And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
The mistakes Israel made at the “Battle of First Ai,” and the lessons we can learn from them are numerous.
- It wasn’t a mistake to send to “view the country.” Joshua had done that previous to Jericho as well.
- It was a mistake to heed the counsel of the men without seeking the counsel of God
- It was a mistake to go to Ai before dealing with the sun in the camp (Achan and the accursed thing) and
- It was a mistake to send just 3000 men to the battle
The advice to send just two or three thousand was based on some false assumptions
- That Ai was small and, therefore, weak
- That Israel was too powerful to be defeated
There may have been an element of compassion or perhaps a sort of budgeting of resources in the suggestion to “Let not all the people go up.”
As a pastor, I am often tempted to let people off the hook. I can do it myself or ask someone I know is willing. It’s tempting to spare those who don’t have a heart for the things of God the burden of serving the Lord. That’s a mistake. The local church is a body. It is to function as a whole body. It’s supposed to be all hands-on deck, each one doing his or her part in the ministry of the Lord.
Israel would almost certainly have lost at the Battle of First Ai, even if they had all gone, because they still had the matter of the accursed thing. And they still had not consulted the Lord.
But they would surely have done better than they did with just a few.
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824
Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”
For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.
If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.
For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.
My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org
Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more
Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give.
No comments:
Post a Comment