JULY 10, 2016
AI’S DESTRUCTION, AN OCCASION FOR WORSHIP
INTRODUCTION:
1. We have just seen demonstrated once again the fact that with God the sanctification of His people takes priority over the swift judgement of the wicked.
2. Ai had been marked out for destruction long before, and the cup of their iniquity was now full, yet there was granted a temporary stay of execution, not because they deserved it, but because the Lord would use them for the chastening and correcting of His people. The wicked are deserving of immediate judgment, but they are allowed to remain until their purpose is served. The Christian may be hard pressed to know if his progress is sanctification is owing more to his friends or his enemies. We can be sure that God has ordained both to work his good. (Rom. 8:28)
3. Ai’s former success against Israel, when Israel was without the Lord’s blessing due to their sin, emboldened them to stay the same course, and to erroneously expect the same results. (Ch. 7:5; 8:6, 16) They had no idea that it was actually Israel’s God Who had enabled them. Thus, thinking themselves masters of their own destiny, they became masters of their own destruction. This is the case with all who in their evil pursuits make war against God and His church.
4. The stratagem which the Lord gave to Joshua was predicated on His perfect knowledge of what the enemy would do. In our last lesson we considered the taking of Ai, now we shall see their total destruction.
I. JOSHUA SIGNALED THE CHARGE FROM WHICH THERE WOULD BE NO RETREAT SOUNDED UNTIL ALL AI WOULD LAY IN RUINS. (VERSES 24-28)
A. JOSHUA’S OUT-STRETCHED SPEAR GAVE THE SIGNAL, AND BECAME THE ENSIGN UNDER WHICH ISRAEL FOUGHT. (VERSE 18f)
1. Joshua gave the command with direction and encouragement, though it appears that in this case, he did not lead the ambush, but remained with the troops that became the decoy.
2. It was not until the pursuing army of Ai saw that they had been duped, that Joshua and his men engaged in the attack. At the same time, the others issued out of the city trapping Ai’s army in between.
B. THE BATTLE WENT THIS TIME AS IT MIGHT HAVE GONE BEFORE, EXCEPT FOR ISRAEL’S SIN. (VERSES 24, 25)
1. The death total was 12,000. This included the men of Bethel, whose king had joined forces with Ai. (Verses 17, 25)
2. Ai’s fighting men were so few compared to Israel’s many thousands, yet Israel, because of her sin, had been chased by this insignificant few.
3. Clearly, Israel’s victory was not because of their greater numbers, but because the Lord was with them again. (Deut. 32:30; Josh. 23:10)
C. ONCE THE KILLING WAS DONE, THE CITY WAS PLUNDERED FOR THE SPOIL. (VERSES 26, 26)
1. Joshua drew not back his spear, i.e. did not call off the attack, until all of the inhabitants of Ai were dead. (Verse 26)
2. Before the city was laid waste, it was emptied of its spoil, which in this case, they were entitled to keep for themselves. (Verses 2, 27)
D. THE CITY OF AI WAS LAID WASTE AND REMAINED IN A STATE OF RUIN EVER AFTER. (VS. 28)
1. In this case there was no divine command forbidding the rebuilding, like there was with respect to Jericho. Jericho was to remain in ruins as a perpetual reminder of the curse that was upon it, and that it was sacrificed to God as an accursed thing. (Ch. 6:26)
2. Perhaps Ai was voluntarily forfeited, preferring to leave it as a reminder of their sin, and also as a blessed reminder of God’s restored favor when sin was put away.
3. It was fitting that Ai, which means ruins, should remain desolate.
II. THE KING OF AI WAS TREATED WITH PARTICULAR CONTEMPT. (VERSES 23, 29)
A. HE WAS CAPTURED AND BROUGHT TO JOSHUA. (VERSE 23)
1. It appears that his capture may have taken place early in the conflict. Perhaps it was standard policy to capture the enemy’s chief commander and bring him alive to their own leader.
2. We do know that there was never any intention of taking him as a prisoner, or of keeping him alive. Israel’s first king, Saul, would later be guilty of that sin, but not Joshua. (I Sam. 15:1-23)
3. What Joshua had in store for the king of Ai was apparently intended to send a message to all of Canaan.
B. THE KING WAS HANGED UPON A TREE UNTIL EVENTIDE, WHICH INDICATES THAT HE WAS PARTICULARLY CURSED. (VERSE 29a)
1. This severity would seem to indicate that he was seen as notoriously wicked, perhaps having somehow blasphemed the God of Israel after the first battle. If so, the men were likely given special orders to capture him and bring him to Joshua.
2. We know that public hanging was intended to declare that the victim was cursed of God. (Deut. 21:22, 23) Joshua, in accordance with that Law, conducted this public hanging of the king of Ai, thus declaring that he was under that special curse. The Apostle Paul referenced that same passage in Deuteronomy regarding the death of Christ, showing that He was impaled on a tree in order that all may see that He was made a curse so that He might take away our curse. (Gal. 3:13)
3. In like manner, Esther would later call for the public hanging of the sons of Haman the Agagite. God had centuries before placed a curse on the Amalekites, and Haman and his sons just happened to be descendants of Agag, the Amalekite king whose life Saul had spared in defiance of God’s orders to kill him. (Esther 9:13) The sons of Haman were already dead when they were hanged, and perhaps the same was the case here.
C. THE KING’S BODY WAS TAKEN DOWN BEFORE SUNDOWN, AND BURIED IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE CITY. (VERSE 29b)
1. The body of this wicked king was taken down before nightfall, according to the Law of God. (Deut. 21:33)
2. He was buried in the entering of the gate, where his seat of judgment had been; the place from which many an unrighteous decree had gone forth. But now the judge over this wicked empire had been judged.
3. The king’s royal tomb was a heap in the entrance of what was now the ruins of Ai, thus providing a perpetual reminder that his soul now lay in a state of eternal ruin.
4. It seems that the kings of Canaan were treated with greater contempt because of their great wickedness. Let the high and mighty blasphemers of the earth take notice of how God saw them, and how their last end is portrayed.
III. THE VICTORY OVER AI WAS PROPERLY CELEBRATED BY OFFERING SACRIFICES OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP TO GOD. (VERSES 30-35)
A. THIS WAS DONE ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD GIVEN BY MOSES ON TWO OCCASIONS. (DEUT. 11:29, 20; 27:2-8)
1. An alter was built upon Mount Ebal, the mount upon which the curse was put. (Deut. 11:29) This was to be a reminder that the curse can only be removed by blood sacrifice, particularly the blood sacrifices of Christ. (Heb. 9:12, 14; I Pet. 1:19) The sacrifices here offered were all pointing to Christ.
2. The altar was to be built of rough unhewn stones upon which no chisels or tools had been applied. (Ex. 20:25) The principles of Godly worship are not subject to human alteration. Thus, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be preached as it is to sinners as they are.
3. The Law of God (probably the Decalogue) was to be written on these stones. The Law was written on Ebal, the mount of the curse, not as a means of lifting the curse but to signify the reason for the curse. There all men could see their own transgressions and read their own curse. It also signified how that it is by the sacrifice of Christ that the curse is removed. (Gal. 3:13)
B. NONE WERE EXCUSED FROM HEARING THE PUBLIC READING OF THE LAW WITH ITS BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS AND SANCTIONS. (VERSES 33-35)
1. They were divided into two groups, and they took their places, six tribes one side of the valley and six tribes on the other.
2. None were exempt, from the highest ranking officials to the poorest strangers in attendance.
3. The Law of God is for all men alike, and its holy precepts condemn all men alike. Thankfully, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all men as well. (Mark 16:15)
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