Context No. 3120 of 4322 · Joshua

Joshua 8:18-23: in context

18The LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand and entered into the city and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire. 20When 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. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. 21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai. 22The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the middle of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.

The LORD tells Joshua to stretch out the javelin in his hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. As he does, the ambush he has set springs up, rushes into the city, and sets it on fire. The men of Ai, seeing the smoke rise behind them, are caught between Israel's forces and overwhelmed, and the king of Ai is taken alive.

This is a battle account from a hard chapter of conquest, and there is no need to dwell on the slaughter. What the narrative underlines is that the victory came at God's word and by his direction: stretch out your javelin, for I will give it into your hand. After the earlier, humiliating defeat at Ai, which was caused by hidden sin in the camp, this victory follows obedience and God's explicit command and strategy. The lesson threaded through is that success came not from Israel's own strength but from acting under God's direction, and only after the sin that had forfeited his help had been dealt with.

Do I seek God's direction and deal with hidden sin before I expect his help, rather than presuming on success by my own strategy?

Sources

Joshua 8:18: "Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand."
Joshua 7:13: "There is a devoted thing in the middle of you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing."
Psalm 44:3: "They didn't get the land in possession by their own sword... but your right hand, and your arm."