The Defeat at Ai

The Land of Canaan

Central Truth:Faith is obedience in action!

Scriptures: Joshua 8

After capturing Jericho, the Israelites next set their site on the city of Ai. The first attack on Ai, the Israelites were defeated. When Joshua prayed to God and asked why they were defeated, God told him that there was sin in the camp. Someone had stolen valuables from the city of Jericho contrary to God’s command that all the spoil was to be devoted to God. After a search of the camp, Achan confessed to taking the goods from Jericho.

After Achan and his family were punished, God’s anger was gone. God tells Joshua that he has given Ai, its people, and the land to the Israelites. Joshua sent a detachment of soldiers by night west of the city. Joshua and the rest of the army camped on the north side of the city. The following morning, the king of Ai sent his army out to battle Joshua and his men who pretended to flee. When the army of Ai pursued after Joshua, he stretched out his spear in the air to signal to the hiding Israelites to enter the city and set it on fire. Joshua and his men then turned around and attacked their pursuers. The Israelites smote all the people of Ai that day. The Israelites were allowed to keep cattle and spoil from the city of Ai.

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School. This week we talked about how obedience and faith are interconnected, so we added a doodle in our journals to remind us of our faith: