Slices
Prepare
‘We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus’ (Hebrews 10:19, NIV). Take heed of these words as you reflect on your needs and concerns today.
Bible passage
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Hold out towards Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.’ So Joshua held out towards the city the javelin that was in his hand. 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing towards the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from the city, they turned round and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day – all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.
Explore
It seems like a strange way to win a battle! Yet for Joshua and God’s people, the holding of a javelin high in the air was a sign pointing to the true source of their victory. As with Jericho, it was the Lord who was leading this battle. It was he who took the initiative (compare 6:2 and 8:18).
Yet we read also of another sign. The body of the defeated king is hung on a pole outside the ruined city (v 29). It is a warning that those who break God’s law face judgement and death. So grave is this that the body must be taken down before sunset lest the whole land come under God’s curse (Deuteronomy 21:22,23).
With the eyes of faith we can see here a picture of another king who was hung on a tree ‘outside the city walls’. Yet rather than a sign of judgement, this one’s death is a sign for us of God’s grace. As Paul reminds us, ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ (Galatians 3:13,14).
Respond
Pray today for your friends and family who don’t yet understand what Jesus has done for us on the cross. How can you be a signpost to them this coming week, pointing them to God’s grace?
Deeper Bible study
‘It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’1
For us today, this passage is a gruesome account of a massacre – not only of the army of Ai, but of ‘all who lived in Ai’ (v 26), presumably including women and children – and the capture and execution of the king. We need to understand the context and to remember that Joshua believed he was carrying out God’s instructions to destroy evil. David Jackman explains that ‘God’s wrath against sin is a facet of the perfect righteousness of his judgement, which requires the punishment of all evil that opposes itself to the holiness of the Creator of all’.2 We also need to remember the context from the previous chapter, when God’s holiness required the death of Achan and threatened the withdrawal of God’s presence from Israel. The same holiness demanded the wiping out of the evil of Ai.
Chapters 7 and 8 show Joshua’s leadership qualities. He falls before God in humility. He accepts God’s judgement. He receives God’s instructions and executes them. He leads the troops into battle. His javelin (v 18) recalls Moses and the staff of God,3 when Israel triumphed over the Amalekites at Rephidim, and confirms his status as a leader like Moses. Verse 27 is an ironic postscript on the events of chapters 7 and 8. Achan died because he unilaterally took some of the spoils for himself. How pointless was his sin: had he waited, he could have had all he wanted.
As we reflect further on the passage and what it means for us, perhaps we need to recognise that without passages like this ‘we might never fear sin’4 and be thankful that on ‘that Good Friday afternoon, and because he [Jesus] took our place, atoned for our sins, and carried our guilt we will not face the fate of the king of Ai, which is what we deserve’.5
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’6 How do we fear the Lord?
1 Heb 10:31 2 Jackman, p91 3 Exod 17:9–16 4 Dale R Davis, Joshua: No Falling Words, Christian Focus, 2000, p69 5 Jackman, p92–3 6 Prov 9:10
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 18,19; Proverbs 27,28
Pray for Scripture Union
Ask God to release the resources we need so that we can take on more development workers, and help more children and young people right across the country to discover Jesus and the hope that he offers.
Make and Pray
Since Lockdown started, we've been creating daily videos as part of our brand new Make and Pray series.
Each video includes a fun creative activity for children to try, along with some thoughts and activities to help them understand more about Jesus and how they might pray to him.
If you know of any children or families who enjoy getting crafty, please do share these videos with them.
