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed
toward the city. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set
it on fire (19). So the city of Ai became like a big forest fire burning
violently and destroying everything. In a few seconds, all the city was
burned down to the ground as ashes. The men of Ai looked back and saw
the smoke of the city rising against the sky, but they had no chance to
escape in any direction, for the Israelites who had been fleeing toward
the desert suddenly turned back around against their pursuers (20). And
at the same time the people in the ambush came out, 30,000 well-trained
soldiers in all. In this way the soldiers of Ai were surrounded from
the west and from the north. They became POWs before fighting. At that
time there was no Geneva Convention for the war prisoners. So they were
all killed in the fields of Ai and in the desert where they had chased
them. Every one of them was put to the sword (24). The blades of the
swords of the Israelite soldiers were so fast here and there and the
pumping out of blood from so many chopped necks of Ai soldiers was more
than tragedy. After putting them to the sword, all the Israelite soldiers
returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. How many of them do you
think were killed? One thousand? No. Twelve thousand people of Ai were
killed, including women. Twelve thousand men and women fell at the sharp
sword blades of the army of Israel (25). The king of Ai was defeated
completely. Because of his negligence he lost the lives of his soldiers
and their wives and all the children. He was arrested to appear before
General Joshua. One leader's negligence is not at all forgivable. Our
fellowship leaders don't get any hourly pay or recognition of the world or
thank-you letters from Presidents of the world. But they are all generals
in the sight of God in our generation. They are joining in the spiritual
battle between God's soldiers and multi-millions of Satan's agents. Here
we learn that we must have a clear identity as a chosen people. We must
have a clear identity as generals in the spiritual realm. We must have the
courage to cut the necks of God's enemies and still be fearless when we
see from the necks of the enemies blood pumping out toward the sky. That
should be our attitude as God's generals in the spiritual warfare.

Fourth, General Joshua keeps on holding out his javelin (26-29). In
actuality, the battle was won by the soldiers of Israel. But General
Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had
destroyed all who had lived in Ai (26). This scene is like the Allied Army
after destroying the Normandy fortress. Several hundred Americans remained
to destroy the remaining enemies. This story is well described in the
movie, "Saving Private Ryan."  American soldiers destroyed the remaining
enemies and, by order from headquarters, wanted to find Private Ryan,
whose three brothers had already died in battle. The captain who was in
charge of finding Ryan and all his soldiers worked hard and finally found
Ryan. But Private Ryan wanted to remain there and fight continually. At
the same time, he cried, calling his mommy. So the captain in charge of
the rescue mission of Private Ryan became helpless. I hope you can find
out the end of the story because I don't remember it, and tell it to
me. Anyway, the captain in charge of the rescue mission of Private Ryan
was indeed an honorable soldier in his attitude and human integrity as
a soldier. Likewise, General Joshua continued to hold out his javelin
until he was sure that all who live in Ai were completely destroyed.

     Last time, God forbade them to take any of the devoted things
from the Jericho fortress. But this time God allowed them to carry
off for themselves the livestock and plunder of the city as the Lord
had instructed Joshua (27).  So after victory, marching back to their
camp, on the right shoulder was their armory and with the left hand they
were holding the leashes of goats, dogs, donkeys and oxen. What a funny
sight it is. Here we learn God's mercy. Last time, when Achan stole a
three-piece Babylonian suit and some gold and silver, such a terrible
punishment was carried out. But this time, out of his great mercy he
allowed them to bring livestock, as many as they wanted.

     So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins (28). He
hung the king of Ai on a tree (29). In this way, General Joshua and
his soldiers defeated the city of Ai and its soldiers. Without God's
strategy, which is God's wisdom and life direction, they could not win
the victory. But when Joshua obeyed God's strategy, that is, God's wisdom
and way of life, he could win the glorious victory over the king of Ai
and his soldiers. Always, victory comes from God. This is the reason we
must believe our God Almighty.

Fifth, God renewed the covenant at Mount Ebal (30-35). After the
victory, Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the Lord God
of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites
(30-31). When this was done, half of the people stood on Mount Ebal and
half of the people stood on Mount Gerizim. Afterward Joshua read all the
words of the Lord–the blessings and the curses, just as it is written in
the book of the Law (33-34). General Joshua read all the words without
missing one word (35). In this way, General Joshua thanked God for the
victory. How easy it is after victory to think that they won the victory
with their own strength and suddenly become proud. But General Joshua
proved himself as God's General over the Israelites.

     Here we learn that we must follow God's strategy. We must not think,
"I am a smart man." Nobody thinks, "I am stupid." So, "I am a smart man,"
is nonsense. We humbly bow down our heads on the ground and ask God's
strategy, that is, the wisdom of God.


STUDY QUESTIONS

1.  What had happened previously when the Israelites had attacked Ai? What
   had they done about the sin in their midst? Read 8:1-2. What did God
   command and what did he promise? Why did they need to be encouraged
   to try again?

2.  Read verses 1-9. What was God's strategy for conquering Ai? Why
   should they take the whole army?

3.  Read verses 10-17. Where did Joshua position himself and the major
   part of the army? Where was the ambush placed? What did the king of
   Ai do when he saw Joshua's army in front of the city? How did Joshua
   lure all the men of Ai and Bethel to come out of their cities?

4.  Read verses 18-29. What was the signal for the men in ambush? How
   did they respond when Joshua pointed his javelin toward Ai? What did
   the soldiers of Ai do when they saw smoke? Describe the battle and
   its consequences. Why did Joshua keep on pointing his javelin?

5.  Read verses 30-35. Describe the Bible reading ceremony on Mount Ebal.
   What did this mean? Why is it important to follow God's way and God's
   strategy? How can we know God's way?