Joshua 8:1-35


Obedience makes all the difference in the world.  After the sin of Achan had been taken care of, God comes to Joshua and tells him how He wants them to go out and take the city of Ai.  The command was to kill all of the people, but that the animals and the plunder of the city the people could keep for themselves.  I find it ironic and so typical that if Achan had only waited on the Lord he would have gotten far more than the one set of clothes, silver coins and a bar of gold that he hid from Jericho.  God’s provision for us is always far more abundant than that which we strive to obtain through the works of sin.  This chapter lays out the process and results of how God delivered Ai into the hands of Israel.
THE WAR: The story of the war in Ai is one of the fascinating and classic stories of an ambush recorded in any literature.  It was a simple strategy.  A huge army went out at night and hid behind the city.  The next day Joshua and a much smaller group of warriors come out to battle the city from the front.  When the men of Ai come out to fight, Joshua and his men begin to flee until the army of Ai has been drawn away from the city.  Once the city is unprotected the larger army of Israel goes in and takes the city, sets I on fire and then comes out and begins to chase the army of Ai from behind.  When Joshua and his group see the fire from the city they stop running and turn to fight while at the same time the larger army overtakes the men of Ai from behind.  All the people of Ai are killed as they are caught between the two divisions of Israel.  God delivers Israel from the same men who just a few days earlier had defeated them.  What a huge difference obedience makes.
THE WORSHIP: Joshua’s reaction to this victory is to lead the people in worship.  He follows the directions of Moses in the Law and builds an altar to the Lord.  On that altar they make sacrifices and as a people take time to worship the Lord and thank Him for the victories that He has granted in both Jericho and Ai.  It is often easy for us to take the victories of the Lord for granted and then just move on to our next request of what we want God to do for us next.  We need to remember to be thankful and take time to worship the Lord for the many victories He grants in our lives.
THE WORD: Joshua then takes the time to call all of the people of Israel together and he reads the Law of Moses to them.  The writes a copy of the commandments of God on a stone for all of the people to be able to see and read as a constant reminder of God’s Word and then He reads the entire writings of Moses to the entire congregation.  The Word of God is important and vital to the success of every nation and family.  Our nations are weak and or families often falter because we neglect the Word of God and rarely set time aside to read it.  In fact, it seems that we rarely set time aside in our church services for the reading of God’s Word.  If we want to be strong in our walks with God, we must be faithful readers of His Word.

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