Joshua 7:2-5

The spies who reconnoitered Ai based their advice on the numbers of these Canaanites and the Israelites.

"East of Ai . . . one route descends due east to the pass across Wadi Makkuk. This pass affords the last crossing before the wadi deepens into a major canyon and obstacle. From there on, the unified stream bed of the wadi cuts a twisted path through the uplifted limestone resulting in rocky scarps of up to 200 meters or 660 feet before continuing east through the rough chalk wilderness. The difference between this rugged region and the pass just west of it is very dramatic. It may reflect what the Biblical writer states in Joshua 7:5 when he says that the defenders of the Hill Country pursued the Israelites as far as the broken/fractured area (shebarim), striking them down along the descent [from the pass]. (If this first attack came from the route southeast of Ai, the word shebarim may point to the same type of broken terrain, but the descent would refer to the steep slope off the eastern side of the uplifted limestone where this route to Jericho turns due east.)" [Note: Monson, p. 168.]

The spies in Numbers 13, 14 lacked faith in God because they did not believe that the Israelites were strong enough to defeat their enemies. They failed to reckon on God’s help. The spies in Joshua 7 lacked faith in God because they believed the Israelites were strong enough to defeat their enemies. They disregarded the need for God’s help. The fact that the people’s hearts melted (Joshua 7:5; cf. Joshua 2:11) hints that Israel may have been trusting in her own strength rather than in the Lord.

"It is strange indeed that the description which was originally used for the Canaanites about to be defeated now describes the heart of the Israelites . . ." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 54.]