"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."
The Israelites had experienced GOD removing HIS protective shield from before them when they battled Ai the first time. Why would GOD allow an inferior foe such as Ai to be victorious over Israel when other nations were no match for them. Some of the treasure from the battle of Jericho was taken in direct conflict to the instructions from GOD. GOD refused to protect Israel because of the disobedience of Achan and the entire nation of Israel had to suffer the consequences.
When you are battling EVIL you can't give it a chance to recuperate or get a second wind. The apparent humane thing to do is to allow non-combatants to escape death. But EVIL must be dealt with differently. You can't apply humane treatment to those who are inhuman. Eradicating EVIL is the only way to assure it
Just as the Israelites had to learn a painful lesson with Achan, sometimes we have to learn lessons from trying to not offend and let sin grow in our midst. It is true that EVIL will always be present until satan is cast into an eternal fiery grave (Revelation 20:10), but we must learn that EVIL has no decency nor honor. The only way to bring peace and contentment in our lives is through the Prince Of Peace! The enemy attempts to bring "TURMOIL and CHAOS" into our lives through promising wealth and prosperity, but JESUS speaks PEACE, BE STILL!
As soon as Israel dealt with sin of Achan they immediately went back to battling Ai. Joshua 8:24 says they killed ALL the inhabitants of AI. They didn't let the women and children off with a warning. They removed ALL EVIL from their existence. Then the Israelites built an altar and gave thanks to GOD ALMIGHTY for their victory. As believers, we have to remove ALL "TURMOIL and CHAOS" from our lives. Sometimes it calls for removing people from our surroundings. There will not be true PEACE until the "TURMOIL and CHAOS" has been dealt with!!
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