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Joshua Chapter 8
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Joshua 8:1 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:
First of all we must remember that the
Canaanites that dwelt in Ai were those that worshiped gods of Moloch,
Baal and others. If that was all they did God would allow them to
live but forbid Israel to have anything to do with them, but that was
not all. They burnt little children to these gods, live children
were sacrificed. Those that did these things thought they had to do that to please the gods they worshiped.
There were many other evil practices these people did.
God didn't allow Abraham to take this
land in his day but only promised this land to Abraham because the
iniquity or sin was not yet full or to the point that they were
beyond repentance.
Later the evil was so great that in
many cases the inhabitants of the cities had to be slain to keep
their influence from spreading. Sort of like they were in the days
of the great flood in Noah's day. In the case of Jericho, in later
years they found tiny bones in jars of the walls of Jericho were
children had been sacrificed to idols. Even the cattle was destroyed
in that city.
We shall see that in the case of the
city of Ai, all were to be killed but the cattle was allowed to be
taken as a spoil by Israel. It was important for Joshua to enforce
the word of God without compromise or they would have been too weak
to conquer anyone because their strength was only in the Lord, not
their own military might.
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Joshua 8:2 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 sin of Achan who was written about
in chapter 7 of Joshua, was removed so God was with Israel
this time. The first time they tried to conquer this city, the men
of Ai chased and killed some of the men of war that tried to go up
to conquer them.They couldn't do it because of the sin of Achan. God
had removed His power from them. If God doesn't help Israel or any
nation, they can't win anything if the enemy is stronger.
All Canaanites were mighty strong giant
types of people. Israel could not have won any battle without
God. We shall see by the instruction of God that they win this city
by laying wait or ambush.
- Joshua 8:3 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.
- 4 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:
- 5 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,
- 6 (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.
They were going to fool the city of Ai
into thinking they were trying to take the city like they tried to
the first time. That way all the men of war from Ai would run out
to fight and chase down the army of Israel not knowing that there
were other parts of the army lying in wait.
This would not work unless the Lord is
with them.
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Joshua 8:8 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.
I notice that this time no one
disobeyed anything that the Lord instructed like in the case of
Achan in chapter 7.
- Joshua 8:9 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.
- 10 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.
- 11 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.
- 12 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.
- 13 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.
- 14 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.
- 15 And Joshua and
all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by
the way of the wilderness.
Notice that Joshua himself was with
those that were chased by the men of Ai. He put himself in harm's
way and didn't ask his men to do what he wouldn't have done.
- Joshua 8:16 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.
- 17 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.
- 18 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.
When Joshua stretched out his spear
toward Ai, those waiting to ambush the warriors of Ai knew to spring
forth and enter the battle. It was time.
- Joshua 8:19 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.
- 20 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.
They became so distraught and
overwhelmed that they couldn't fight but had to flee into the
wilderness.
- Joshua 8:21 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.
- 22 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.
None escaped like in the case of Rahab
in Jericho.
- Joshua 8:23 And the king
of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
- 24 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.
- 25 And so it
was, that all that fell that day, both of men and
women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
- 26 For Joshua drew
not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until
he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
- 27 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.
- 28 And Joshua burnt
Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this
day.
- 29 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 carcass 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
remained unto this day.
Why the king was hanged and not killed
as the others, we don't know but I can speculate. He was the
leader, the one who made the decisions, laws and decrees. It was
his responsibility to show mercy or to do evil. The people followed
his orders. Children were sacrificed to idols and evil was done
under his watch and under his authority. If innocent people were
executed by hanging, this would be the way he died also according to
the word that says, he that lives by the sword shall die by the
sword.
I imagine that he took many innocent
lives under his term as king. We will not get away with
sin. Eventually God will say that is enough and bring His
judgment. I fear for my own country. We've
done a lot of good and have been a nation that sent missionaries and
preachers of the gospel all over the world. We've helped people of
other nations in times of disaster. I fear for us though because since the
1960s we have turned our backs on God and have allowed things to
become law that are in direct defiance of the law of God. We are
not going to get by with this if we do not repent or change and turn
back to God.
- Joshua 8:30 Then Joshua
built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,
Once the battle was won, Joshua took tine to
honor and thank the Lord for being with them.
- Joshua 8:31 As Moses the
servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is
written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole
stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they
offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed
peace offerings.
- 32 And he wrote
there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote
in the presence of the children of Israel.
Before they were to have rest in the
land that God promised them, they must take with them the law of
God. This was to be the first thing they were to remember before
going any further. Without God we all are nothing and can do
nothing.
- Joshua 8:33 And all
Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood
on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the
Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well
the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over
against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal;
as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they
should bless the people of Israel.
- 34 And afterward he
read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings,
according to all that is written in the book of the law.
- 35 There was not a
word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before
all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little
ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
May we do the same and honor God's word
above our own. May we honor God first and listen to His council
continually. We have it easier now because through simple faith in
Christ we can have our sins remitted and be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
We do not have to build an altar of
stones without using any tools and taking an unblemished animal to
sacrifice for our sins. Christ fulfilled the law of sacrifice by
sacrificing Himself. The animal sacrifices could not remove sin
but only pointed to the one to come that had the power to remove and
cleanse us from sin.
Sin was forgiven under the old
sacrificial law but they had to continually make sacrifices when
they sinned again. We just have to repent and trust in Christ. We
no longer need any sacrifices of animals. The price has been paid,
yet it will only count for those that believe in Jesus and
are faithful to His word. DC
- If ye love me, keep my
commandments. John 14:15
Joshua Index
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