vv.1-2 Jehovah’s Instructions. After the painful matter at the valley of Achor, the way was clear for a humbled people to defeat Ai. The Lord graciously comes to Joshua to comfort him as He did before; “Fear not, neither be dismayed”. It is possible to be discouraged by humbling circumstances that we pass though under the government of God. In Hebrews 12:5-6 we are to remember that God chastens us because He loves us, and because we are His sons. As the quotation from Proverbs 3 reveals, there are two attitudes which we must avoid in order to profit from the chastening of the Lord. It is equally bad to “despise” the chastening of the Lord as to “faint” when we are reproved by Him. The Lord encourages Joshua that He had given the city, people, king, and spoils into their hand. Having been tested at Jericho, the spoil and cattle in this case were for Israel. We can take material things if the Lord directs, but it is ultimately for His service as ch.6 shows. But the city was to be destroyed and its people and king put to the sword. The way this victory would be accomplished was not left up to Joshua to decide. The Lord told him to “Set an ambush against the city behind it”.

 

 

vv.3-8 Instructions to the Men of War. So Joshua explained to the men of war how they would go up against Ai. It would be by night: no room for boasting! In contrast to the three thousand men that went up in the previous chapter, this time Joshua chooses thirty-thousand men of war that were valiant men. Of these, five thousand men were going to form the ambush. They would be stationed behind the city to the west, not far from it. Joshua would lead the rest of the people toward the city from the north. In contrast with ch.7 where three thousand went up and the rest did nothing, here “all the men of war” are involved, although in different capacities. The one is a picture of the clergy system, and the other of the body functioning with unity and diversity (1 Cor. 12:11-12). Joshua and the people with him would flee before the men of Ai, causing the men of Ai to pursue them out of the city. This would leave the city relatively defenseless. The men of the ambush could rise up and take possession of the city, and set it on fire. Every detail had to be followed!

 

 

vv.9-13 The Ambush Laid. So the ambush was laid and the people were set in their places. The men of the ambush, about five-thousand men, were placed between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. It is interesting that this is the same location where Abraham had his tent in Genesis 12:8. Abram’s tent was between Bethel, which means ‘House of God’, and Ai, which means ‘heaps and ruins’. This is our pathway as strangers and pilgrims. On one hand we see everything around us in this world as heaps and ruins. On the other hand, we enjoy fellowship with God! The rest of the men of war went with Joshua and camped on the north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. Then Joshua approach the city of Ai from the north by coming down into the valley.

vv.14-19 A Successful Ambush. The king of Ai fell for the trap. The enemy was now self-confident, just as Israel had been in the prior attempt. But this was all according to the sovereign design of God. The king and all his people rushed out of the city to “the appointed place”. Joshua and Israel “let themselves be beaten before them”. This was required to draw the enemy away from the city. In a similar way, felt weakness is necessary to spiritual victory. Paul had to learn this lesson; “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). When the people of Ai were drawn away from the city, the Lord told Joshua to give a signal, stretching out his javelin toward the city. The men of the ambush rose up quickly in response, and took the city and set it on fire. 

 

 

vv.20-29 Full Destruction of Ai. The people of Ai realized that their city was on fire, but it was too late! Then the fleeing Israelites turned against their pursuers, who had nowhere to turn. The main body of Joshua’s men gained a total defeat of Ai. Apparently, the stretched out javelin of Joshua was more than a sign to the ambush. He kept his hand stretched out until the destruction was complete. It is a picture of Christ as the Captain of our salvation, leading us into our inheritance. The city itself was made into a heap. It is a picture of how the cross is a monument to the destruction of this world, that it already is under judgment, though today the sentence has not been carried out. The king of Ai was hanged on a tree until evening, then taken down in obedience to the Word of the Lord, that the land might not be defiled (Deut. 21:23). Then his body was covered with a heap of stones. Satan himself is a defeated foe, and the empty tomb is a monument to that! It is an example of how total the victory can be when there is humility, dependence, and obedience in the life of the believer. But more than that, it is an answer to Joshua’s question in ch.7, “And what wilt thou do unto thy great name?” (Joshua 7:9). 

 

 

vv.30-32 An Altar, the Law Copied. Israel was now restored to communion with Jehovah. Joshua builds an altar, not merely in appreciation of the Lord’s deliverance and victory over Ai, but in obedience to the command of Moses the servant of Jehovah. He was now carrying out the instructions of Deuteronomy 27-28, which perhaps should have been done directly after crossing the Jordan! It was the formal reaffirming of the covenant of the law in the land of Canaan.¹ But it is also wonderful to see his strict adherence to the Word of God, and not lifting up a tool upon those stones, but using whole stones (Deut. 27:5; Ex. 20:25).