Bird's-eye view
In the previous chapter, Israel was routed. They were defeated, humiliated, and struck with terror before the men of Ai. The reason for this was not a failure of military intelligence, but a failure of covenant faithfulness. Achan sinned, and the whole nation felt the consequences. After that sin was dealt with in a most severe fashion, God now speaks to Joshua again. This passage is about restoration. It is about God picking His people up out of the dirt of their failure, cleansing them, and setting them back on the path of conquest. The central theme here is God's grace in the face of our sin and failure. He does not abandon His purposes or His people. He disciplines, He restores, and He leads on to victory. This is the gospel pattern: repentance from sin, followed by a renewed commission from God.
Outline
- 1. A Divine Commission Renewed (Josh 8:1-2)
- a. The Command Against Fear (v. 1a)
- b. The Command to Full Engagement (v. 1b)
- c. The Confidence of a Finished Work (v. 1c)
- d. The Command of Strategic Obedience (v. 2)
- i. The Jericho Precedent (v. 2a)
- ii. The Gracious Provision (v. 2b)
- iii. The Tactical Wisdom (v. 2c)
Context In Joshua
These verses cannot be understood apart from the disaster of Joshua 7. Israel's triumphal march into Canaan, which began with the miraculous victory at Jericho, came to a screeching halt at the small town of Ai. Joshua 7 reveals the reason: Achan's covetousness led him to violate the rule of herem (devotion to destruction). He took of the accursed things, and as a result, God's favor was removed from the nation. The army was defeated, thirty six men were killed, and "the hearts of the people melted and became as water" (Josh 7:5). After Achan and his family were stoned and burned, thus purging the evil from Israel, the stage was set for God to act again. Joshua 8 is the divine response to Israel's corporate repentance. It is the second attempt on Ai, but this time it will be done God's way, flowing from a cleansed camp and a direct command from Yahweh.
Verse by Verse Commentary
Joshua 8:1
Now Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land."
The first thing God does is address the state of Joshua's heart. "Do not fear or be dismayed." After the rout at Ai, fear would have been the entirely natural response. Joshua had torn his clothes and fallen on his face, bewildered by the defeat (Josh 7:6). God's first word to him here is a command to set that fear aside. This is not a therapeutic suggestion; it is a military order from the commander of the Lord's army. Courage for a believer is not the absence of frightening circumstances, but rather the presence of a commanding God. The basis for this courage is not a change in Joshua, but a word from Yahweh.
Next, the practical instruction. "Take all the people of war with you." The first attempt on Ai was made with a small detachment of about three thousand men, a decision based on the spies' arrogant assessment that Ai was a small matter (Josh 7:3). That was pride. Now God commands humility and full obedience. He tells Joshua to take the entire army. The point is not that God needs their numbers. The point is that God demands their total commitment and obedience. He is teaching them not to lean on their own understanding or their assessment of the enemy's strength, but to simply do exactly what He says.
And then comes the promise that makes the whole enterprise possible: "see, I have given into your hand..." Note the tense. It is past tense. As far as God is concerned, the victory is an accomplished fact. It is already settled in the heavenly court. Joshua and his army are not going up to Ai to win a victory, but rather to receive the victory that God has already won for them and is now giving to them. This is the essence of faith. We do not fight for victory, but from a victory already secured for us in Christ. The promise is total and comprehensive: the king, his people, his city, and his land. God is giving them everything.
Joshua 8:2
"So you shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."
The first part of the instruction connects this battle to the last successful one. The pattern of Jericho is to be the standard. This means the city was to be devoted to the Lord under the laws of herem, which was the execution of God's judicial sentence upon the Canaanites for their centuries of accumulated sin. This was not a land grab; it was holy war, and Israel was the instrument of God's righteous judgment.
But there is a crucial difference. "You shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves." At Jericho, all the spoil was devoted to the Lord's treasury. Achan's sin was taking for himself what belonged exclusively to God. Now, after that sin has been purged from the camp, God graciously makes provision for His people. The very thing that was a source of temptation and judgment is now given as a gift. This is a beautiful picture of grace. Once sin is dealt with, fellowship is restored, and with that fellowship comes blessing and provision. God is not a cosmic killjoy; He delights to bless His obedient children.
Finally, God gives the strategy. "Set an ambush for the city behind it." The victory at Jericho was accomplished through a direct, supernatural intervention. The walls fell down. The victory at Ai will be accomplished through a divinely-inspired military tactic. This teaches us that God is sovereign over both the miracle and the method. Faith is not opposed to strategy. Faith is not a synonym for stupidity. We are to trust God completely, and part of that trust is using the minds and means He has given us to obey His instructions. God gives the promise of victory, and then He gives the battle plan. Joshua's job is to trust the former and execute the latter.
Application
The pattern here is a profound encouragement for every believer. We all face our own "battle of Ai," times when we have failed, sinned, and been spiritually routed. The temptation in those moments is to fear and be dismayed, to think that our usefulness to God is over. But God's word to Joshua is His word to us. He does not discard His servants because of their failures.
The first step to restoration is always dealing with the sin. For Israel, this meant executing Achan. For us, it means confessing our sin, for He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Once the sin is dealt with, God does not tell us to sit on the sidelines in shame. He says, "Arise, go up." He gives a new commission.
Our confidence in this new commission is not in ourselves, for we know our own weakness all too well. Our confidence is in His declaration: "I have given." Our victory over sin, the world, and the devil has already been secured by Christ at the cross. We are now called to walk in that victory. And as we walk in obedience, we find that God graciously provides for us, even turning the spoils of our spiritual warfare into blessings for us. We are to trust His promises and obey His strategies as laid out in His word, knowing that He is the one who gives the victory.