“Do to ‘Ai and its king as you did to Yericho and its king; but this time, take its spoil and cattle as booty for yourselves. Ambush the city from behind.’”-Joshua 8:2
So finally, finally after much self-examination, a national confession and bringing Achan to justice (the one who had stolen God’s holy property), the Lord once again orders Israel to attack AI.
Naturally, the troops, who before were certain an easy victory would be theirs, are now a bit hesitant and fearful.
This is why God tells them to NOT fear or despair because the Lord has already handed over AI to them.
Again, all they have to do is remain faithful and obedient to the Lord and everything will go well (A major lesson here folks. Read that last sentence again if you have to).
Next, notice that this time God is going to allow the soldiers to take the spoils of war for themselves.
HEREM or “the ban” will not be applied to the possessions of the enemy this time around.
Or, in other words, the Lord has declared that ALL the other possessions of the residents of AI would NOT be considered as holy property.
What’s the reason behind this sudden change?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I think we can see the principle of firstfruits unfolding here.
While I won’t be dogmatic about this and if the truth be told, there is quite a lot of theological debate on this point, I see a clear pattern.
Why?
Because Jericho was the first city in the Promised Land to be taken.
Therefore, it was literally the firstfruits of the cities of Canaan and thus Hashem was entitled to ALL the spoils.
However, since AI was the 2nd second city taken, per the pattern of Firstfruits, the soldiers were allowed share in the booty.
Again, we’ll see this principle applied to all of the groves and vineyards that were planted after Israel settled in the land.
The produce from what was planted was not to be touched until the 5th season.
The first 3 seasons were set aside to allow the plants and trees to grow and mature.
During this time, the Israelites weren’t even allowed to pick so much as one apple from the trees!!!
Finally, when we came to the 4th season, all of the crops matured but they were to ALL be turned over to God.
Again, the reason is because all of these crops were to be considered as holy property.
Finally, we arrive at the 5th season.
And it is here that finally, finally the people were allowed to partake of the majority of the produce (after Hashem got His portion first of course).
So there you have it folks.
Jericho, the firstfruits city, was under the ban and thus COMPLETELY devoted to the Lord.
However, Ai, operated under much less strict rules that allowed the people to partake of the spoils of war.
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