“The Battle of Ai and Bethel” Josh. 8:14-29

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, stretch out the spear that is in thine hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand, and Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.” Josh. 8:17

The principle we learn from this is, “Our battles are not ours to fight, they are God’s.” But we must fight them in the spirit and attitude of prayer on our knees first. They lost the first battle with the warriors of Ai when they fought it their way in Josh 7:1-6, because there was ‘sin in the camp,’ Achan’s! But in Josh. 8:1 the LORD tells Joshua to,  “Fear not (ya-re, stop trembling), neither be thou dismayed (kha-thath; terrified), take all the people of war/battle with thee and arise (kum, stand up, get up) and go up to Ai; See (ra-ah; Behold) I have given into thy hand the King of Ai, (and the king of Bethel 12:16) and his people, and his city, and his land.” Now get up and go! But do it My way and in the Spirit and the power of prayer and you shall do to Ai as you did to Jericho. Why, can’t we remember that principle in our lives? If we do it His way, in the spirit and power of prayer the enemy doesn’t stand a chance. You would think that Joshua would always put God and Prayer first after this right? Wrong!

They go to Ai and set the ambush in place just like the LORD told them and drew the men of war out into the Arabah or desert wilderness and there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel v.17, and they left their city wide open for the ambush. Then the LORD told Joshua to, “stretch out (na-tah; extend, or spread out) the spear (ke-dohn; lance, javelin, dart) that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.” Josh. 8:18. Then the men in ambush came out and set the city on fire and the 30,000 warriors in the woods came out and attacked the men of Bethel and Ai and killed all 12,000 of them and captured their king alive.

However, “Joshua drew not his hand back, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed (kha-ram; completely destroyed or eradicated) all the inhabitants of Ai.” (and Bethel). Men, women and children. Josh. 8:27 says, “Only the cattle and spoil/booty of that city Israel took for a prey/prize (ba-zaz) unto themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He commanded Joshua.” Back in Josh. 8:2 when He was giving Joshua instructions for destruction; “And thou shalt do to Ai and its king as thou didst unto Jericho and its king; only the spoil of it and the cattle thereof shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves.” Jericho was the first fruits(The Raysheit) so all the spoil belonged to the LORD, that’s why Achan had to be stoned and burned with his family for taking what belonged to the LORD. Ouch!!

It doesn’t say, but I wonder if Joshua had some help holding his hand up, stretched out with his spear in it for hours while his men battled the warriors of Ai and Bethel and burned their cities? I would imagine that took most of the day; In v.14 it says the king of Ai rose up early in the morning and went out to fight Joshua and not a man was left in Ai or Bethel v.17, and in v.18 Joshua stretches out his spear in prayer towards Ai and Bethel, and drew it not back until they were utterly destroyed v.26. We know the king was buried at sun down under a pile of rocks v.29. So, it was a one day battle and maybe 8-10 hours of intense ‘spiritual warfare’ with his spear stretched out towards Ai and he would not let up until the last enemy was dead. We used to use a phrase at our ‘prayer meetings’ when we had ‘prayer meetings’ that is, in the olden days before the internet remember, the phrase was, ‘we need to pray through!’

Where did that phrase come from? Better yet where did it go? I can show you where it came from Matt. 18:19, “Again I say unto you that if two of you will agree (sum-fo-ne-o; agree together, harmonize, to be in accord) on earth as touching (peri; to pierce through, to the other side, ‘there it is’) anything that they shall ask it shall be done (gin-omi, come into existence) for them by My Father, who is in heaven.” The problem today is we don’t ‘pray through’ any more, we don’t stay on our knees long enough, until every enemy is dead. We pray about things, we pray for things, we pray with others, we have a moment of prayer, we have our prayer check lists; we may even have a prayer circle, or a prayer tea, or a prayer time, but when was the last time you prayed all night until the sun came up, or all day till the sun went down, or until every enemy was slain, or you prayed through until you were heard in the courts of heaven.

I wonder did any body help hold his hands up? Moses had Aaron and Hur in Exodus 17:8-16 to hold his hands and Joshua fought the Amalikites all day, until the going down of the sun. Now we know where Joshua learned it, and Moses built an alter there and named it “YeHoVaH-nissi (The LORD is my banner). You can see this principle for “Spiritual Warfare” in Ex. 17:11, “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hands (in prayer) that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands (in prayer) Amalek prevailed.” “And Moses’ hands were heavy… and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands.” v.12. That’s why we need a team of “rope-handlers and prayer-partners” to stay up our hands and steady our course. We can’t do this alone and neither could Moses or Joshua, or you for that matter!

Talking to your fellow man about God is glorious in deed, but talking to God about your fellow man is even more glorious, Amen? Charles Spurgeon met 5 young students visiting his church before services on Sunday and offered to give them a tour before church began. At one point he showed them his furnace room and it was a hot July day and they were some what reluctant, but he silently opened the door and there were over 700 people on their knees praying for the services to follow and for God’s servant. You marvel at Spurgeon’s ministry and you pale at yours in comparison, maybe YOU need to get 700 people to meet for prayer before the services or during them to pray for the service and the servant or maybe even 70 or 7 and hold up his spear or his rod like Moses or Joshua. Prayer is not just a good idea it is God’s divine plan. He does nothing without prayer and everything with it including destroying your enemies. So, stretch out your spear, lift up your rod and watch what God will do with one of His children wholly and holy sold out to Him. Till next time, I’ll see you, “…Between the Lines…”

“The Battle For Ai and Bethel”    Josh. 8:14-29