“JERICHO, AI AND GIBEON”
The people of Israel was in slavery in the land of Egypt, and the Lord came to deliver them from their bondage, and to take them into the land which He had promised their ancestor “Abraham” hundreds of years ago. The land that is good, large, and flowing with milk and honey and that is the land of Canaan the younger brother of Ethiopia (Exodus 3:8; Genesis 10:6). When they left Egypt, the Lord led the children of Israel through the wilderness, because of disobedience, and had them spend thirty eight to forty years in the wilderness, until all the generation of the men of war were wasted (Numbers 14:33-34; Deuteronomy 2:14; 29:5-6). At the completion of forty years, Joshua sent two men to the city of Jericho to spy the place.
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After the Lord gave Joshua total victory over Jericho, he led his army against the great city of Ai, and to his ultimate surprise the Israelites lost the battle to the people of Ai due to the sin of Achan (Joshua 7:1-12). Joshua cried to God, the Lord told him there was sin among his people which led to their total defeat, meaning that God does not tolerate sin, if He has to be faithful to the Israelites, they have to be faithful to God’s commandment. Joshua went back and the whole congregation stoned Achan and his family to death, and the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the people of Ai (Joshua 8:1-28). When the Gibeonites heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, they were so afraid to lose their own city to the children of Israel. Due to fear, the Gibeonites disguised themselves as foreigners and tricked Joshua into making peace treaty with them in order to spare their lives. Joshua made peace treaty and vowed not to destroy them without knowing they were