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Joshua Chapter 7
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Joshua 7:1 But the children of
Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan,
the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the
tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the
LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
There is always consequences when we
are given a direct command from the Lord and we deliberately disobey
it. They were commanded not to take anything for themselves. Some
things were to go into the treasury but other things were to be
burnt. The ones to be destroyed represented evil and in most cases
idolatry. At this point in time Joshua was unaware that anyone took
anything they were not supposed to.
We in today's world do not realize how
privileged we are to live after the coming of Jesus and His
sacrifice for our sins. We can be forgiven and cleansed of sin so
that we do not suffer judgment. However, because we live in a day of
grace, we must not use it as a deliberate license to sin which we
know is sin. Sin has consequences. Now I'm talking about sin that
the bible is clear on that it is sin not what people have added over
the years.
- Joshua 7:2 And Joshua sent
men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east
side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the
country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
- 3 And they returned
to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but
let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make
not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
Looks like they have a little over
confidence here and they should have sought God first before going
to battle. What happens next will clearly show that Israel's
strength was entirely in the Lord, not in their own power or might.
- Joshua 7:4 So there went
up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled
before the men of Ai.
- 5 And the men of Ai
smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them
from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the
going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and
became as water.
This was probably a great trial of
their faith here and they surely were confused and wondered where
the Lord was. When the presence of the Lord did not go with them,
they were weak and powerless. I hope somehow the leaders in the
military of the countries today would see this.
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Joshua 7:6 And Joshua rent his
clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of
the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and
put dust upon their heads.
This was no quick prayer here but
Joshua humbled himself before the ark of the Lord and stayed there
until the evening to seek the Lord.
- Joshua 7:7 And Joshua
said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this
people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites,
to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on
the other side Jordan!
- 8 O Lord, what shall
I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
- 9 For the Canaanites
and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall
environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what
wilt thou do unto thy great name?
Not only would the enemies wax bold and
surround Israel to destroy them but the name of the Lord and His
power would look like He was powerless to the nations around them.
Joshua had sense enough to know that if God was not with them, they
were nothing.
Looks like the Lord wants Joshua to
stand up and get ready to move on. God got his attention and He
could now speak to Joshua and show him what was withholding God's
power to go up with them and conquer the land before them.
- Joshua 7:11 Israel hath
sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I
commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing,
and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it
even among their own stuff.
- 12 Therefore the
children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but
turned their backs before their enemies, because they were
accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy
the accursed from among you.
Sin will hinder answered prayer,
victory over hindrances in our lives and hinder the work of the Lord
in our midst. That is why repentance must accompany faith in Christ
for salvation. God's spirit will not enter into an unclean vessel.
To be filled with the spirit we must have faith but we must have a
heart that is willing to turn from sin and be obedient to God's word
as soon as we learn what God's word is.
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Joshua 7:13 Up, sanctify the
people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the
midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine
enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
God could have told Joshua who
committed this sin but instead he told him to go through all the
tribes and people to find the guilty party. This may be to show all
of Israel what is the consequence of sin and disobedience to God's
word. It scares me the way people today ignore and take lightly
God's word or they try to change it to fit their lifestyle. God help
us to have respect to His word again.
- Joshua 7:14 In the morning
therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it
shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come
according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD
shall take shall come by households; and the household which the
LORD shall take shall come man by man.
- Jos 7:15 And it shall be,
that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt
with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed
the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in
Israel.
This may seem harsh to us today but
evil will spread if it is not stopped. The guilty party and all his
possessions become cursed and is to be destroyed. God doesn't allow
anyone else to have any of his goods but they are to be burnt. It is
sad that his whole family suffers along with him but I will assume
that they were in agreement with him in order for this to happen.
- Joshua 7:16 So Joshua rose
up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and
the tribe of Judah was taken:
- 17 And he brought
the family 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 And 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.
- 19 And Joshua said
unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of
Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou
hast done; hide it not from me.
- 20 And Achan
answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD
God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
- 21 When I saw among
the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels
of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I
coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the
earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
- 22 So Joshua sent
messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid
in his tent, and the silver under it.
- 23 And they took
them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua,
and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before
the LORD.
Achan had a chance to repent and get
rid of this on his own but was probably scared. This may have
been a repentance from getting caught and not real repentance. Of course still this is my speculation. There is no mercy
showed this man. We should be glad for the day of mercy that
we have now to confess and forsake our sin by trusting in Jesus to
cleanse us from the things that are separating us from a holy God.
Its hard for us in this day and age of
"Doing what is right in our own eyes and ignoring the word of God",
but the sin in these nations were serious: Idolatry will lead to
child sacrifice, sexual immorality that harms innocent children and
many other sins that will steal, kill and destroy any society.
Abortion is a sin that is against the whole creation of God. Our
eyes are blinded into thinking it is just a woman's right to choose.
Now is the time to get right with God
for the day of grace is coming to a close as we can read in the book
of Revelation. God allows us to get by with it so long
and then the end comes.
- Joshua 7:24 And Joshua,
and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the
silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons,
and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep,
and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto
the valley of Achor.
- 25 And Joshua said,
Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day.
And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with
fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
- 26 And they raised
over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD
turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of
that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
The book of Revelation tells us that
God's judgment is coming upon the whole earth. He sent His Son Jesus
to intercede and make the way of salvation easier. His yoke is easy
and His burden is light. He made a way that our heart is changed
from the inside out so that we don't want to sin after God comes
into our lives.
We can still be tempted but we have the
power over sin if we yield to God's spirit instead of our own
desires and wants. Old things pass away and all things become new
and fresh. When we ignore this good way and make light of it, we are
left with no strength to resist the evil and deception that has come
upon the earth. To ignore the word of God and the way He made to
escape the wrath to come is to destroy ourselves. We will not
inherit the kingdom of God but suffer the wrath of God.
- 1Corinthians 6:9 Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of
God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind,
- 10 Nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- 11 And such were
some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of our God.
We can be clean, washed, sanctified and
have God's spirit within us.
Joshua Index
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