Day 15. Third Principle of Freedom

Question 3

To see the importance of seeking the Lord to get a battle plan, let’s consider a particular battle the Israelites fought against a little town called Ai.
The Israelites had just won their first battle in the Promised Land against the city of Jericho by following God’s unconventional instructions on how to defeat it (marching around the city for a week). They were feeling strong and mighty. So Joshua sent some spies to Ai, who returned and told him that it was just a little town. They counseled that Joshua should send up just a small army to take the city.
So Joshua sent just 3,000 men, who confidently marched up to Ai, but the outcome was not the expected one. Here was the result: “They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this, the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water” (Joshua 7:5).
The Israelites had not consulted with God about Ai. They simply developed their own plans and carried out their own schemes in the power of their own flesh. And this was a recipe for disaster.
Had the Israelites consulted with God about Ai, God would have told them that there was sin in their camp because someone had taken forbidden things from the city of Jericho and hid them in his tent, and that sin needed to be dealt with before they could expect victory (see Joshua 7:10–12).
Question 3. What does this loss at Ai teach us?
That little sins aren’t very important; it's better to focus on big ones.
That we must consult with the Lord and find out from His Word how to be victorious.
That when we win one battle, it is proof that we will continue to win.
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As Christians, it's crucial to seek the Lord's plan for victory. If we rely on worldly counsel and what seems logical to us, we will harm ourselves. The world lacks the understanding of death to sin, resurrection to new life, and walking with God's Spirit to overcome our fleshly desires.
The Lord's path to victory may defy worldly logic, just as His solution to humanity's sin problem involved sacrificing His Son on a cross. While the world may see this as foolish and irrelevant, it holds profound significance.
Tomorrow, we will delve into the importance of seeking the Lord to formulate our plan for victory.