Joshua 8:1-35
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:
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.
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 drawna them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them.
7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
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.
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.
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.
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 powerb to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
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.
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 carcase 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 remaineth unto this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,
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.
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.
Pausing for God in the Middle of Victory
Often, man holds himself guilty long after God has already wiped away the sin. It seems this was the case after Achan's sin had been removed from the camp. The Lord had to reassure Joshua that there was no need for fear since he had given Ai into the hands of Israel (Joshua 8:1). He also told him to use an ambush to conquer the city.
Verses 3 and 12 of Joshua 8:1-35 disagree as to the number of men Joshua set in ambush. The two numbers look very similar in Hebrew, so it may be one of the copyists got one of these wrong. Apparently, 5,000 men were set in ambush between Bethel and Ai. Joshua sent that group out at night so the king of Ai could not know what was behind him. Then, in the morning, Joshua rose up with the rest of the fighting men, marched to the city and set up a new camp.
Early the next morning, the king of Ai came out with his soldiers to attack the armies of the Lord. Joshua had his army flee, which convinced the king of Ai that they would again rout Israel and perhaps put away this menace from the land of Canaan. All of the fighting men of Ai and Bethel went out to pursue and destroy Israel. Then, Joshua raised his spear toward the city as a signal for those lying in wait to rise up and take the city. They set it on fire and the men of Ai, seeing it, realized there was no avenue of escape for them. Indeed, the army of Israel slew every man, not letting one escape, and brought back the king to Joshua. Joshua had the king hung upon a tree for the rest of day, calling for the body to be removed from the tree at sundown and thrown against the gates of the city where it was covered with a heap of stones. It is interesting to note that Joshua was fully complying with the law of Moses in taking the body down when the sun set (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
Having learned something from the experience at Jericho, the people completely destroyed all of the inhabitants of Ai. They were allowed to keep of the spoils of the city. With victory fresh in their minds, Joshua marched the people to somewhere near Mount Ebal. For those who are not accustomed to following God's commands completely, his next move is a strange one. God's leader caused the people to pause and renew their covenant with God by offering sacrifice and hearing again the law they were to follow.
In strict keeping with God's will as it is expressed in Deuteronomy 27:1-26, Joshua had an altar built of uncut stones and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. On the exterior of those stones, they put plaster and wrote the law of Moses. All of Israel, including men, women, children and people who were living with them, watched as the law was written. Just as God directed through Moses, Joshua positioned the tribes of Israel with six facing Mount Gerizim and six facing Mount Ebal. The blessings were to be read from Gerizim and the cursings from Ebal. These two mountains may well have been symbolic in this reading since Gerizim is fertile with rich growth and Ebal is barren. When God blesses a man or people, they are richly fertile. When God curses a man or people, his life is barren of that which truly matters. This followed instructions God had given before in Deuteronomy 11:29.
The reading of the entire law of Moses before all the people who were to inhabit the promised land is significant. Not even a child was allowed to miss this important reading of God's covenant. Everyone in the kingdom today, be they newborn babes in Christ or longtime Christians, needs to hear and reflect upon God's will for our lives. They trusted enough in God to take time out from conquest to review his will for their lives and he kept them safe while they did. We need to realize God will not fail to provide for all our needs today if we take time out for him and make the pursuit of his will the most important thing in our lives (Matthew 6:25-34).