The Fall of Ai.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.” (Joshua 8: 1 2)

Israelites were defeated badly at Ai. However, men failed but not God. So, God told Joshua to go back to take over Ai again. As instructed, Joshua commanded the Israeli army the war strategy as below.

So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” (Joshua 8: 3 to 8)

As planned, when Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before the men of Ai and fled in the direction of the wilderness, not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. Then God spoke as below.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. (Joshua 8: 18 to 20)

So, the Israelites won the battle as planned. The triumph of Ai was quite a redemption for Joshua and the Israelites. After the first defeat, they thought that's the end of their conquest of Canaan. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land would hear of their defeat and surround them and cut off their name from the earth as Joshua pleaded to God. Then God initiated the new attack. Not only that God provided the battle strategy but also let them keep the spoil and livestock as plunder for yourselves. They needed to lay an ambush against the city unlike what they did to Jericho though. Then Joshua renewed the Covenant as below.

And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. (Joshua 8: 32 to 35)

Today, we may not face physical warfare but spiritual warfare consistently. We may enjoy spiritual victory like the battle of Jericho at first. Then the defeat felt like the first battle of Ai with no way out later. Then as described below, God restored our hope.

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. (Joel 2: 23 to 26)

Now, all of the blessings are given to us through God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ. If we accept Christ as our savior then we could also enjoy the victory again as the people of Israel. Immanuel.