Jos 8:14-16 | KingComments | STEP | Again Joshua gets up early and goes with the people of war to Ai. He lets himself be defeated with the people and flees with them. These shameful experiences are made up for by the fact that God is on their side. The power of God is with them and everything succeeds. Yet the revelation of this power is not as at Jericho. At Ai there is a lot of human input, a lot happens. That will appeal to all who love action. In comparison to this, marching around Jericho is a boring display. But at Jericho, the power of God is revealed in the exercise of faith and all honor goes to God. The way Ai is conquered doesn’t show the strength of the faith but the weakness of the human being. We can apply this to our victories of faith. Our greatest victories are won in our inner room, on our knees, without any noteworthy characteristics. We can also apply it to the many forms of meetings offered by Christianity. There are places where there are impressive, often so-called, manifestations of the Spirit. In contrast, we read of the church in Philadelphia: “You have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name” ( ). The question is what we choose. To conquer the city, a lot of actions have to be done. Joshua and the part of the people who are with him are approaching the city from the north ( ). This happens at night, while the Jordan has been crossed during the day and everything related to Jericho has taken place during the day. Then a part of the people west of Ai are ambushed ( ). When the king of Ai has observed them, they pretend to flee ( ). All this is necessary to judge all self-confidence.

‏ Joshua 8:14-16

Ai Walks Into the Ambush

Again Joshua gets up early and goes with the people of war to Ai. He lets himself be defeated with the people and flees with them. These shameful experiences are made up for by the fact that God is on their side. The power of God is with them and everything succeeds.

Yet the revelation of this power is not as at Jericho. At Ai there is a lot of human input, a lot happens. That will appeal to all who love action. In comparison to this, marching around Jericho is a boring display. But at Jericho, the power of God is revealed in the exercise of faith and all honor goes to God. The way Ai is conquered doesn’t show the strength of the faith but the weakness of the human being.

We can apply this to our victories of faith. Our greatest victories are won in our inner room, on our knees, without any noteworthy characteristics. We can also apply it to the many forms of meetings offered by Christianity. There are places where there are impressive, often so-called, manifestations of the Spirit. In contrast, we read of the church in Philadelphia: “You have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name” (Rev 3:8b). The question is what we choose.

To conquer the city, a lot of actions have to be done. Joshua and the part of the people who are with him are approaching the city from the north (Jos 8:11). This happens at night, while the Jordan has been crossed during the day and everything related to Jericho has taken place during the day. Then a part of the people west of Ai are ambushed (Jos 8:13). When the king of Ai has observed them, they pretend to flee (Jos 8:14-16). All this is necessary to judge all self-confidence.