Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

The word wiles in greek means, “Methodeia” where we get the word ‘methods’ from.

Joshua Chapters 7 and 8

Coming off the heels of a debilitating loss in Ai, the Children of Israel removed the accursed thing from the camp that stopped them from defeating their enemies. Chapters 7 and 8 of the book of Joshua are drastically different. One started with defeat, self sabotage, and the other with victory. Even though Israel was defeated in chapter 7, we see God use that defeat in the victory of chapter 8. God will use our mistakes, our mess ups for the greater good . Scripture says in Romans 8:28 that He works all things for the good of those who love Him. The good and the bad.

After the first defeat by those in Ai, I would imagine the defeat made the people of Ai proud. I am sure they heard about the mighty conquests of the Children of Israel and how they destroyed the city of Jericho and the nations coming out of Egypt. In Joshua chapter 2, Rahab told the spies the people of Jericho were terrified of the Children of Israel. Scripture says in Joshua 7:3 “And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” The people of Ai were few, but they still defeated the multitude of Israel’s army who fled before them. The victory over the people of Israel got to their heads and it appears they never planned or anticipated a counterattack. The people of Ai got complacent.

Strategies of Warfare

Joshua was a man of war, equipped with the wisdom of God. In his counterattack, Joshua informed the armies of Israel to use the same strategy as they did in the first attack, to flee before the men of Ai to make them think they were defeated. Joshua instructed the men of Israel to draw out all the men from the city as they followed after them. While some of the men of Israel drew out the men of Ai, another platoon would wait in ambush.

Rule #1 – Don’t give place to the enemy. Israel lost the first battle due to sin in the camp.

Rule #2 -Never get complacent.

1 Peter 5:8 says the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He’s always on attack, full time.

Rule #3 -Never under estimate the power of the enemy.

The enemy knows us and studies us. He is always seeking an opportune time to attack.

Rule #4 – Pride comes before destruction.

I would imagine the people of Ai were boastful after defeating the people of Israel.

Rule #5 – Be prepared

As we read on in chapter 8, Joshua prepared the men of war in Israel for battle, he rose up early in the morning and had them in position. He stayed with the men as they camped outside. Joshua ensured the Israelites were ready for war.

On the other end, the people of Ai were not prepared.

Joshua 8:14 – “Now it happened, when the King of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle. The King at Ai did not prepare his men, and they were ill-prepared for battle. The men of Ai probably thought it was business as usual and did not think anything would happen. Because they were in a hurry, they did not have any tactics or strategies down. They rushed and failed to plan.

The people of Ai’s fate was already sealed.