The Anatomy of a Godly Ambush Text: Joshua 8:10-17
Introduction: The Wisdom of the Serpent
We come now to the second attempt on Ai. The first attempt, as you recall, was a miserable failure. It was a failure born of pride, presumption, and a hidden pocket of disobedience festering in the camp. Achan's sin had defiled the entire nation, and God made it clear that He would not be trifled with. The people of God had to learn, and learn the hard way, that victory is never a matter of superior numbers or clever strategy alone. Victory is a gift, granted by a holy God to an obedient people.
But now, the sin has been dealt with. Achan and his household have been judged, the filth has been purged from the camp, and God has once again said to Joshua, "Do not fear and do not be dismayed." God's favor has returned, but this does not mean that Israel can now put their feet up and wait for the walls to fall down on their own. God's grace does not nullify our responsibility; it energizes it. God promises the victory, and then He commands Joshua to go and fight for it. This is the biblical pattern. We work out the salvation that God has already worked in.
And notice what God commands. He commands a military stratagem. He commands an ambush. He tells Joshua to use guile, cunning, and what our modern, effeminate sensibilities might call "deception." This is a crucial lesson for the church today. We are called to be innocent as doves, it is true. But we are also commanded to be wise as serpents. There is a time for the frontal assault, the bold declaration from the rooftops. And there is a time for the ambush. There is a time to lay a trap for the enemy. The devil is a crafty foe, and we are not to be ignorant of his devices. In our spiritual warfare, we must not confuse piety with stupidity. Godly wisdom often involves out-thinking the enemy, not just out-muscling him.
The events before Ai teach us that God's battles must be fought God's way. This involves both utter reliance on His supernatural power and the diligent use of the natural means and mental faculties He has given us. We are to pray as if everything depends on God, and then we are to plan and work as if everything depends on us. This passage gives us the anatomy of a godly ambush, a case study in how faith and wisdom work together to secure the victory God has promised.
The Text
Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. So they set the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. Now it happened that when the king of Ai saw it, the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. 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 by the way of the wilderness. And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. So not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they forsook the city, leaving it open, and pursued Israel.
(Joshua 8:10-17 LSB)
Obedient Preparation (vv. 10-13)
We begin with Joshua's meticulous preparations.
"Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. So they set the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley." (Joshua 8:10-13)
The first thing to notice is Joshua's diligence. "He rose early in the morning." This is a characteristic of a faithful leader. He is not lazy. He is not waiting for inspiration to strike. He has received his orders from the Commander-in-Chief, and he is prompt to obey. This is not the rash presumption of the first attack. This is the energetic obedience of a man whose confidence is in God's command, not in his own assessment of the enemy's strength.
He musters the people and goes up "with the elders of Israel." This is public, accountable leadership. The first time, a small detachment was sent in semi-contempt. This time, the whole nation is engaged, and the leadership is front and center. This is a corporate act of obedience. They are all in this together, moving as one body under God.
The strategy is laid out with geographical precision. The main army camps to the north of Ai, in plain sight. This is the bait. They are making themselves an obvious target, inviting the attack. Meanwhile, a second force of five thousand men is set in ambush on the west side of the city, between Bethel and Ai. This is the trap. The main force is the visible threat, while the real danger lies hidden. This is a classic military maneuver, the feigned retreat designed to draw an enemy out of a fortified position.
And where is Joshua? "Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley." He places himself in the most vulnerable position, between his main force and the city of Ai. He is leading from the front, taking the personal risk. He is not directing the battle from a safe distance. This is the heart of a true shepherd. He goes before his sheep. When the fighting starts, he will be the first to "flee," leading the feigned retreat and drawing the enemy's fire. This kind of leadership breeds courage in the men.
Enemy Presumption (v. 14)
Next, we see the reaction of the king of Ai. It is exactly what Joshua and the Lord had anticipated.
"Now it happened that when the king of Ai saw it, the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city." (Joshua 8:14 LSB)
The king of Ai is a perfect picture of arrogant unbelief. He sees the same army that he had so easily routed just a few days before. He sees them camped in the same general area. His pride swells. He thinks, "We have beaten them once, we can certainly beat them again." Pride is the devil's native language, and it always leads to destruction.
Notice the details. The men of the city "hurried and rose up early." They are eager for the fight. They are confident, puffed up by their previous success. They think they have Israel's number. This is how the world operates. It judges by past performance and outward appearances. It cannot see the spiritual reality. It cannot see that Israel has repented, that God's favor has been restored, and that the entire situation has been spiritually transformed.
The crucial phrase is this: "But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city." The world is blind to the spiritual realities that are about to overwhelm it. The enemies of God always operate on faulty intelligence. They see the church in its weakness, they see our past failures, they see our small numbers, and they rush out to attack, filled with contempt. They do not know that the power of the resurrection is hidden behind them, ready to cut off their retreat and seal their doom.
The Strategic Retreat (vv. 15-17)
Now the trap is sprung, beginning with a masterful piece of battlefield acting.
"And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness. And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. So not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they forsook the city, leaving it open, and pursued Israel." (Joshua 8:15-17 LSB)
Joshua and the main army "pretended to be beaten." They feigned terror. They turned and ran. This required immense discipline. It is one thing to charge an enemy, but it is another thing entirely to run away from him in a controlled, strategic manner. This was not a panicked rout; it was an act of obedient faith. They were trusting that God's plan was better than their own instincts. Their flight was a weapon.
And the enemy takes the bait, hook, line, and sinker. "All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them." The king of Ai, in his hubris, empties his city. He calls out every available man. Even the neighboring city of Bethel joins the chase. This is a critical error born of greed and overconfidence. He wants not just to repel Israel, but to annihilate them. He wants total victory. And in his lust for it, he abandons his only security.
"They forsook the city, leaving it open." This is the key to the entire battle. By drawing the enemy out of his stronghold, Joshua has made him vulnerable. The walls of Ai were its strength, but that strength is useless if there is no one left to defend them. The enemy has been lured onto Joshua's chosen field of battle.
The Gospel Ambush
This entire account is a beautiful illustration of the gospel, and of the spiritual warfare we are engaged in. The story of our redemption is the story of a divine ambush.
Satan, the king of this world, saw Jesus come in the flesh. He saw a carpenter's son from a nowhere town in Galilee. He saw a man who was, in the words of Isaiah, "despised and rejected by men." He looked at Jesus and, like the king of Ai, he was filled with contempt. He saw weakness. He saw a man who could be tempted, who could be betrayed, who could be arrested and beaten and nailed to a cross.
And so he mustered all his forces. He called together the religious pride of the Pharisees, the political expediency of Pilate, the mob bloodlust of the crowd, and the treachery of Judas. He pursued Jesus all the way to Golgotha. He drew him out, away from the heavenly city, and onto the field of battle. And when Christ hung on that cross, seemingly broken and defeated, Satan believed he had won. He saw the ultimate feigned retreat. He saw God forsake His own Son. The city was left open; the victory seemed total.
But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. He did not know that the cross, which looked like the instrument of his greatest victory, was in fact the spring of God's perfect trap. For in that moment of apparent defeat, Christ was disarming the principalities and powers, triumphing over them by it (Colossians 2:15). He was paying the penalty for sin, satisfying the justice of God, and thereby robbing Satan of his only legal claim on us.
And then, on the third day, the ambush was revealed. The 5,000 men, a picture of the resurrection power of God, rose up from their hidden place and took the city. Christ rose from the grave, having conquered sin and death and hell. Satan's retreat was cut off. His stronghold was taken. His power was broken. He was drawn out by the apparent weakness of the cross, only to be destroyed by the hidden power of the resurrection.
This is the pattern for our own lives. We fight our battles not with worldly arrogance, but with the wisdom of the cross. We advance by retreating to Christ. We conquer by surrendering to His will. We overcome the enemy by embracing the apparent foolishness of the gospel. And when the world rushes out to destroy us, thinking us weak and defeated, it does not see the power of the resurrection hidden behind it, ready to secure for us the final, glorious victory.