THIRTY THOUSAND: Or perhaps 30 "captains", each with
his company of troops. See Lesson, Large numbers in the OT.
Jos 8:12
FIVE THOUSAND: Or perhaps 5 "officers", with their men
(cp v 3). See v 3 and Lesson, Large numbers in OT.
Notice sequence: an army of "about three thousand" (Jos 7:4);
another army of "about five thousand" (Jos 8:12); and a king "hanged on a tree"
(Jos 8:29). Cp sequence in Acts: 3,000 converts (Act 2:41); 5,000 converts (Act
4:4); and "Jesus, whom you killed by hanging on a tree" (Act 5:30;
10:39).
Jos 8:25
TWELVE THOUSAND: Or perhaps 12 "officers" with their
men (cp Jos 8:3,12).
Jos 8:26
Joshua did not need others to strengthen his hand, in ct to
Moses (Exo 17:12).
Jos 8:29
Notice sequence: an army of "about three thousand" (Jos 7:4);
another army of "about five thousand" (Jos 8:12); and a king "hanged on a tree"
(Jos 8:29). Cp sequence in Acts: 3,000 converts (Act 2:41); 5,000 converts (Act
4:4); and "Jesus, whom you killed by hanging on a tree" (Act 5:30;
10:39).
HE HUNG THE KING OF AI ON A TREE: Considering the //
with Act 5:30; 10:39... how could the hanging of the king of Ai on a tree typify
the Lord Jesus Christ hung on a cross? One was a wicked Gentile; the other was
the preeminently righteous Jew. One died eternally; the other lives eternally.
The answer: the death of Jesus was not "merely" the death of a righteous man --
he was handed over to death by God's set purpose and foreknowledge (Act 2:23):
God's purpose was that -- in the obedient death of His own Son -- the
"righteousness" of God would be declared as a basis for the forgiveness of sins
for all who have faith in him (Rom 3:21-31). How? Because Jesus in his death
"condemned sin" (Rom 8:3), putting to death the flesh in which the sin-principle
resided (Heb 2:14,15) -- this is what made him the perfect sacrifice. So...
Jesus "hanging on a tree" is not just the death of a perfectly righteous man,
but also the death of "King Sin" (Rom 6:12-14) and the lifting up of the serpent
on the stake (Num 21:8,9; Joh 3:14) and the destruction of the works of the
"devil" (1Jo 3:5,8). Given this sense of the matter, the hanging of Ai's king on
a tree -- despite being superficially dissimilar -- is in fact a wonderful type
of the crucifixion of Christ!