A Spiritual Warning
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“The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.’” Joshua 7:10-12 (NIV)
The book of Joshua in the Bible is full of Spiritual Insight for living a victorious Christian life. The lessons learned from Joshua will not only direct us spiritually but also protect us from making the same mistakes in our own lives. Chapter seven comes on the heels of Israel’s miraculous victory over Jericho. Everyone in the camp of Israel was celebrating all that God did bringing down the walls in the most fortified city in Canaan and delivering the people into their hands. Surely the next city on the map would be a breeze! It was just a small town called Ai. Joshua sent some scouts to check it out and they returned saying that there was no need to trouble the whole army to defeat Ai. They would be able to conquer it with just two or three thousand men. Their easy victory in Jericho had made them overconfident. There’s no record that Joshua, nor the leaders, sought the Lord before setting out to attack Ai. The results were devastating! The Bible says that 36 Israelite soldiers were killed, and the rest of the soldiers were driven from the city in defeat. Verse five says, “… At this the hearts of the people melted in fear. …”
Only then do we find Joshua crying out to God in prayer in verses six through nine – “Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, ‘Alas, Sovereign LORD, why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! Pardon Your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for Your own great name?” They were in a crisis of belief! What had gone wrong?
Joshua’s experience teaches us that we are never more vulnerable to defeat than after a great victory. In fact, there seems to be a pattern throughout Scripture that our greatest victories are often followed by failure. Following the deliverance of Israel from the Red Sea came the bitter waters of Marah in Exodus 15. Even in the New Testament, following Peter’s great declaration of faith that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, in Matthew 16, came his three denials of Christ. Satan often sets his most successful attacks against us following a great victory. He even attempted that with Jesus in Matthew 4. Following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by John, when heaven was opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus in the form of a dove and the voice of God thundered, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!” in Matthew 3 – the very next chapter opens with these words, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” in Matthew 4:1 (NIV)
We would be wise to take these lessons as a spiritual warning. But there was more to Joshua’s dilemma than just his failure to pray before the battle. It’s been said, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Joshua didn’t know that after the victory of Jericho while everyone was celebrating, there was a diabolical sin hidden in the camp that was in direct disobedience to God’s command for Israel. Had he prayed before going to battle with Ai as he did before Jericho, I believe God would have told Him and perhaps 36 lives could have been saved, much less a humiliating defeat by a lesser opponent. Only after Joshua cried out to God did he learn of Achan’s sin. Achan had stolen some of the items from Jericho and hidden them in his tent. God had warned Israel before the battle in Joshua 6:17-19 (NIV), “The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into His treasury.”
Achan’s sin resulted in the death of 36 Israelite soldiers, defeat for the nation and destruction for he and his family! No man sins unto himself! Talk about a spiritual warning! God takes sin seriously! A transgression is a violation of God’s direct commands. Achan had transgressed against God’s law. Here is another spiritual principle we should take to heart. Secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven! We may hide our sin from others, but God sees it all. Furthermore, all sin is ultimately against God. David realized this when confronted with his secret affair with Bathsheba. In his confession, he cried in Psalm 51:4 (NIV), “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are right in Your verdict and justified when You judge.” In Numbers 32:23 (NIV) the Bible warns us, “… you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” Nothing is hidden before the Lord. That’s why forgiveness is such an act of grace! But failing to repent will lead to death. Romans 6:23 (NIV) says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Have you received God’s free gift of eternal life? Why would anyone choose death over life? When we come before a Holy God before whom we deserve death and repent of our sin, asking His forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ, He gives us the gift of eternal life! What an exchange – death for life! Guilt for grace!
Joshua was promised a new beginning only after he had dealt with the sin in the camp. In Joshua 7:12 (NIV) God says, “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” This leads us to one more spiritual insight worth learning: We cannot remain as we are and go on with God. Repentance requires that we make radical adjustments in our lives. Sin had to be dealt with. The good news is that is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. He nailed our sins there so that we could be set free from them. Repentance means that I am turning from my sin to God. Have you done that? You can do that right now. You don’t have to grovel in your guilt or hide in your shame. God already knows our hearts and lovingly accepts us in His grace when we confess our sins to Him. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!