An Ai For An Eye
- The Israelites prepare for a rematch with Ai.
- God tells Joshua to take all the booty. By booty, we're obviously referring to Ai's treasures. Duh.
- God decides that this time the herem will allow for some booty to be kept. Whatever you say, God.
- The Israelites plan to ambush the city from behind, kind of like that time Han Solo and the Ewoks tried to ambush the Empire on Endor.
- The king of Ai and all his warriors come out to meet the Israelites in battle.
- Remembering the last time they met, the men of Ai and their king rush out and chase the Israelites, leaving Ai virtually unprotected.
- Obviously, the king of Ai never read Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
- God tells Joshua to stretch out his sword arm toward arm, much like Moses stretches out his staff in Exodus 14:15-16.
- At this point, the Israelites stop running and turn around and charge.
- The soldiers of Ai see their city burning and the other half of the Israelite army charging toward them.
- To Ai, this is like being caught in the trash compactor on the Death Star.
- Yes, we know we made two Star Wars references in one chapter summary, but you know what? We don't care. Because Star Wars.
- The Israelites kill 12,000 men and women and hang the king of Ai outside the city ruins as a warning to not mess with the best.
- Joshua then builds an altar to God on Mount Ebal just as it was instructed to Moses in Deuteronomy 27:4-7.
- Joshua, just to be more like Moses, writes a copy of the Law of Moses on stones and reads it to everyone.