Joshua 8 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
After the humiliating defeat at Ai, it was not the heart of the Canaanites but that of the Israelites that was filled with fear. However, now that Achan’s sin had been dealt with and the camp of the Israelites purged of his evil, there would be no roadblock to Israel’s success going forward. Nevertheless, Joshua was concerned that this mishap would only strengthen the resolve of the local inhabitants and feared that Israel might have ventured in vain into enemy territory. Obviously, the Lord was not too worried about that, for all the fighting men combined in the land of Canaan were like a drop in the bucket in his eyes. He did however strengthen Joshua’s faith by informing him that the town of Ai had already been given into his hands and exhorted him once again not to fear or be dismayed.
In fact, even though Israel had failed miserably in her last attempt to conquer the city of Ai, God would use this failure as the very means of their success using the new-found confidence of the inhabitants of Ai against them. Ordering thirty thousand soldiers to lie in ambush behind the city, the Lord sent Joshua with the rest of the army to attack the city directly only to withdraw soon afterward as if beaten. Seemingly repeating the same failed attack as before, the Israelites fled the scene and all the men of Ai and Bethel together went out in hot pursuit leaving the city defenseless. Then those lying in wait quickly swooped in and set the city afire causing panic in the Canaanite army. Not a single man was able to escape that day but all were put to the sword. Likewise, the Israelites struck down every inhabitant of the city devoting them all to destruction just as the Lord had commanded.
Joshua then hung the king on a tree showing that he and all those like him would be cursed for cursing Israel. It was in light of this act, Achan’s sin, Israel’s failure and her later victory that Joshua sought to renew Israel’s covenant with the Lord reading the full Law of Moses before all the men, women and children reminding them of the power and the promises of God and exhorting them to trust and obey the Lord fully that they might enjoy his fellowship and the many blessings that flow out of that fellowship.
As Christians today, we also await our inheritance, and eternal inheritance in the Lord. In the meantime, we too are called to wage a war not in the flesh but in the Spirit. We are ordered by our Lord and captain Jesus Christ to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Thus, we fight not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And the Lord has already given them into our hands, but we must hang their putrid carcasses daily upon the tree, putting them to death along with every fleshly thought and worldly whim. This is not an easy task, but one that calls for ongoing vigilance and perseverance, one conducted successfully only in a right relationship with the Lord, so we too are called to regularly renew our covenant with God and choose to serve the Lord both for ourselves and for our households. If we do not take this seriously, we too will be easily defeated by even the smallest of worldly cities.