Joshua 8:18-27 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Joshua 8:18-27. Let’s go!
Joshua 8:18-27 (NIV)
18 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 his javelin toward Ai.
19 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.
20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction, for the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the desert had turned back against their pursuers.
21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from the city, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.
22 The men of 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.
23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert 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.
25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day–all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.
27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.
On verses 18-27: Here we see Joshua and the Israelites achieving a dominant and overwhelming victory over the city of Ai and its king. The ambush strategy God gave Joshua works perfectly, as the king of Ai and his troops are caught outside of their city walls and being attacked both from the front and from behind by Israelite forces.
What can we learn from this? For me the image of Joshua obeying God’s command and stretching out his javelin toward the city of Ai (v18, 26) is a powerful one. It reminds me of the time when Moses and the Israelites were fleeing from the Egyptians and God tells Moses to “[r]aise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:16) For some reason in both instances God told the leader of His people to stretch out their hand toward the very thing that was in their way, as if to proclaim God’s victory, authority and rule over that which stood in the way. And as they stretched out their hand, what was in their way got out of the way.
It’s a reminder to me that God wants us to face the challenges in front of us with an attitude of faith, believing that God has the victory, power, and authority over whatever is in our way. It reminds me of Jesus’ words, that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to a mountain “Move from here to there” and it will move.
May you face the challenges in front of you today with faith and courage. Stretch out your hand and proclaim that God has the victory, dominion, authority and power over whatever you are facing. When you do, your victory over that thing in front of you is assured.
One more thought: the picture of Moses stretching his shepherd’s staff toward the Red Sea, coupled with the picture of Joshua stretching out his warrior’s javelin toward the city of Ai – these two pictures together point me to Jesus Christ who is both the shepherd who saves us lost sheep and the conquering king who conquers God’s enemies and establishes His kingdom. Jesus is both shepherd and warrior, saviour and king.
Jesus, You are the perfect leader. You are both the shepherd who saves and the warrior who conquers. Today I declare that whatever mountain I am facing is nothing compared to You. So I can stretch out my hand with faith, knowing that by Your power and grace I will overcome the challenge that is in front of me. For nothing is too difficult for You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
