SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 08

VICTORY AT AI

HOW THE BATTLE WAS WON AT AI

From Joshua 8

[You must not be discouraged or afraid,] Adonai said to Joshua. [Take your warriors and go to Ai. This time you will defeat the king, his city and his people, for I have given them to you. You must do the same at Ai as you did at Jericho, except that you may keep the cattle and the spoils of battle for yourselves. Now, arrange for an ambush behind the city.] Joshua and his army prepared to attack Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand of his men and sent them by night with these orders: [Form an ambush behind the city. Be ready, near the city. When the people of Ai come out to fight, we will run away. They will run after us, for they will think that we are running away as we did before. We will run until we have drawn them away from the city. Then you will rise up and capture the city, for Adonai has put it into your hands. When you have captured Ai, set it on fire. You have your orders. Do exactly as Adonai has Commanded.] When the men left, they set up an ambush west of Ai, between Ai and Bethel. The rest of the army remained there at Jericho with Joshua. Early the next morning, Joshua marched toward Ai with his army. With them went the elders of Israel. When they arrived at Ai, they set up camp on the opposite side of a valley north of the city. Joshua sent another five thousand warriors west of the city to join the thirty thousand who had set up an ambush there. Joshua stationed his troops, the main army on the north side of the city and thirty-five thousand in a rear-guard ambush on the west side of the city. That night Joshua stayed in the valley. When the king of Ai saw Joshua’s army in the valley to the north, he went out early with his army and attacked at a place near the plain. He did not know that there was an ambush to the west, behind Ai. Joshua and his men pretended to run away when they were attacked, fleeing toward the desert. The forces of Ai went after them, leaving Ai behind. All of the troops of Ai went after Joshua, leaving the city unprotected and open. Then Adonai spoke to Joshua. [Hold out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I have given the city to you. Joshua held out the spear in his hand toward Ai. When the men hiding behind the city saw that, they ran into the city captured it and set it on fire. At this time, the men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke from the city rising into the sky. They realized that there was no place to go, for the main army of Joshua that had been pretending to run away suddenly turned to fight. Because Joshua and his men knew that their troops to the west of the city had captured Ai and would soon come to join them, they began fighting and killing the men of Ai who had come out after them. Before long, the men who had captured the city came rushing out to aid the others. They attacked the forces of Ai from the rear, which left the men of Ai trapped in the middle. The Israelites destroyed all the men of Ai that day, leaving not one of them. However, they captured the king of Ai and brought him before Joshua. As soon as they had destroyed all the men of Ai out in the open country, the troops returned to the city and killed the people there. In all, there were about twelve thousand people of Ai who died that day. Joshua continued to hold out his spear until every person of Ai had been destroyed. As YHVH had permitted, the people of Israel took the cattle and loot for themselves. Then Joshua burned the city, making it a heap of refuse. Joshua also hanged the king of Ai on a tree. The body hung there until evening. At sunset he had the body taken down and thrown at the entrance of the city gate, covering it with a great heap of stones. Then Joshua built an altar to Adonai at Mount Ebal, for Moses, Adonai’s servant, had commanded in the Book of the Law that an altar of stones that had not been broken or cut with iron tools was to be built at Mount Ebal. When the altar was finished, the priests made burnt offerings on it to Adonai and also sacrificed peace offerings. Joshua engraved a copy of the Law of Moses on these stones, while the people of Israel watched. Then the people of Israel, including the elders, officers and judges, as well as those who were not Israelites by birth, formed two groups. One group stood at the foot of Mount Gerizim, the other at the foot of Mount Ebal, just as Moses had commanded earlier. The priests with the Ark stood between. Joshua read all of the words of the Law, both blessing and curse, which Moses had written in the Book of the Law. Every word that Moses wrote was read that day before the people of Israel, even women, children and those who were not Israelites by birth.

COMMENTARY

AI

When Achan’s sin was purged from the camp, the Israelites easily defeated the forces of Ai. The lesson had been learned. Obedience meant victory. Disobedience led to defeat. All Israel stood to hear the Law of YHVH read to them for guidance and blessing. At the creation, an old rabbinical tale explains, YHVH gave three angels sacks of stones to spread evenly over the earth. Two were so busy gazing at the newly made world that they bumped into each other. The sacks spilled open and two thirds of all the stones in the world fell on the land of Canaan. This is especially appropriate for the ancient city of Ai. The word means {heap of stones} or {ruin.} The name may come from the heap of stones piled on the body of the king of Ai after he was killed in the battle with Joshua. Or it may come from the city’s destruction by Joshua’s men. They made Ai a desolate mound of stones and it remains a ruin.

If war is so terrible, why do we embrace it so easily? Maybe the answer is more complicated than we like to think. It's one thing to desire peace, but it's quite another to endure willingly all that is required to attain true peace.

https://thebarkingfox.com/2023/02/04/forever-war/

 

thebarkingfox.com

Forever War - The Barking Fox

If war is so terrible, why do we embrace it so easily? Maybe the answer is more complicated than we like to think. It’s one thing to desire peace, but it’s quite another to endure willingly all that is required to attain true peace. Exodu

What is worship? many modern Christians believe that worship is going to church or hearing and feeling music. Some modern Jewish believers think they need to make a sacrifice of some type to worship. Biblically, worship means to bow down, to subject oneself to the authority of another. Now consider what authority you have subjected yourself to, is it the authority of the Creator or the created?

The wise and the good never form the majority of any large society and it seldom happens that their measures are uniformly adopted..... -John Jay

Shabbat Shalom

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The research seems to indicate guns are overwhelmingly beneficial for defense. The response? Bury it.

https://thereload.com/emails-c....dc-removed-defensive

SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 07

DEFEAT AT AI

A SECRET SIN

From Joshua 7

Hidden away somewhere in the camp of Israel there was a secret sin. Someone had disobeyed YHVH’s Command to destroy everything in Jericho except the treasures for Adonai’s House. A fellow by the name of Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah, a member of the tribe of Judah, secretly took some valuable things for himself. Because of this disobedience, Adonai was angry with Israel. Having defeated Jericho, Joshua was now ready for a new conquest. [Go up to Ai and spy on it,] he told some of his men. The men obeyed and went up to Ai to spy on that city. [We don’t need our entire army to take that city,] the men reported back to Joshua. [Two or three thousand troops could easily take Ai, for it has very few people.] Confident that they could easily take the city, about three thousand warriors set out from the camp of Israel for Ai. But when they got into battle, the men of Israel ran away from the people of Ai. In fact, the people of Ai chased the warriors of Israel away from the city and killed thirty-six of them. More of the Israelite soldiers were killed as they descended the hill from the gate past the quarries. Needless to say, the army of Israel was terrorized by this turn of events. In their agony, Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothing and covered their heads with dust. Then they fell down before the Ark of Adonai until evening. [Why, Adonai, why?] Joshua cried out. [Why did You ever bring us over the Jordan River? Was it to put us into the hands of the Amorites so that they can kill us? If only we had been satisfied to stay on the other side of the Jordan and take what we had there! Now Adonai, what can I do since my army has run away from our enemies? When the Canaanites and other people around us hear about this, they will surround us and destroy us. Then how will You honour Your great name?] [Get up!] Adonai said to Joshua. [Why are you flat on your face? You have sin in your camp, for someone here has disobeyed Me and has taken some spoils in battle when I said you could not do so. He has not only taken spoils, but has put them among his own belongings here in the camp. This sin is the reason why Israel cannot fight its enemies. You are running from your enemies because you have a curse on you. I will not be with you until you get rid of this sin.] Then YHVH told Joshua how he should take the sin away from Israel. [Get up off the ground! Tell the people to purify themselves for tomorrow. Tell them that I will not help them until the sin among you has been removed. In the morning, gather together according to tribes and I will show you by lot which is the guilty tribe. I will show you the guilty family within that tribe and the guilty household within that family. Then each member of that household must come forward, one at a time. [The guilty man must be burned with fire, along with everything that belongs to him, for he has disobeyed the Covenant of Adonai and has committed sin in Israel.] Joshua followed Adonai’s Orders exactly and brought Israel before him tribe by tribe. The tribe of Judah was shown to be guilty. The families within the tribe of Judah were brought before him and the family of Zerah was shown to be the guilty family. When the households of that family came, the house hold of Zabdi was singled out of the others. One by one, the members of that household came. At last, it was obvious that Achan was the guilty man. [Confess what you have done and thereby honour YHVH,] Joshua said to Achan. [Tell me what you have done. Don’t hide a thing from me.] [It is true that I have sinned against Adonai,] said Achan. [At Jericho, I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon as well as some silver and gold. I couldn’t resist taking them, so I hid them under my tent. You will find the silver buried below the other things.] Joshua sent men to find out if Achan’s story was true. When they reached Achan’s tent, they found the loot under it, with the silver buried beneath the other things. The men brought these items to Joshua and laid them out on the ground before all Israel and before Adonai. Then Joshua took Achan to the Valley of Achor, with the silver, the robe, the gold, his children, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and everything else that belonged to him. [Why have you caused us so much trouble?] Joshua said to Achan. [Now Adonai will bring trouble to you.] The people of Israel stoned Achan and his family until they were dead. They burned the bodies and piled up a great heap of stones which still stands at the time of this writing. When this was finished, Adonai was angry no more. Since that time, the valley has been known as the Valley of Achor, which meant, [the Valley of Trouble.]

COMMENTARY

OTHER CONQUESTS FROM EGYPT: RAMSES II

After the great victory at Jericho, Joshua could not understand Israel’s defeat at the village of Ai. Finally, the cause was traced to disobedience. A man named Achan had taken forbidden silver and gold. He and his family hid it in their tent. That sin caused the death of thirty-six Israelite soldiers and led to Achan’s execution. In the battle for the land, survival required obedience. For generation after generation, the pharaohs marched their armies north into Canaan, attempting to keep the land under Egyptian control. The reign of Ramses II started out the same way. The far northern Hittite kingdom was now just as strong as Egypt and just as determined to control Canaan. When the Hittite king began to encourage the Canaanite princes to rebel against Egypt, Ramses II decided it was time to do something about the problem. He marched north; and he met no opposition. At Kadesh, two Hittite deserters told him that the army was still farther north, in Aleppo and that he had nothing to fear. But it was a trick. The army was actually hiding on the other side of the city. The Hittites fell upon the unsuspecting Egyptians and almost destroyed them. After a desperately bloody chariot battle, fresh Egyptian troops arrived. At this, the Hittites fled. Ramses II quickly returned to Egypt without trying to capture Kadesh. Both sides had suffered very great losses. During the next sixteen years, the two empires kept an uneasy balance of power. But soon both empires were faced with the same threat; the Sea People, who reached the Mediterranean from the north. To protect themselves from this mutual enemy, Ramses II and the Hittite king agreed not to fight each other. They also agreed to help each other if either one was invaded or losing a battle. This was one of the first international peace treaties. Less than fifteen years after the treaty, the two countries were on such friendly terms that soldiers from both armies mixed freely; and Ramses II was offered the Hittite king’s daughter as a gift.