Therefore
the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, . . . . – Joshua 7:12a
What a resounding
victory! Jericho, the massive walls of Jericho came tumbling down! Incredible!
If these walls came down, the way they came down, then no other wall, no other
enemy could stand against the conquest of Canaan. But wait, what’s this? Israel
next goes up against a seeming pawn Ai and is what? Defeated? How can this be?
That’s what we will examine in this study: The
Cause and Cure for Defeat.
Joshua and Israel,
to this point, have experienced nothing but victory: crossing the Jordan,
entering the Land, Gilgal, and Jericho. There was no reason to expect anything
other than complete and continuous victory. And yet, the proportionally puny Ai
put a whuppin’ on God’s people. In his book Victorious
Christian Living Alan Redpath comments:
“Unbroken victory for His people was
certainly God’s purpose. The defeat at Ai, the account of which is contained in
this seventh chapter of Joshua, was the only defeat they suffered in their
conquest of the land of Canaan. Defeat in Canaan might occur, but it need not.
A life of unbroken victory over sin is the
purpose of God for every child of His redeemed by the blood of Christ. However,
God does not make it impossible for His children to sin: He always makes it
possible for them not to sin. Defeat
may happen in the life of the Christian, but it need not. [1]
“Defeat may happen
in the life of the Christian, but it need not.” Joshua 7 and the defeat at Ai
is a precautionary revelation from God to teach us the causes of defeat and in
so doing, forewarn us showing us how defeat can be avoided.
Joshua 7
But the children of Israel committed a
trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so
the anger of the Lord burned
against the children of Israel.
Jericho was
God’s victory. It was a holy battle in that it was the first battle in the
Promised Land and it was a victory won entirely by the Lord as God’s people
watched. Everything therefore associated with Jericho was the Lord’s and to be offered to Him in sacrifice. What do we learn about Achan’s sin and Israel’s
defeat here? We need to keep a few things in mind here.
First, that done in secret is usually sin. The phrase “committed a trespass” (Hebrew - מָעַל mâ˓al, maw-al’) means to
cover up, to act treacherously, to transgress. There is always an element
of covering up in a trespass or sin. Beware when you do something that
you want to keep hidden. Always ask yourself, Why do I want to keep this act
hidden? Unless you are blessing someone with a surprise party, you likely
are crossing the line into sin.
Second, nothing done secretly
escapes the view of God. Achan’s sin was to
secretly take what belonged to the Lord. He thought only He knew what he did,
but he didn’t factor God into that equation. He wasn’t thinking of God when he
did what he did. Perhaps he didn’t believe in God at all. Maybe he didn’t
appreciate the circumcision or faith in God. Wherever he was in regards to the
Lord he wasn’t thinking of the Lord or how his sin would impact others when he
took some of the accursed things of Jericho.
The
Bible is very clear that nothing escapes the view of God. The “eyes of
the LORD” see all. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous (e.g. Psalm 33:18;
34:15). But the eyes of the LORD are also on all people, sinners included:
- Proverbs
5:21 - For the ways of man are before the
eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.
- Zechariah
4:10 - For who has despised the day of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the Lord,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
- 1
Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to
their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Achan
gave no thought to the fact that what he did was in the sight of the Lord. That
tells us he had no regard for the Lord or any real relationship with the Lord.
He would soon regret that.
Third, Israel as a whole was impacted by the sin of
the individual Achan. The sin of the individual impacts the body as a
whole. Israel and her individual parts are interconnected. That is a great and
important lesson here. Individual sin is never isolated; it always has residual
and broader effects outside the individual. You may think your secret sin only
involves you, but it deadens your spiritual sensitivity to the Lord. That
spreads the effect toward God. And as your sin makes you less effective in your
walk with the Lord, it removes you from God’s use in the lives of others. If
you persist in sin and are discovered it will tarnish your reputation and by
association God’s reputation. It will bring shame to you and those closely
associated with you. And very often sin has a direct impact on innocent lives
around the sinner. For instance, the adulterer’s sin leads to divorce which
impacts a spouse and innocent children in the relationship. Any sin involving a
betrayal of relationship has broader consequences. That is the lesson we learn
at the defeat at Ai.
A
family is a body. When one of its members sin, it impacts the entire family.
The church is a body. When one of its members sin it impacts the entire body
(cf. 1 Cor. 12). We see this in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians (e.g. 1 Cor.
5). When one of its members is allowed to indulge in sin without correction it
is rebuked by Paul as unacceptable and correction is ordered. The church today
is defeated and ineffective to a great extent because individuals in the church
think nothing of sinning outside the church paying no mind about how their
personal sin impacts the church as a whole. We are ambassadors of God (2 Cor.
5). When we sin, it reflects poorly on the Lord and His church. Sin affects the
sinner, but it also affects those around the sinner. Sin is like a metastasizing
cancer; it spreads. And as it spreads, it leads to more and more pain and
suffering. That is why God hates it. That is why God demands it be dealt with
and cleansed away.
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven,
on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the
country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned
to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two
or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there,
for the people of Ai are few.” 4 So about three thousand men
went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. 5
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from
before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent;
therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
The sin of prayerless self-confidence. The spies
assessed Ai as easy pickin’s. They saw no need to send the entire army to deal
with this relatively small little city. They were self-confident. There is a
subtle taking of credit for the victory
of Jericho or at least presuming on
God’s fighting on their behalf. They simply assumed that since they were
victorious at Jericho that they would be victorious at Ai; especially since Ai
was a much smaller obstacle. This was a disastrous miscalculation that led to
defeat and discouragement. What was their sinful error?
Their greatest sin here was not merely being self-confident or presumptuous,
but being prayerless. Victory is
wonderful. But victory also carries with it a potential danger, prayerless presumption. God wants us to
depend on Him all the time in every
situation. There is no such thing as a “no-brainer” that doesn’t need
prayer. We need to pray in every situation; pray before, in the midst of and
after every situation. God wants us to take nothing for granted but to depend
on Him and include Him in every
situation. We should never presume an outcome. We should always pray and seek
God’s guidance. God knows all things. We do not. God is able to inform us and
prepare us for unforeseen dangers. It’s never a good idea to lung ahead without
first prayerfully seeking the Lord’s counsel (e.g. Psalm 34:4; 77:2). David is
a good example of how important it is to inquire of the Lord every step of the
way because sometimes God says “Go,” and sometimes God says “No” (2 Sam.
5:17-25).
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the
ark of the Lord until evening, he
and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7 And
Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why
have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand
of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the
other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say when Israel
turns its back before its enemies? 9 For the Canaanites and all the
inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our
name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
The appropriate
response to defeat is humble confession and concern for the name of the LORD. Joshua tore
his clothes and prostrated himself before the ark of the LORD (i.e. the symbol
of the presence of the LORD) along with the leaders of Israel until evening.
Instantly Joshua was struck by this unexpected defeat. Defeat was unexpected.
But defeat was the undeniably reality here and it must be addressed. Joshua
didn’t try to brush defeat under the carpet. He knew this was not normal or
acceptable. He instantly humbled himself before the Lord. That is always the
best and should be the first response to defeat (e.g. Psalm 51).
And notice too that Joshua, while he was concerned about how this
defeat would impact the people of Israel, he
was more concerned for the reputation of the Lord’s name. Joshua was more
concerned for how the Canaanites would perceive this defeat in terms of fearing
God. When David sinned with Bathsheba one of the greatest consequences was that
the enemies of the LORD reason to blaspheme the LORD (cf. 2 Sam. 12:14 in
context of 2 Sam. 11-12).
When you sin, do you consider how your sin, when and if discovered
would negatively impact the name of the LORD? You should. That should be a
priority and a preventative measure to keep us from indulging in sin.
10 So the Lord
said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel
has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.
For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and
deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
Sin is serious
and has serious repercussions. God told Joshua to “Get up!” This was no time
to lie on his face. Israel had sinned and transgressed God’s covenant. They did
this by taking what belonged to the LORD. They were guilty of stealing and deceit. They were guilty of taking what belonged to God and putting
it “among their own stuff.” They had disobeyed the LORD. Notice again, the individual sin of Achan reflected in a
consequence and guilt of the entire body of Israel. One man sinned and the
entire body was defeated.
How do you recover from defeat? We have looked
at the cause of defeat. What is the cure for defeat? That is what we will learn
now.
12 Therefore the children
of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their
backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction.
Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among
you.
First,
understand that God will not tolerate sin. You cannot expect
God’s blessing and victory when there is sin in the camp. Sin in the camp leads
to discouragement and defeat. Israel’s faith was negatively impacted; they were
discouraged and “turned their backs on their enemies” because of this sin. God
very clearly stated, “they have become doomed to destruction” because of this
sin. God said His presence would not be with them anymore unless . . . .
13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify
yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord
God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you
cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from
among you.”
Second, we
must be sanctified from sin. To be sanctified means to be cleansed from sin.
We cannot expect to stand or be victorious if we allow sin to go unchecked in
our life. Sin will always deter and diminish God’s work in and through us. We
must be sanctified from sin. We must live holy.
14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought
according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to
families; and the family which the Lord
takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. 15
Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be
burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the
covenant of the Lord, and because
he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ” 16 So Joshua rose
early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah
was taken. 17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family
of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and
Zabdi was taken. 18 Then he brought his household man by man, and
Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of
Judah, was taken.
Third, we must
cooperate with the Lord and make every effort to find and root out sin. This must be a
priority. We see that Joshua made it a priority in that the first thing in the
morning he began to address this issue. It’s not a bad thing to start each day
with a time of asking God to search our heart for any sin and to sanctify us
from it by washing it away with the blood of Jesus (e.g. Psalm 139:23-24; 1
John 1:7,9). Here we see Joshua bring the entire camp of Israel before the Lord
and the painstaking effort to root out the sin in the camp of God’s people.
We also see here that Achan was taken and
exposed for his sin. God is able to identify the culprit whose sin has
negatively impacted the camp of the Lord. Always remember, “Your sin will find
you out” (Num. 32:23; cf. also Heb. 4:12-14).
19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession
to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
Fourth, it glorifies
God to confess our sin. Joshua told Achan to give glory to God and confess
his sin. How would this give glory to God? It would give glory to God in that
the confession was also an admission of God’s sovereign position to know and
call to judgment the sin of the sinner.
The heart is a deceitful thing and desperately wicked (e.g. Jer.
17:9-10). So dark and deceptive is it that we are more fearful of being found
out about our sin than actually the sin against God itself. Alan Redpath
comments:
“All of us are more afraid of being found out
tan ashamed of the sin in our hearts. Our first reaction to the prick of
conscience is always to plan that, somehow, our sin may not become known. But
one day the net is drawn around us, one day the sin is exposed, and the Holy
Spirit says, 'Thou art guilty.’ Then, in humility before God and often before
His people, we have to say, ‘Lord Jesus, I saw, I desired, I took and I held.’ [2]
Are you more concerned with being found out about your sin than you are
about your actual sin against God? If so, you have not reached the place of
repentance. If so, you have not truly come to understand the depth and
seriousness of your sin.
If you are indulging in some sin or some ongoing sinful habit, I would
encourage you to sincerely seek the Lord to help you see your sin for its
sinfulness and seriousness. Then I would pray you confess it before the Lord.
To “confess” sin is to see your sin as
God sees it. God is repulsed by sin (Hab. 1:13). God keeps His distance
from sin (Is. 59:2). Sin cuts our communication with God (Psalm 66:18). Sin is
serious and offensive to God. It must be confessed before Him and we must
commit to repent and leave it if we are to be forgiven of it.
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I
have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian
garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty
shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth
in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
Fifth, recognize sin
is first and foremost against God. Achan now recognizes and admits his sin is an
offense to God. He thought he could hide his sin. Now he is forced to come to
the reality and truth that God is real and that his sinful disobedience of
God’s command has a just consequence. David also expressed this reality when in
confessing his adultery and murder he acknowledged his sin was against God
first and foremost (Psalm 51). Confession to God is our priority in dealing with
sin.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was,
hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.
Sixth, no loose ends
or unverified facts are to be left in dealing with sin. When we
confess our sin God forgives us through faith in Christ and application of His
blood to our sin and to His glory covers our sin (e.g. Prov. 25:2; 1 John 1:9).
But we should not stop short of dealing thoroughly and decisively with sin in
our life. Jesus spoke of dealing thoroughly and drastically with any sin or
cause of sin in our life (e.g. Mat. 5:27-30).
Joshua leaves no stone unturned in dealing with Achan’s sin here. That
is a good example for us. Joshua confirmed the statement of Achan and did not
assume what he said was true. He made sure the exact facts of this sinful
behavior were clarified and brought to light. We need to bring our sin to light
before God and see them for what they really are.
23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and
to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all
Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the
wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his
tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. 25
And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord
will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they
burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. 26
Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So
the Lord turned from the
fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the
Valley of Achor to this day.
Seventh, bury and blot out sin. The Valley of Achor means Valley of trouble. Achan and his sin had
caused Israel great trouble and defeat. And the only way to get back on the
road to victory is to deal thoroughly with the causes of defeat. That is what
Joshua did here. Sin must be buried and blotted out.
Alan Redpath
comments:
The only way to deal with the evil that was bringing defeat to Israel
and dishonor to the name of the Lord was to blot it out. In the light of God’s
Word, to acknowledge that we have been guilty is not enough. Have you ever
spent an hour asking yourself, ‘Why did it happen? What was the cause of it?
Need it have happened? Why did I allow it” I didn’t pray, I was proud, I was
disobedient.’ You have to go back to where you failed, where you can see the
weakness in your life. When you get to the very root of it, you need to look up
into the face of Jesus and acknowledge, “I saw, I coveted, I took,’ and then
you can thank Him that, ‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).
All that Christians are asked to do to cleanse themselves of guilt is
to confess and forsake their sin. ‘Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand’ (Eph. 6:13).
But the Word of God says, also, ‘Thou canst not stand before thine
enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you’ (Joshua 7:13).
My fellow believers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I bid you,
with all the love I have in my heart for you, either get right with God or
leave His house. Maybe some subtractions from the membership roll would be the
first step toward victory in may a church. I pray God that, whatever it may
cost you in terms of personal humiliation before Him and before men, you will
search out any Achan in your own life – don’t bother about other people – and
get right with God. In the presence of the Lord Jesus give up your sin and
claim the cleansing of His blood.[3]
In the book of
Hosea there is a wonderful promise of God. Hosea is inspired to write:
Hosea 2:14-15
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Notice what the
Lord says here through Hosea, “I will give her vineyards from there,” from the
wilderness. This speaks of restoration and refreshing; revival. Then God says, “And
the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.” In other words, God will provide hope
where there has been trouble. If we will but confess our sin to God, repent,
and live in full surrender to the Holy Spirit God says there is hope for
renewal, hope for a fresh start; hope for the future. That is what God is
calling those who are Achan’s or who have an “Achan” entity in their lives.
Confess, repent, and let the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse you from all your
sin. Let the blood of Jesus do a deep cleanse in your heart. Then get back to
victorious living in the fullness of the Spirit.
I pray we can deal
with our sin and move on to victory in the Promised Land. God has made
provision for us to do so in Christ. Confess, repent, apply the blood of Jesus
and then let’s go on to victory!
[1]
Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian
Living: Studies in the Book of Joshua, (Costa Mesa, CA: Calvary Chapel
Publishing, 2007) p. 104
[2]
Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian
Living: Studies in the Book of Joshua, (Costa Mesa, CA: Calvary Chapel
Publishing, 2007) p. 109
[3]
Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian
Living: Studies in the Book of Joshua, (Costa Mesa, CA: Calvary Chapel
Publishing, 2007) p. 1109-110
No comments:
Post a Comment