The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Joshua 8:4-7,
"You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand."
Just musing here, but this strategy is fascinating to me. Not only was it very effective in taking the city of Ai, it made the previous humiliating loss at Ai appear to be part of this plan.
The first attempt at Ai involved about 3,000 soldiers. Israel attacked Ai and the men of Ai routed them and coming out of the city, they chased the Israelites, killing thirty-six of them. This was due to sin in the Israeli camp which resulted in the Lord causing them to fail when attacking Ai.
This second attempt capitalized on the loss of the first attempt. Joshua took 30,000 men, secretly setting an ambush of 5000 fighters behind the city. When Joshua approached the city from the front with the rest of the men, the men of Ai stormed out of the city to lay waste to the Israelites like they did at the first attempt.
When the men of Ai stormed out of the city to chase Joshua and his men, they left its gates wide open, the hidden 5,000 Israeli men behind the city, ran into it, destroyed it and then came out and attacked the men of Ai from the rear. As the ambush came out of the city, Joshua turned to fight the men of Ai from the front. The men of Ai were surrounded and destroyed.
It was an ingenious plan the Lord gave Joshua. I note that the prior humiliating defeat of Israel by the men of Ai would have looked like an ingenious ploy by the Israelites, the first fight setting up a defeat of Ai in the second.
A thread found in the accounts of Israel taking the promised land was the importance of Israel's appearance to be indomitable among the nations they were to defeat. The Lord did a number of things within Israel to that end. Rahab in Joshua 2:9-11 said of them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."
Here in this account of Ai we see the Lord accomplishing both: humiliating Israel in their own eyes when they disobeyed him while maintaining an appearance of unstoppable military might among the Canaanites.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand."
Just musing here, but this strategy is fascinating to me. Not only was it very effective in taking the city of Ai, it made the previous humiliating loss at Ai appear to be part of this plan.
The first attempt at Ai involved about 3,000 soldiers. Israel attacked Ai and the men of Ai routed them and coming out of the city, they chased the Israelites, killing thirty-six of them. This was due to sin in the Israeli camp which resulted in the Lord causing them to fail when attacking Ai.
This second attempt capitalized on the loss of the first attempt. Joshua took 30,000 men, secretly setting an ambush of 5000 fighters behind the city. When Joshua approached the city from the front with the rest of the men, the men of Ai stormed out of the city to lay waste to the Israelites like they did at the first attempt.
When the men of Ai stormed out of the city to chase Joshua and his men, they left its gates wide open, the hidden 5,000 Israeli men behind the city, ran into it, destroyed it and then came out and attacked the men of Ai from the rear. As the ambush came out of the city, Joshua turned to fight the men of Ai from the front. The men of Ai were surrounded and destroyed.
It was an ingenious plan the Lord gave Joshua. I note that the prior humiliating defeat of Israel by the men of Ai would have looked like an ingenious ploy by the Israelites, the first fight setting up a defeat of Ai in the second.
A thread found in the accounts of Israel taking the promised land was the importance of Israel's appearance to be indomitable among the nations they were to defeat. The Lord did a number of things within Israel to that end. Rahab in Joshua 2:9-11 said of them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."
Here in this account of Ai we see the Lord accomplishing both: humiliating Israel in their own eyes when they disobeyed him while maintaining an appearance of unstoppable military might among the Canaanites.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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