Joshua 8

 Read Joshua 8

Who? Joshua and the Israelites, the king of Ai and the people of Ai

What? Battle for Ai, the Israelites fulfill Moses’ instructions for reminders (Deuteronomy 11 and 27)

Where? Ai, near Bethel

When? After the sin of Achan has been dealt with

Why? Obedience to God

How? Using strategy, including ambushes 

We learned two major lessons in chapter 7: first, confess your sin as soon as it is revealed to you, second, when you fail, refocus on God, deal with the problem, and move forward.  Joshua and the Israelites are putting this second lesson into practice in chapter 8.  

Notice that God “resets” the Israelites, especially Joshua, with His encouragement in verse 1.  Just as in Joshua 1:9, God encourages Joshua not to be afraid.  God points out that the victory is HIS and the battle is already won, the Israelites just have to obediently go fight.  The instructions given by God are different from the recommendations of the spies (Joshua 7:3) in that God encourages all the people of war to go to battle.  This gives them all the opportunity to see God work, participate in that work, and receive the spoils from the battle.  God allows them spoils this time because they have already given the first fruits to Him (see verse 2).  If only Achan had waited . . . .  Matthew Henry states, “ No man shall lose by his self-denial; let God have His dues first, and then all will be clean to us and sure.”  (Also see 1 Kings 17:13ff).

For this battle, God decides to use strategy rather than an obvious miracle as He has for the Battle of Jericho.  God uses a strategy that turns their previous defeat into something useful and good (verse 6, see also Romans 8:28) once the sin in their midst is dealt with.  Joshua will lead the battle from the front lines and he is confident that the Lord is with them because this time, he has consulted Him (verse 8).  

Once the instructions have been given, Joshua and the people prepare for battle.  They set up a second ambush sight to prevent the people of Bethel from helping Ai (verse 12).  A note about Bethel - Abraham built an altar between Bethel and Ai (Genesis 12:8) and his grandson, Jacob, had a dream there, confirming God’s presence (Genesis 28:10-19).  Bethel was also called Luz.  The main ambush of 30,000 are behind the city to the south, the rear guard of 5,000 are on the west side, and the main army is to the north of the city (verse 13).  Notice that the king of Ai was completely unaware of any of the soldiers other than the main army (verse 14).  This could have been because God blinded him to the others or it could simply have been his overconfidence because of their previous victory.  Pharaoh practiced a similar folly when he and his army rushed headlong into the Red Sea (Exodus 14).  Regardless, all the people are drawn away from the safety of the city (verses 16 and 17).   

Once the people are out of the city, the ambush is called into play.  Joshua is told to use a technique similar to that of Moses in parting the Red Sea and in keeping the battle against Amalek going (Exodus 17:8-13).  When the signal is given, the men attack.  Everyone is killed, just as God has commanded (verses 22, 25, 26).  This is God’s justice.  He is punishing the people of Ai for a life of wickedness just as He has said.   The Israelites are carefully obedient this time, probably dividing the plunder in an orderly fashion and not with violent greed (verse 27).  There is yet another heap of stones with the destruction of Ai and the death of their king.  This heap is a reminder of what happens to those who disobey the Lord.Joshua, even in war, obeys the Lord by not letting the body remain after sunset (Deuteronomy 21:22,23).

After the defeat of Ai, Joshua and the people pause to worship God and to fulfill Moses’ instructions in Deuteronomy 11 and 27.  Another heap of stones is raise in the form of an altar (see also Exodus 20:24-26).  This altar is built on Mount Ebal because it is the curses that must be dealt with by sacrifice.  The curses are for sin.  They offer both burnt offerings and peace or fellowship offerings, both of which were used to establish the initial covenant and are now repeated here in worship and reminder of God’s covenant.  The burnt offerings are consumed on the altar and are for the forgiveness of sin.  Once the sin is forgiven, we can find peace with God.  The Law of Moses was written on the stones as Moses had commanded (Deuteronomy 27:1-26).  They split in half, with the ark between them, to go over the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal (Deuteronomy 11:29-32; 27, 28).  Everyone is there, men, women, and children, to hear God’s Word again so that they all have a chance to be obedient.  There are a lot of rich lessons to learn from this passage.  My friend found a sermon that was very helpful.  You can listen to it HERE.

Question 1: Remember that this is a historical account of a real battle.  Put yourself in the place of the Israelites.  What concerns would you have after previously being defeated in Ai?  What do God’s words to Joshua in the beginning of this chapter tell you about how God deals with sin that has been dealt with?  Do we deal with it in a similar fashion?  Why or why not?  

I would be concerned that all was as it should be and there was no other sin that needed to be dealt with first.  God moves forward once sin is dealt with - no grudges, He doesn’t bring it up again, and He moves forward in blessing.  We tend to hold grudges and to remember past sin.  It colors how we deal with people going forward.  We do not have God’s perfect ability to forgive and forget.  

Question 2:  Why does Joshua read the words of the Law to the people again?  Cf. Deuteronomy 11:26-32 and 27:1-28:68

This is the memorial Moses had ordered.  The people need to be reminded who they are and Whose they are.  They need to remember His expectations and the blessing of obedience as well as the consequences for disobedience.  They needed to remember to constantly be in the Word, as do we (Joshua 1:8).

Applications:  We need to learn to move forward after our sin has been dealt with.  We often have trouble forgiving ourselves and moving past our shame, but God has forgiven us and erased our shame through the blood of Jesus.  We also need to be careful not to put off our worship and service to God until we are “settled” but, rather, see to it immediately.  Another application is that we need to remember that we stand cursed on Mount Ebal.  We cannot earn our salvation (or blessings) no matter how hard we work.  That is why we need to go to the cross with our sin, repent, and believe.