Beginning of the End: Why Israel Was Defeated at Ai

 Soon after the fall of Jericho, Joshua prepared to attack Ai, a small town among the hills a few miles west of the Jordan Valley. Spies brought the report that there were only a few people living there, and only a small force would be needed to overthrow it.

The great victory that God had given them had made the Israelites self-confident. They failed to realize that only divine help could give them success. Even Joshua made his  plans for the conquest of Ai without seeking counsel from God.

The Israelites had begun to look on their foes with disrespect. They expected an easy victory and thought three thousand men were enough to take the city. These marched almost to the city’s gate, only to meet determined resistance. Panic-stricken at how many and well-prepared their enemies were, they fled in confusion down the steep slope. The Canaanites “chased them from before the gate ... and struck them down in the descent.” Though the loss was small in numbers—thirty-six men killed—the defeat was discouraging. “The hearts of the people melted and became like water.”

Joshua saw their defeat as an evidence of God’s displeasure. In distress and concern he “tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.”

“Alas, Lord God,” he cried, “why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? ... O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

The answer was, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has ... transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.” It was a time for prompt and firm action, not for despair and wailing. There was secret sin in the camp, and it must be searched out and put away. “Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.”