Joshua 8

In Joshua 8, God gives specific instructions for the conquest of Ai. After the previous failure due to Achan's sin, Israel is now ready to follow God’s plan and achieve victory. The chapter highlights divine guidance, military strategy, and the importance of obedience to God. It also illustrates Israel’s growth in faith as they execute God's commands perfectly.

Joshua 8:1-5 (NKJV)
1 Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay 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 thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them."

God encourages Joshua not to fear and gives him clear instructions for the conquest of Ai, which would include an ambush. Unlike Jericho, the Israelites could keep the spoils of the city. Joshua responds by organizing a strategic plan with thirty thousand soldiers to ambush Ai. This time, obedience and strategy work together, contrasting with the earlier defeat caused by disobedience. Joshua shows wise leadership by dividing his forces and using a deceptive tactic to lure out the defenders of Ai.

Joshua 8:6-8 (NKJV)
6 For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore, we will flee before them.
7 Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord you shall do. See, I have commanded you."

Joshua’s plan involves luring the men of Ai out of the city by pretending to flee in defeat, just like their earlier encounter. This ambush tactic would allow another group of Israelites to take the city while its defenders are distracted. God promises to give them success if they follow His instructions, emphasizing that victory will come through obedience to His command. Setting the city on fire symbolizes complete destruction, marking a decisive victory.

Joshua 8:9-13 (NKJV)
9 Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10 Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11 And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai.
12 So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

Joshua divides his forces, positioning five thousand men in ambush between Bethel and Ai. Meanwhile, the main army is set up in front of the city, separated by a valley. Joshua’s strategic movements reflect the wisdom of careful planning. This tactical division of forces ensures that Ai will be surrounded, with its defenders unaware of the hidden ambush. Joshua's careful leadership is key to the impending victory.

Joshua 8:14-17 (NKJV)
14 Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an 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 So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

The king of Ai, unaware of the ambush, falls into Joshua's trap. Believing Israel is retreating again, the men of Ai rush out of the city, leaving it undefended. Every able-bodied man pursues Israel, which leaves their city completely exposed. This reckless confidence shows their underestimation of Israel and sets the stage for the ambush. Joshua's strategy works perfectly as the defenders abandon their stronghold.

Joshua 8:18-23 (NKJV)
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.
19 So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to 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 to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
21 Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
22 Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

When Joshua signals by stretching out his spear, the ambushers seize the city and set it ablaze. The men of Ai, seeing the smoke, realize too late that their city is taken. Trapped between two Israelite forces, the men of Ai are utterly defeated. Israel's victory is total, with no survivors except the king, who is captured. The combined elements of divine guidance, human strategy, and perfect timing lead to the complete downfall of Ai.

Joshua 8:24-29 (NKJV)
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 where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.
29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

Joshua and his army finish off the inhabitants of Ai, both in the field and within the city, resulting in the death of twelve thousand people. Joshua maintains the outstretched spear until the city is completely conquered. Israel takes the spoils of war but utterly destroys Ai, burning it and turning it into a permanent ruin. The king of Ai is executed, and his body is displayed as a warning, then buried under a heap of stones, which becomes a lasting memorial of the victory.

Joshua 8:30-35 (NKJV)
30 Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had 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 has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of 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 the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

After the victory, Joshua leads the people in worship, building an altar to God in accordance with the Law of Moses. They offer sacrifices and inscribe the law on the stones, symbolizing their covenant with God. The entire nation, including strangers, gathers at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim to hear the law read aloud, renewing their commitment to follow God's commandments. This moment emphasizes the importance of obedience to the Law and the centrality of God's covenant with Israel in their success.