Joshua 8
Judges 8 covers how Gideon achieves a complete victory over the Midianites and, in the process, addresses the conflict between the people of Israel and their leaders, as well as what follows in Gideon’s life. It is also connected to the overall flow of Judges, highlighting the response of the people of Israel after the ministry of the deliverer (judge), the temptation and mistakes of the judge, and the recurring weakness of human beings through these outcomes.
1verseThe LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land.
2verseYou shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3verseSo Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.
4verseHe commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5verseI and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.
6verseThey will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,
7verseand you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8verseIt shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”
9verseJoshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.
10verseJoshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11verseAll the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.
12verseHe took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13verseSo they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.
14verseWhen the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15verseJoshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16verseAll the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
17verseThere was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.
18verseThe 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.
19verseThe 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.
20verseWhen 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.
21verseWhen 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.
22verseThe 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.
23verseThey captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24verseWhen Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25verseAll that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the people of Ai.
26verseFor Joshua didn’t draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27verseIsrael took for themselves only the livestock and the goods of that city, according to the LORD’s word which he commanded Joshua.
28verseSo Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day.
29verseHe hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.
30verseThen Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31verseas Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.
32verseHe wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses’ law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
33verseAll Israel, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.
34verseAfterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35verseThere was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.
Conflict with the Ephraimites (8:1-3)
While Gideon is pursuing the Midianites, the Ephraimites express dissatisfaction that they were involved in the battle too late. Gideon calms them with gentleness and wisdom to prevent further discord. This section suggests the importance of communication within a community when carrying out God’s work.
Gideon’s pursuit and victory (8:4-21)
Even though Gideon and his troops are exhausted, they pursue the two Midian kings (Zebah and Zalmunna) to the very end, catch them, and take them captive. In the process, the people of the towns of Succoth and Penuel are judged because they do not help Gideon. This episode shows the contrast between faithfulness and unbelief, and how important the resolve of a judge is.
Gideon’s temptation and mistake (8:22-27)
The people of Israel ask Gideon to become king, but he refuses to be king and makes it clear that only God is king of Israel. However, he takes a gold earring from the plunder and makes an ephod, which later turns into an idol and becomes a stumbling block for Israel. This is a scene that warns how even a pure heart toward God can be corrupted into idolatry.
The end of Gideon’s life and the people’s betrayal (8:28-35)
Although Gideon peacefully completes his life, after his death Israel forgets God and begins to worship idols again. It shows the spiritual crisis that arises from human forgetfulness and the repeating cycle of sin, as well as the crisis caused by the absence of a leader.
Meditation Points
- When we accomplish God’s work, let’s think about why communication and cooperation within the community are so important.
- In our journey of faith, let’s reflect on how important it is to preserve the purity of our faith even after victory or success.
- Not only the role of a leader, but also whether each person’s faith has been focused on God for how long—let’s look back on that.
Apply It to Me
- Like Gideon, in the position where I lead, let’s check whether I am wisely resolving conflicts.
- Let’s examine whether small shoots of idols are growing in my life, or whether something else has taken the place of God.
- No matter who the leader is or what the circumstances are, let’s make a decision today so that my faith will not be shaken and I can always stay focused on God.
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