LORD OF THE STRATEGY PART 2 - REIGNER DAVIES

Joshua chapter 9 gives the account of the inhabitants of Gibeon who for fear of being destroyed by Israel, having heard of all the Lord had done through them beguiled the people of Israel into making peace and entering into a pact with them. Joshua and the men of Israel “asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord” …vs. 14, but rather examined things from a natural standpoint.

David enjoyed this sweatless battle strategy. 1 Samuel 30:8 records that David inquired of the Lord saying, “…shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” It was very clear to David that Israel did not go to battle in their might.
Israel believed that if they lost anyone in battle, it meant that the Lord did not go with them. We see this in the story of Ai in Joshua chapter 7, where Achan saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment which he picked up along with other items. [There’s nothing known to cripple the power of God like the word – Babylon.] Once Babylon came into the picture, Israel lost naturally, whether or not the Captain was present. In any of the testaments, Old or New, Babylon is solved not by destroying it but by calling people to run out of it. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says “…Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you”. The system of Babylon has been judged already, so once a person enters into that system, they partake of the judgment. Hanging around the system is receiving the judgment of the system. We can safely say that Achan’s deed led to Israel’s woeful loss of the battle against Ai, a very small town. It crippled the advance of the entire army of Israel. In a sense that is correct but Joshua was the actual cause of that loss.
Concerning the inhabitants of Gibeon, he had presumed that because the men looked tired, old, and their bread was moldy, they had come from a long journey. He made decisions based on the seeing of his eyes and the hearing of his ears.
Please notice that when you look again at the story of Ai, this was what they said concerning Ai, “…And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai…and spake unto them saying, Go up and view the country…and they returned to Joshua, and said…Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up to smite Ai, and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few… So went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.” [Joshua 7:2-5].
In essence, they said, “look over that city, that’s a small city. It’s easy to take it, send two thousand men.” They made no enquiry with the Captain.  Whether or not Achan had stolen the Babylonish garment, the strategy was wrong. The strategy for taking Ai was by ambush. They hadn’t seen it before; it was the first occurrence in scripture of the battle strategy called ambush. It was unknown to them but the Captain of the Lord’s Host, the One who sees from heaven’s point of view knew it all.
In the four faces shown by Ezekiel [the Man, the Lion, the Ox and the Eagle], the Eagle is the one that comes from heaven; the Eagle has oversight on strategy; it sees the battlefront from the most important point of view – the end from the beginning.

Now notice, after the Israelites were smitten, Joshua and the elders came and lay before the Lord lamenting and would not rise up. The Lord then spoke to Joshua saying, ‘Rise up. There’s already a covenant breaker in your midst, something capable of breaking the advance of peace you already have – a Babylonish thing. So let’s start by taking the mixture away.’
So step one, they enquired of the Lord until Achan was discovered and the problem was fixed. Notice next that the Lord did not say to them straightway, ‘Go and take over Ai’, instead He said, this is “how” to take over Ai. The Lord said send men that will go straight and attack Ai, once your soldiers see the men of Ai, let them flee. The men of Ai will pursue your soldiers. Also hide some men in the bushes. Once the people of Ai run out pursuing your men, let the men hiding in the bushes run into the town and set the town on fire. Immediately the people of Ai see that their town is ablaze, they would run back to salvage it, then your men from both ends would meet them in the middle in combat and prevail over them. [The people of Ai could die for their city.]
And when Joshua followed the strategy, They had the victory over Ai.

The same Holy Ghost that was called the Lord of Hosts is also the Chairman of the Board. He’s the One who sits in your inner man. The word ghost is an English word. The term refers to something that is not substantial. This does not do justice to the personality alive in you. Once it comes to formation for victory, you’re in good hands and it would do us great good in these coming days to rest in His plan as The Plan. It’s part of the showing of the things to come. The grounds we have won are so much that the currencies we use in exchange have to be what I call the right currency for the trade.

Genesis chapter 23 portrays the account where, after Sarah’s death, Abraham entreated the sons of Heth and insisted that they allow him purchase the land for Sarah’s burial, and Abraham purchased the land for four hundred shekels of silver. Abraham was purchasing the land that would be like a tithe: the ground that would later on call entire Israel to take possession. He was purchasing legal ground that would eventually become their vital experience. “…Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given you…” Joshua 1:3. This doesn’t just mean where your legs shall travel, it also means whatever grounds you purchase. If you’ve gone into a place and transacted business or set up an establishment, just know that you can own the entire city. So the sole of your feet includes the sole of your feet but also means the first establishment.