Ai was referred to as a place in the Bible that was full of corrupted information. Joshua was commanded by the Lord to destroy Ai which is sometimes called, Et-Tell (Intell?).
Me ~ Do you think there is any significance with that name Ai reflecting on today's Ai- artificial intelligence?
John ~ Well, it is very interesting considering that we are at a time when artificial intelligence is on the verge of taking over for humankind. Let us consider the commentary by Matthew Henry on Joshua 8:1 - When we have faithfully put away sin, that accursed thing which
separates between us and God, then, and not till then, we may look to
hear from God to our comfort; and God's directing us how to go on in our
Christian work and warfare... there are and will be people, who kept themselves
from the accursed thing, and they were quickly rewarded for their obedience. The
way to have the comfort of what God allows us, is, to keep away from what he
forbids us.
Me ~ Ok, so is there any significance? Will there be, given the nature of this 'reality' of this fallen world, a kind of return to Joshua 8? If we agree that what we are experiencing an information reality corruption whereat error entered in, then don't we have to consider that today's Ai is another version of the same event.
John ~ Read Joshua 8 - And the Lord
said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the
fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into
your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land....
You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” So
Joshua sent them out...Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. And
all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the
city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them
and Ai...
And
as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of
the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. So
all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue
them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. Not a man was left in Ai ...
Then the Lord
said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward
Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the
javelin that was in his hand toward the city. And
the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as
he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and
captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. So
when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up
to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the
people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.
And
when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city,
and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck
down the men of Ai. And
the others came out from the city against them...When
Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open
wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had
fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck
it down with the edge of the sword.
What does this 'battle' have to do with man today? Will we be fighting Ai - the thing/entity of a number of people (number of the beast) and those who join in with it? Isn't that just a place, and today we are talking about a thing that has no real place. There is one thing for sure... artificial intelligence is what was being fought by Joshua.
Me ~ What do you mean?
John ~ I mean that information that is manufactured on false pretense, on false information, on untruths that enslave man as it was in the time of Joshua! We should be asking will there be a conquest of Ai today? Yes, and it will likely begin at the second coming of Christ.
