It is interesting that they had to do it again. You know, in the Christian life when you and I run into difficulty, we have a tendency to think that probably what the Lord is teaching us is that this isn't the way we should go. We should bypass the difficulty in order to find an easier road. I think younger people today are particularly susceptible to that kind of thinking, but it’s not that way in the Christian life. God’s way is a difficult way in some respects and easy in others. It’s easy if we depend upon Him because He prepares the way for us. He provides the victories, but He doesn't shortcut the battles. These still have to be fought. 

We come now to Joshua 8, which recounts the victory of the Jewish armies over a little fortress high in the mountains that was known as Ai. If you know the book and have read ahead, you know that Joshua has 24 chapters. So the eighth chapter is a third of the way through the book, and yet, the people have only at this point reached the second city. Now there was a long time of preparation, both before and after they crossed the Jordan. There was also a delay in the last chapter, but it was because of a great failure on Israel’s part.