February 13, 2014 - Thursday

Start Time: 4:45 A.M.

End Time: 5:30 A.M.

Title: Ai Destroyed

Scripture: Joshua 8:1 – 35

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.” So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert.  I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them,  you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand; when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.” Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

NOTES:

Ø God is the only source of victory and no one or nothing else!  At times when we have experienced a great success or we are already in the time of our lives where we live in comfort, success, wealth, and happiness…we tend to do things on our way and neglect God.  This is what happened to Achan; his eyes deceived him and thought that he can get away with a few of the plunder from Jericho so he snatched and hid it away; thinking that it won’t matter and that it won’t affect their journey to possessing the land.  Achan became complacent and think that God has been with them since the beginning and they have been seeing victory upon victory.  From the city of Rahab and then the crossing of Jordan, then the victory in Jericho…so they were experiencing victory upon victory and Achan became complacent, thinking that he can do just about anything and no need to follow what God instructed… so when he disobeyed, his actions impacted the whole camp and they lost from their battle to Ai.  Now after purification and eliminating of sin, the Israelites in leadership of Joshua, learned that victory is in God’s and if they want to stay victorious in their possession of the land, they are to fully trust and obey Him.  This is true to our lives too.  God is still the source of all victory so if we want to stay victorious, we are to believe, listen and obey the Lord for He gives and takes away victory!

Ø God is a God of surety!  When Joshua and the people turned back to Him, His assurance was firm and solid.  He assured Joshua, the leader, that He has given the land as He has said it so it will be!  Notice that some of God’s words are spoken over and over again?  Yes it is for emphasis but also, it is a reminder that once He has spoken, so will it be!  He is reminding us that He has spoken and once HE uttered a promise or command or word, so shall it be!  Hallelujah Lord!

→Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai; the entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city.  Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.  So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.   When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city.  Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. ¹⁷ Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.  As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.   The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers.  For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.  Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.  But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

NOTES:

Ø God allows us to be chased by our enemies in battle so we can ambush and destroy them completely!  God is a strategic planner!  He has planned for everything in every possible scenarios.  At times, He allows us to be chased by our enemies (possibly be involved in the life of a sinner or be part of a certain group that is not doing the will of God) and when the enemy sees it as an opportunity for him to destroy or influence us, God turns things around and He uses us to influence others!  At times, we don’t understand why we need to be in the losing end of the battle but God has a greater plan than what we can think of and if we put our full trust in Him, we will see the majestic revelation and purpose of His ultimate plan.  We just need to lean on Him completely and trust Him to deliver us as He said He would!

→When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.  Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai; for Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.  But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.  So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.  He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

NOTES:

Ø God destroys everything evil but He gives the plunder to His people!  In a battle, God makes sure that sin is totally eliminated and the soldiers (like ourselves) rewarded and enjoying the plunder.  We get to enjoy victory, satisfaction, peace of mind, health, wealth, etc.  in all wellness of our lives and not just in one area.  In most cases, our plunder refers to eternal goods!  Thank You Lord!

→ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.  Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.

NOTES:

Ø God knows all things and has planned for it!  He provided instructions to Moses for Joshua and His people to do to renew their covenant after they had sinned (Achan’s sin) and after they had been cleansed!  God does not tolerate sin but He knows our flaws and HE is working in changing us from glory to glory yet when we do fell, HE provides a way to be restored in Him and renew our covenant with Him – this is in the Old Testament.  Today, Jesus is our way of restoration.  He cleanses and restores us whenever we fail.  Note that the law of the Lord was written on Mount Ebal (the mountain of curses); possibly the law of the Lord became the basis of the curses placed to anyone.  Because the law strengthens sin and sin brings in curses.  But the law is also the basis of blessings for whatever is in the law, is what God wants us to do and when we do it, God opens the heaven and pour out His blessings.  So in any situation, the Law of the Lord becomes the ultimate guide but it was broken when Jesus came, for HE came to save those who were not deserving and I am part of those!  Thank You Jesus that I am no longer bounded to the law but to Your Grace!  Thank You!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Praise Your Holy Name!  Glory to You and You alone!  Thank You because You are the source of our victories and all we need to put our trust in You and we are sure to receive success in our lives.  Lord thank You because You are a strategic planner and You have planned for everything in all possible outcomes.  Lord thank You because at times You put us in a situation where we are being chased by our enemies, or we are surrounded by everything negative and it seems like failure is the only outcome, yet during these times, You turn things around and surprise us with the greatest victory of our lives.  Lord thank You because You do not allow any sin to remain in us and You destroys them yet after every fight, You make sure we enjoy the plunder!  Thank You Lord for the victory and I know it is only thru Your love, grace and favor that I get to receive it.  Lord open my eyes that I may see every victory You give me on a daily basis no matter how small or big it is.  I want to be able to know so I may proclaim of Your glory at all times!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!