Title: Fall of Aiseong
Contents
Israel despised the enemy, fell into pride, trusted only in their own strength, and went out, and suffered a great defeat in Ai. When we were in despair, discouragement, and fear, God appeared and told us the reason and cause of our defeat. Then Joshua removed the reason for the defeat. After the sins were removed, the voice of God was heard again. What we can see here is that when sins are removed, the voice of the Lord begins to be heard. When we receive forgiveness of sins, the power of God comes upon us.
‘Do not be afraid and do not be surprised (1): These words were words of encouragement from the Lord even before the Canaan war. According to some writings, the word ‘do not be afraid’ appears 365 times in the Bible. Why is it repeated so many times? Because there are so many surprising and terrifying things in life in this world. However, no matter how many things we fear, if God is on our side, we do not need to fear anything.
‘The people, the city, and the land have been given into your hand’ (1) What we learn here is that God not only gives us another chance, but also guarantees success if we turn back even if we have failed. All the great people in the Bible have had experiences of failure. Peter denied the Lord three times, but later met the Lord again and returned to become a great leader of the early church. So there is no need to become frustrated and discouraged by past failures. It is neither neglecting nor doing what I am supposed to do today. Believers should always live a future-oriented, goal-oriented life.
It is said, “Take all your troops and go up as a child.” Why should I take them all? Two reasons. 1) As before, if only some soldiers go and win, rather than thinking that they won with God's help, they can think that they fought well and won. 2) It means that you have to put your whole heart into battle. No matter how big or small the task is, you have to put all of your energy into it. Whether you are a teacher, a restaurant service provider, a guide, or praying, you have to put all your heart into the task given to you.
‘You must be in ambush’ (2) means an ambush. God only told us to ambush, and then he did not tell us the specific method. But what did Joshua do when he heard this? From 3, you can see that 30,000 warriors were sent at night, and in verses 4-9, detailed instructions were given after making a detailed operation. And various operations are unfolding. 12 'Ambush' Ambush, 15, 16: 'I was falsely defeated and fled, and I was enticed'. This is a manned operation, pretending to be defeated while pretending to fight. 18: use a javelin, (start attack), 19: use fire. This meticulous operation led to victory in the Battle of Ai Castle. In the New Testament expression of this image, it is asking, seeking, and knocking. It is not enough if you sit still and pray, but you have to work hard and struggle with your body.
Why did you completely wipe it out and get rid of it? (25,28)
The people of Ai were the wicked among the wicked. This castle is like a so-called den of bandits. So, if they were left alive, they would all do the same thing wherever they went, so they were ordered to be killed. Likewise, in our spiritual warfare, the enemies within us must be mercilessly removed from sin. Because letting go of sin leads to death.
Comparing the battles of Jericho and Ai, the battles are not the same. It was the opposite fight. What we learn from the two models is that in the case of Jericho, we obey God's words, and when we shout and pray, God's power is revealed. However, Ai is the same as normal people who have to fight, work hard, sweat and work hard. In other words, everything has to be done with all our heart, and we have to plan a detailed operation with our knowledge and brain.
The spoils were divided among the Israelites. Why did you share? Because God knows that we need everything to eat and wear to live in this world. If God had asked them to sacrifice child sexuality, the people of Israel would certainly have complained. ‘Am I a fighting machine?’ But God gives us what we need.
While we live in this world, sometimes we can only hope for a miracle like the collapse of Jericho, but sometimes, like the attack on Ai, with my thoughts, wisdom, and effort, like a manned operation, like running away, sometimes when it appears Remember you need it.
Another thing to learn is that no miracles happen in Ai Castle. The castle had to be captured through the normal course of war. But the city of Jericho is Dalat. God does not move like a machine, but acts personally. Not every situation is dealt with mechanically, equally, Jericho's way or Ai's way. If you mistakenly believe in Jesus, you are thinking of God as a machine to think that because God did this last time, He will do it the same way again this time. God does not work the same way. You work in a variety of ways. The Holy Spirit guides us in different ways in each age. Today, we do not lead the way Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. I don't act against the principles and character of the Bible, but if I did it this way last time, I think I'll do it again this time, it's giving up on thinking of God as a person.
After winning the victory, a religious ceremony was held (30-35) A stone altar was built on Mount Ebal and burnt offerings and peace offerings were offered. The burnt offering means self-consecration, and the peace offering means giving thanks to God.
And they read the words of blessing and curse, and answered with Amen. This answer was to help them realize that only obedience to God's word is the key to victory.
Also, not only Israel performed the ceremony, but even the Gentiles and even the cohabiting guests participated in this event. The reason was so that everyone could learn, understand, and reflect on God's rule of victory. Likewise, it teaches us that we should always keep the word of the Lord in our hearts and build up the altar of self-devotion every day.