Today as we look at the Old Testament, the Israelites are under the direction of the leader and judge named Joshua. He is still famous today for the mighty battle of Jericho; whose unbreakable walls were brought down by obeying God’s cool, yet strange, plan. But we don’t hear much about the battle of Ai, have you heard of it? Well in order to understand why “Ai” doesn’t show up at the top of Joshua’s resume, we’ll need to look at Jericho’s great battle first.

The whole nation circled the city for a week. Then finally on the last day they circled it seven times. It would be only God who could take credit at the end of this day.

16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.” – Joshua 6:16-19

Joshua had an entire land to conquer, but the first enemy had been defeated, so Israel rested joyfully that night. Much like he did with Jericho, Joshua then sent spies on to the next city named Ai. When they returned they said “this place is nothing, let most of the men rest, just send a few thousand to fight”. So Joshua took their advice…

So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water. – Joshua 7:4-5

Joshua came weeping before the Ark of the Covenant and cried out “why have you let us face such an awful defeat? You led us to conquer the greatest city and now we’ve lost 36 men to a horde of gardeners with pitch forks?” But the Lord would now answer Joshua question with another…

God essentially says “who among you took from the stuff devoted to destruction?”. See God wanted his people to completely rely upon Him. God gave them victory; He was enough FTW (for the win!). If God is enough “for the win”, He will be enough “AFTER the win”.

But this was not the case for Achan, son of Karmi. He had taken some of the treasures of Jericho and hidden them under his tent, directly against Joshua’s orders and God’s command. There was Sin in the Camp! It is not necessarily what he did that was so evil; it was the heart behind it. He wasn’t satisfied with God’s love or God’s victory, he wanted something of his own. This was the very sin that dragged Satan out of his angelic realm and into the depths.

When the men discovered Achan’s sin, he was executed for his crime. This lust for possessions cost many people their fathers, husbands, and family members at the battle of Ai.

Application: What do you cling to so tightly? Can you honestly look to heaven and say “God, you are enough for me!”

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By Joey

Joey (Red Warrior) received his first Redemption cards in 1996 when his grandmother bought an A/B starter set at a bookstore in Iowa. He has been hooked ever since. Joey has led playgroups in Des Moines (IA), Leon (IA), Moberly (MO), and Braymer (MO) with several active players still represented in each. Joey now serves as the worship leader at Rising Sun Church of Christ in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Although Joey enjoys playing the game, his greatest joy has always come from teaching new players and using Redemption to share the hope of Jesus Christ.