I’ve been camped out in the early chapters of Joshua for quite some time, but there is so much packed into these early chapters. So let’s take a quick look at something else in chapter 8.

We’ve already looked at how Israel’s disobedience caused them to lose the battle to Ai, and they ran away with their tails tucked between their legs. Their plans have been ruined and now they’re back at camp, licking their wounds, when God comes up with another plan.

God lays out the battle strategy to Joshua, and Joshua has to decide if he’s going to follow through or not. It’s easy on this side of history to think this is a “duh” kind of decision, but when you’re right in the midst of it, doubt can be a powerful deterrent.

Joshua decides to go with the plan.

Israel approaches Ai and then feigns defeat. When Israel runs away, the people of Ai think they have Israel on the ropes, so they pursue them. Joshua 8:14-16 says, “And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.”

Two things work to Israel’s favor here. First, Israel did not send their entire army the first time, so there was probably a little bit of an underestimation of their numbers from Ai. Second, since they had already run Israel off once, it was easy for Ai to grow overconfident in their fighting prowess when they had apparently run them off a second time.

The king of Ai empties his city and pursues Israel, thinking to finish them off. What he didn’t account for was the hidden army that entered the undefended city and set it afire.

Sometimes when we go through failures in life, we don’t realize the different pieces that God can put into place to turn our failures into victories. Be patient and be open minded. You never know what He can accomplish through you.