Joshua 7 records for us the
only setback Israel suffered in their conquest of Canaan. Ai was such a tiny city yet they were defeated in their first attempt to
possess it. From all outward appearances, it was easy meat, yet that city
proved to be no pushover. Israel suffered her first and only humiliating defeat
at the hand of Ai. The 3,000 men sent by Joshua to capture the city were routed
and forced to flee. It was recorded that 36 of their fighting men were killed.
Why were they made to suffer this setback?
Here
are a few reasons: firstly, it was because they had allowed pride to creep in.
They did not consult with the Lord before they embarked on the attack. Israel
had just experienced the greatest victory in their conquest of Jericho. In all
probability, they must have forgotten that it was God who had helped them to
take down that well-fortified formidable city. It was with the strange and
unusual plan of God which they obeyed diligently that victory was experienced.
That success underlines for us the necessity to seek and obey the Lord
diligently if we are to find good success. Victory is ensured when we obey the
Lord and do what He says, even when His instruction may seem like a ridiculous
strategy. Having experienced victory at Jericho, they took matters into their
own hand and supposed that the smaller city of Ai could be taken without the
Lord’s help. But alas, it was not to be. It will do us well not to be
presumptuous but to always seek the Lord whether a matter is big or small. When
we are walking in step with the Lord, even the biggest obstacle will be easy
meat. But if we are not, even the smallest task will be insurmountable.
Secondly,
they suffered the setback in their first attempt to conquer Ai was because
there was sin among them. They were instructed to dedicate the gold, silver,
bronze or iron articles of Jericho to the Lord. They must be deemed the Lord’s
property and no one was to covet any of it. But Achan disobeyed and succumbed
to temptation and broke trust with the Lord. He took what was rightly the
Lord’s, and the whole camp was made to suffer because of one person’s
selfishness. Remember we are a family. One person’s wrong has the potential to
affect the rest of the fellowship. It accentuates the necessity to be
circumspect in our personal relationship and walk with God so that what we do
will not affect the whole body.
Their
first defeat at Ai was a lesson that allowed the Lord to teach them what it
meant to live a sanctified and holy life. They were given a lesson on the
danger of pride. Most of all they must have learned that without the presence
and power of God, there would be no victory. Like the children of Israel, we
have very formidable enemies that we need to deal with daily. We need to
constantly battle the world, the devil and even our own fallen nature. Learning
to deal with pride, living a set apart life, and relying on the presence and
power of God are also the lessons we must adopt if we expect to find victory in
our spiritual journey.
In
Genesis 12:8, we are told that Abraham pitched his tent between Bethel, meaning
the house of God, and Ai, meaning a heap of ruin. Ai is symbolically our carnal
and fallen nature. Like Abraham in his early days, many of us have pitched our
tent between the house of God and the heap of ruins. Where we pitch the tent of
our life is critical. Because it will determine our success or defeat. We can
either experience the blessing of Bethel or the ruins of Ai.
After
Joshua had dealt with the root cause of their first defeat at Ai, God told him
to go and confront Ai. This time He promised that everything would be
different. God assured Joshua that he and his people would experience victory.
There are times that the Lord will bring us back to the place of defeat so that
we can do it all over again and find our victory to move on. In life, progress
is built one upon another. We start from the earlier ones before we can move on
to the more complex ones. We scale the height step by step. If we have not
overcome the simple tasks, we will find it harder to conquer the more complex
ones. That’s why we learn line upon line, precept upon precept. We move from faith
to faith and glory to glory. God doesn’t take us to completion all at once. We
need to progress moment by moment. He intends to build the discipline we need
so that we can advance with Him.
God’s
assurance to Joshua of the impending victory is an assurance to us too.
Regardless of whatever defeat we may have experienced, the truth is that God
wants us to experience being an overcomer like Joshua. We don’t have to live in
defeat. He has saved us so that we can live a life of liberty, not a life of
slavery to sin. In verse 2, God revealed to them what they would experience in
Ai. He promised that they would plunder Ai as they did to Jericho. And they
were given the rights to take the spoil of that city. If only Achan had waited
for a few more days, he would have all he wanted without violating the ban and caused
all the miseries. It underscores for us that we should never run ahead of God’s
plan. We must learn to wait upon Him. The lesson of Ai reminds us not to
go for instant gratification. We must learn to wait on the Lord. His plans are
best accomplished in His time. Don’t try to run ahead of Him. Let us discern
the Lord’s season, and move in tandem and walk in step with Him. He will lead
and guide!
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