The Lesson of Ai
(Jos. 7:2-5)


The Israelites destroyed the unbreakable city Jericho and hurried to attack the city of Ai, which was much smaller city but they were defeated. What caused them to fail, and why?

1 The result of one’s disobedience
The reason of failure of conquering Ai at first was the disobedience of Achan. When the people took control of Jericho, God commanded them to offer Him everything in the conquered city. Because one man's sin causes the entire group to suffer, we should search for the hidden Achan in our minds and destroy it with the fire of the Holy Spirit. To overcome sin and continue moving toward the promised land of Canaan, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

2. The leader’s carelessness
Another factor of defeat at Ai was confidence of Israelites as well as the carelessness of the leader, who was Joshua. Joshua prayed and obeyed God before leading the group of people to attack Jericho. Instead of listening to God, however, he only listened to the spies when he attacked the city of Ai. When we experience the great victory in our life, we should be careful of our pride and arrogance. When we think we can do it without God, we will experience failure. We should be humble before God, giving thanks to God as God gives us victory. Listen to God. Then, we will continuously experience the grace and the blessing of victories.

3. The recovery and victory
Joshua was not frustrated in distress. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the LORD with the elders of Israel for praying hard. (Jos 7:6) God asked him to rise up for the victory, giving the opportunities to defeat the city of Ai. The Israelites ultimately prevailed in the conflict. God also wants his people to succeed despite their difficulties and frustrations. Even when we are performing trivial tasks, we should seek God's will and submit to Him. Then, we will triumph over setbacks, conquer Ai, and take control of the promised land, Canaan.