Joshua 8:1 ¶ And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: 2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
So here the situation will be reversed, God promises. This is the
result of collective guilt, collective repentance, and group action to remedy a
situation. This is another example of dispensational differences. Christians do
not get some kind of collective relief by stoning witches, executing
homosexuals, or burning houses of worship of other religions. We are not called
to this kind of collective expression of God’s wrath. The church is called to
things but none of them involve stoning and burning sinners.
Joshua 8:3 ¶ So Joshua
arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out
thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye
shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very
far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5
And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto
the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the
first, that we will flee before them, 6
(For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city;
for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee
before them. 7 Then ye shall rise up
from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it
into your hand. 8 And it shall be, when
ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to
the commandment of the LORD
shall ye do. See, I have commanded you. 9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they
went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai:
but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and
numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the
people to Ai. 11 And all the people, even
the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and
came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there
was a valley between them and Ai. 12
And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush
between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13 And when they had set the people, even
all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait
on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. 14 And it came to pass, when the
king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and
the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people,
at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were
liers in 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
And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue
after them: and they
pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel,
that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after
Israel. 18 And the LORD said unto
Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will
give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had
in his hand toward the city. 19 And the
ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had
stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted
and 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 up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and
the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the
ambush had taken the city, and
that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and
slew the men of Ai. 22 And the other
issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some
on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none
of them remain or escape.
This passage underscores Joshua’s role as a military commander. He
is obviously experienced with laying an ambush and taking advantage tactically
of a fluid battlefield. God makes everything work in Joshua’s favor for Ai’s
destruction.
Joshua 8:23 ¶ And the king
of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 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
wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the
sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and
smote it with the edge of the sword. 25
And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men
and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith
he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants
of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil
of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of
the LORD which he commanded Joshua. 28
And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a
desolation unto this day. 29 And the
king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down,
Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast
it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of
stones, that remaineth unto this day.
I don’t think it is necessary to deflect the disgust we might
experience at the brutality of this massacre imposed by Joshua and the
Israelites on this city. This is a different dispensation and these are the
enemies of God, in the way of His purpose of establishing His covenant with
Israel. This was ordered by God. God does not order Christians to do any such
thing. History, unfortunately, is filled with so-called Christian leaders who
viewed the Old Testament as their justification for everything violent they
wanted.
Joshua 8:30 ¶ Then Joshua
built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, 31 As Moses the servant of the LORD 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 hath lift up any iron: and they
offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 And he wrote there upon the stones a
copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the
presence of the children of Israel. 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and
officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before
the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as
well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against
mount Gerizim, and half of them over against 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 cursings, according to all that is written in the
book of the law. 35 There was not a word
of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation
of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were
conversant among them.
Exodus 20:24 An altar of
earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings,
and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I
record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone,
thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it,
thou hast polluted it.
Deuteronomy 27:5 And there
shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt
not lift up any iron tool upon them.
Notice when Solomon built the temple it was a modular building,
built somewhere else and assembled on site so that no sound of an iron
instrument would be heard.
1Kings 6:7 And the house,
when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought
thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in
the house, while it was in building.
This was apparently a standard that God demanded for the
construction of His altars and His temple that was similar although not exactly
the same.
In verse 32 the stones upon which the Law was written would not be
rough and unhewn as the altar.
Deuteronomy 27:1 ¶ And
Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the
commandments which I command you this day.2
And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land
which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones,
and plaister them with plaister :3 And
thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed
over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath
promised thee.4 Therefore it shall be
when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command
you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.
5 And there shalt thou
build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift
up any iron tool upon them.
For verse 33 and on see Moses commands, curses, and blessings
further in Deuteronomy 27 and beyond that.
The audience who heard this even included not only women and
children but non-Hebrews who accompanied them who understand and knew the Law.
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