 Joshua 8:1-35 And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. (2) And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it." (3) So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. (4) And he commanded them, "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. (5) And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. (6) And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, 'They are fleeing from us, just as before.' So we will flee before them. (7) Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. (8) And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you." (9) So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. (10) Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. (11) And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. (12) He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. (13) So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. (14) And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. (15) And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. (16) So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. (17) Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. (18) Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. (19) And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. (20) So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. (21) And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. (22) And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. (23) But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua. (24) When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. (25) And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. (26) But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. (27) Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. (28) So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. (29) And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day. (30) At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, (31) just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, "an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. (32) And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. (33) And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. (34) And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. (35) There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. Haggai 1:9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not from the Father but from the world. Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Romans 13:14 Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. Ephesians 2:3 We all lived among them at one time in the cravings of our flesh, indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath. James 4:16 As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. Matthew 13:44-51 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, (46) who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (47) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. (48) When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. (49) So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (50) and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (51) "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes." Matthew 6:9-13 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread, (12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. How does Christ become our treasure? 1.) You have to see and agree with your great need for him. It’s not just knowledge. It’s revelation. Not revelation of facts, but revelation of Truth. Are you convinced, does your attitude, heart, relationships, service – reflect the Truth of your confession? If not, be content to continue to cry out, be sincere. The spiritual revelation of Truth is miraculous. It can’t be bought, bargained, traded, earned. It’s received by grace because of God’s mercy. Cry out. Stop playing the game. Stop pretending. Cry out. Weep, lament, beg. Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble (Hebrew kaw-nah' – Subdue - hence, to humiliate, vanquish -- bring down (low), into subjection.) themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2.) Give it all up. Know it’s gone. It’s finished. You’re done fighting, winning, being right, gaining, surpassing. You’re finished. You’re dead. Now it’s all for Him, by Him, through Him. Worship Him as the King of the Universe. If #1 is true, then #2 is sure to follow. If you truly see yourself in a true biblical light, then all you can do is live for Him. Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing (Greek - kat-arg-eh'-o to render entirely useless), so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Ephesians 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
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