Making a mess of it

Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. – Joshua 7.11-13

Israel made a proper mess of things of things in the next battle at a city called Ai. After Jericho they must have been excited about what had happened. They did what God said and God gave them victory.

So they came to Ai and surveyed the city. They decided it wouldn’t take the whole army but just a small portion of it. We never read where they prayed or asked God or sought the Lord or anything of the sort – they would just take a small part of the army and go take care of Ai.

But that wasn’t God’s plan. Not only did they not with to see what God wanted them to do, but they exacerbated the problem with something we will look at tomorrow.

Ai is an example of what can happen when we don’t look for God’s way. God knows best – He is after all the All-Wise God. We ought to seek Him before we act.