Joshua 7:1-3
But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there."
The defeat of Ai was not only due to Achan's sin, but also Israelites for relying too much on themselves. The battle of Jericho was too smooth and the Israelites became known throughout the land of Canaan, therefore the spies that went to Ai reported that the city would be easy to conquer compared to Jericho because there weren't many that lived in Ai. Two or three thousand men would be enough, and hence don't need to send the whole army. They ended up being defeated by men of Ai.
The battle of Ai revealed the weak nature of men, which is the tendency of relying on one's flesh. The weakness of Christians doesn't lie with Christian being weak but lies with Christians being too able and wanting to do things in their own way via their own strength and wisdom. It seems like many Christians are saying to the Lord, "Lord, I know You are very busy so don't worry about me, I have had everything figured out and will have no problem!" This does not mean you shouldn't prepare or plan for anything, but this does mean that we need to allow God to work in our lives in the midst of our planning and preparations.
Not only did the spies not relying on God, Joshua also had the same problem. In the past, he sought the will of God in every important thing and would get up early in the morning to seek the will of God. But in the battle of Ai, he did not seek the Lord's will. We are usually more alert when we are facing big challenge. During a mission trip to Vancouver, we led different services in different places every day, and everyone was nervous. Hence we all pray earnestly because we were concern that things would go wrong, and we experienced great victory. After we came back, we became not alerted and relaxed since we were back to familiar circumstances. May the Lord help us to be alert before the Lord, so that we won't live our lives by our strength and our might, but by the Spirit of God.
Pray with Pastor Tong
Dear Lord, may You once again remind us to put our hope in You every day. For not only You are the Lord that lead us to conquer Jericho, you are also the Lord that lead us to conquer Ai. Help us to seek Your will more and rely on You more. I thank you and I pray all these in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!
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