提要
艾城的故事是一個悲劇，也是約書亞記中以色列人在戰場上唯一的挫敗。艾城雖小，但在戰略上有其重要性.因為它位居從吉甲通往迦南地心臟地帶的要道。以色列人必須攻佔該城才能繼續前進。以色列人在奇蹟式的過了約旦河又攻陷耶利哥城後，心裡一定信心十足，而這次的滑鐵盧也一定令他們大感震驚。以色列人的失敗不是因為軍力不足或錯誤的情報，而是如上帝所解釋的，因為在他們當中的罪。
艾城的慘敗使以色列人的心「消化如水」（5節），因他們一向倚賴的「上帝的同在」似乎遠離他們了，這是他們最大的懼怕。約書亞撕裂衣裳，把灰灑在頭上，表達他的痛苦和羞辱。他向上帝求幫助和答案。他怕上帝已經離棄以色列人，而讓迦南人重燃希望，聯合起來攻擊以色列。最重要的是，約書亞和摩西一樣，擔心上帝的大名在迦南地蒙塵（9節；參民14：13）。
上帝對約書亞的答覆（也是對每一個遭遇挫敗的信徒的回答）是，他應該起來，停止悲傷，有所行動。上帝希望以色列人與祂恢復正常的關係，但是被以色列營中的罪攔阻了。罪無法隱藏，遲早都會被顯露出來，也必須要被對付（詩69：5；可4：21~23）。即使是一個人的罪也會對其他的許多人造成不利的影響（22：20）。如果以色列人不趕快採取行動，上帝說：「你們若不把當滅的物從你們中間除掉，我就不再與你們同在了」（12節）。摩西一再強調，以色列人全會眾都有責任除掉他們中間的罪，否則上帝就不能以他們為合一的團體，透過他們做什麼工作。
上帝叫約書亞吩咐百姓自潔，預備第二天迎見上帝。上帝絕不能使用不潔淨的器皿，祂必須先對付罪。當以色列人照著命令預備妥當後，上帝就引導他們揪出罪犯亞干（可能是藉著拈鬮，也可能是藉大祭司胸牌上的烏陵和土明）。亞干清楚知道，從耶利哥拿取任何當獻給上帝的戰利品是一項可怕的罪。當他認罪時，他說：「我見」、「我貪愛」、「我拿去了」（21節）。這是導致犯罪的典型三步曲。第四步通常就是使他人受害。亞干的行為使以色列全國受罪；不只亞干被打死，他的家人和在艾城之役中喪生的三十六位士兵也都受到他的牽連。
以色列全體百姓立即對破壞上帝之約的人及其家人執行審判。亞干的家人當然也知道這項罪行，因為他們住在贓物所在的同一帳幕下，卻保持沈默。亞干既是一家之主，就陷全家於罪和審判中。他們被石頭打死，然後又用火焚燒，以潔淨營地。在他們的屍身上堆了一大堆石頭，用來提醒其他人，破壞上帝之約的結果。在亞割谷（「麻煩」的意思，6：18；7：25；代上2：7），在他們羞愧、失敗的時候，以色列人順服上帝，把罪從他們中間除掉，所以上帝也為他們開了指望的門（參何2：15），使他們能重獲祝福，並能繼續成功的佔領迦南地。
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Overview
This story is the main tragedy and the only military defeat in the book of Joshua. Ai was a small-fortified city that had strategic importance, since it guarded the pass leading from Gilgal to the center of the country. It was necessary for Israel to take it before they could move onward. After the miraculous crossing of the Jordan and the defeat of Jericho, Israel would have been confident and encouraged. Their defeat, however, must have come as a tremendous shock. Israel did not lose because of weakness or a wrong report from the spies, but as the Lord explained, they lost the battle because of sin in their camp.
With that shameful defeat, “the hearts of the people melted” (v.5), not because of fear, as was the case with the people of Jericho (2:11), but because it appeared that the presence of the Lord, upon which they had relied, was no longer with them, and that was devastating. Joshua expressed his distress and humiliation by tearing his clothes and putting dust on his head. He turned to the Lord for help and the answer. He feared God had forsaken them and that the Canaanites would now gain fresh hope and join forces to attack Israel. Most of all, like Moses, he was concerned about God’s honor which was at stake in the eyes of the inhabitants of the land (v.9; cf.Num.14:13).
The Lord’s response to Joshua, as well as to any believer who experiences defeat, was that he should get up, stop lamenting, and get working. God wanted to see Israel restored to the proper relationship with Him, but sin in the camp was preventing it. Sin cannot be covered up; sooner or later it will be exposed and it must be dealt with (Ps.69:5; Mark 4:21-23). The sin of even one man can have an adverse affect on many others (22:20). If Israel did not act quickly and do something about it, God said: “Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you” (v.12). Moses had repeatedly stressed that the whole congregation of Israel was responsible to put away the evil from among them or else God would not work through them as a unified body. The same is true within the body of believers today.
Joshua was to order all the people to sanctify themselves in preparation for God’s presence among them. God will never work in unclean vessels; they must first be purged of sin. When Israel was thus prepared, God’s guidance caused the culprit, Achan, to be found out. It may have been by some kind of lot or by the mysterious Urim and Thummim that the high priest wore upon his breastplate (cf.Num.21). Achan knew full well that to take from Jericho any spoil that was devoted to the Lord was an awful crime. When he confessed his sin he said, “I saw”, “I coveted”, and “I took” (v.21). This typical three-step pathway to sin, however, does not stop there. The fourth step is always the involvement of others who are made to suffer. In Achan’s case, it involved the whole nation upon which he had brought collective guilt; and not only was Achan put to death, but so were his family and thirty-six soldiers.
All Israel acted quickly to execute God’s judgment upon the violator of the covenant and his household. Surely, his family knew of the trespass, for they lived in the same tent under which the stolen items had been buried; yet they remained silent. As the head and example for his family, Achan involved his whole household in his guilt and punishment. They were stoned and then burned to purge the camp. A pile of stone was laid upon them that would serve as a warning to others of the consequences of breaking God’s covenant. In this valley of Achor (meaning “trouble”; 6:18; 7:25; 1 Chron.2:7), at the point of shame and defeat, Israel was obedient to God in putting the evil away from them; therefore, God opened the door of hope (see Hos.2:15), and this opened the way for the return of God’s blessing and their continued success in possessing the land.
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