JOSHUA: GOD IS SALVATION (part 7)
Jericho had now been conquered, utterly destroyed, and burnt to the
ground. The ascent up the pass to the
central highlands of Canaan (which Jericho had protected) was now open to
Joshua and the armies of Israel. God had
given Joshua a very unusual strategy for taking the mighty fortress city of
Jericho which had been successful (miraculous actually). All that stood between Israel and the less
fortified cities in the highlands was the smaller walled city of Ai. Just as Jericho was meant to protect the lower
approach to the pass, Ai was situated to protect the top of the pass. Once Ai was conquered, an advancing army
could invade to the north and to the south picking off the weaker Canaanite
cities that were built along the Judean Hills.
After Jericho was overthrown, Joshua sent out spies to view Ai and
gather intelligence that would help them in forming a battle plan. When these men returned, they advised Joshua
not to send his whole force against Ai because it was a smaller city with
limited defenses. Based on this
information Joshua sent three thousand fighting men against the city. He was confident that he would easily defeat
Ai. Wasn’t God with him and his
people? Wasn't the Almighty the One Who
went before the armies of Israel? With
this confidence the Israelites attacked Ai.
Their army of three thousand men marched
up to Ai but was immediately put to flight by the men of Ai who rushed out from
their city gate with such determination that Israel was forced to retreat from
before them. As the Hebrews fled, the
men of Ai killed 36 of them.
This defeat completely deflated the courage of Joshua and his
people. Scripture records, "The hearts of the people melted, and
became as water." (Joshua
7:5b) Joshua ripped at his garments in
anguish of spirit, falling on his face, and covering his head with dust in
shame. He cried out to God saying, "O Lord, what can I say, when Israel
has turned their backs before their enemies!
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it
and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do
for Your great name?” (Joshua 7:8,9
ESV)
Defeat is always an ugly thing for a child of God, but it happens to us
all. As warriors in the army of the Lord
we expect that God will always go before us and give us easy victories over the
forces of evil that surround us. Defeat
can melt our confidence, cast a blanket of doubt over our hearts and minds, and
cause us to question the certainty of our future. Our reaction to defeat can go one of two
ways: either we will give up and give in completely, and slide back into our old
life and habits; or we will throw ourselves upon God's plenteous mercy, and ask
Him for light going forward so that we will not repeat the same failure again
in the future. Joshua's response was to
throw himself before God and ask for light.
Something could be said about the fact that the strategy to take Ai
seemed to be designed more by human reasoning rather than God's direction. Also, the apparent arrogance of the spies in
supposing that a very small force could take the city seems worthy of note. In the end, however, all these other things
were merely symptomatic of a much larger issue.
The cause of the Hebrew's defeat at Ai was rooted in a disobedience that
had occurred during the victory at Jericho!
A secret sin committed by one solitary man derailed Israel's progress in
securing the Promised Land.
Before the victory at Jericho, God had spoken specific things to the
people through Joshua. He said, "But the city [Jericho] and everything in it are set apart to the
LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the
house will live, because she hid the men we sent. But keep yourselves from the things set
apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things,
you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster on
it. For all the silver and gold, and the
articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the LORD and must go into the
LORD’s treasury." (Joshua
6:17-19 HCSB) Everyone in Jericho was to
be "set apart for destruction"
except for Rahab and her family whose faith had saved them. Every soul was to be destroyed, and every
precious thing was to be placed in the service of the Lord. One man among them chose to ignore the Lord's
command. His name was Achan. During the fight, he saw an expensive
garment, a pile of silver, and a wedge of gold; and he coveted them and took
them. So that he would not be caught, he
buried them in the ground under his tent thinking that no one would be the
wiser. He was wrong. God saw his transgression, and it affected
Israel's ability to overcome their enemies.
As Christians, we cannot stand in a place of judgment over other men's
sins, removing the splinters from their eyes, until we have removed the logs
that are in our own eyes. Otherwise, we
are unrighteous judges, and will be judged ourselves. Likewise, God could not use Israel to judge and
destroy the Canaanite tribes unless they were wholly committed to God
themselves and free of sin. This was the
lesson of Jericho - it illustrates the importance of being willing to dedicate
everything to the Lord in our lives at the outset. Such dedication was essential in order for
Israel to defeat all of its enemies.
Without it, Canaan would never become theirs. Our dedication is equally essential to our
ultimate victories in life.
We make God a lot of promises when we are first saved. "All
that I am, and all that I possess" seems like a reasonable promise
considering that the Lord has given that for us. And, in truth, this is exactly what the Lord
expects of us. Like Jericho, there are
things that are marked for death in our lives that we must let die. Unhealthy relationships can drag us back into
the allurements of the world. Lusts and
pleasures of the flesh can become addictive, bringing our souls back into
bondage. We have been bought with a
price which is precious indeed, and we now belong to the Lord. It's when we fail to keep the promises we
make to the Lord, and then try to hide the fact from His (and man's) eyes, that
we get ourselves into trouble. We will
find that things are not going to go well for us until we come clean with the
Lord. It not only affects our
relationship with God, but it also affects our relationships with others as
well. Among the most difficult people to
live with, or be around, are those who are plagued by a guilty conscience.
Joshua had the entire congregation of Israel pass before him tribe by
tribe, and then by families, and then households, and finally man by man. By a process of elimination (probably a form
of casting lots), Achan was discovered and was then forced to confess his
sin. How sad that during this whole
process, which would have taken some considerable time, Achan kept silent
somehow thinking that he would not be discovered. He was, and he was condemned to death as a
result. Israel, however, was now once
more cleansed from the taint of unrighteousness and could go on to defeat Ai
easily.
What I take from this story is that God expects me to give my life
wholly to Him, dedicating myself to Him in devoted service. Whenever I am drawn away by temptation and
take back to myself those things which I have given to God, then that decision
is going to have a negative impact on my spiritual health and life. This is usually the case, though, only if I
am unwilling to acknowledge my sin and, instead, try to hide it and go on
acting as if I am righteous. We can be
sure our sins will always find us out.
Paul writes an important passage in 1 Corinthians 11:31, 32. He says, "For
if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." It is God's intention that I quickly
recognize my fault, repent of it, and accept His grace to overcome it in the
future. When I do not do that, God in
His love for me will judge me Himself, chastening me through circumstances in
my life which are never pleasant. It is
His will that I be changed into His likeness, not condemned with the world who
does not know or want Him.
We have received grace and mercy through faith in our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. This is a process that we
have entered into with our Lord - a process of being transformed into Christ's
image by the renewing of our minds. St.
John said, "Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:2,3) We are now, at this moment, fully the sons of
God. We have been adopted into the Royal
family of God, but though we are fully sons,
we are NOT fully mature. We have a lot of growing up to do,
spiritually speaking. We do know,
however, that as we draw near to God through His Son Jesus, He will appear to
us, manifesting His nature to us through Christ. He will give us the opportunity to be changed
a little more into His likeness day by day.
Because of this hope we have in us, we then choose to purify ourselves to
be like our Master. All of this is
possible only by His great grace and love that He has shed abundantly upon us.
Israel went on to defeat Ai, but they had been taught a valuable lesson
that they needed to carry forward with them in all the battles that lay
ahead. These same lessons are meant for
us today also. The Church in this
century cannot be an instrument to bring deliverance and revival to the world
until she is willing to forsake her sins and demonstrate deliverance and
revival herself. How can we Christians
proclaim the message that Jesus saves when we are in bondage to lust, greed,
and pride? It is time for the Church to
examine herself to see if she is truly walking in the faith or not.
A SPIRITUAL
WARFARE
Just as Joshua and the Israelites of old, we believers today are facing
real warfare. We are being assaulted
every day by the forces of evil, but sadly, many don’t recognize that they are
being attacked and defeated. Inch by
inch and yard by yard they are giving up ground that has been given to them by
God Almighty. Paul warned the early
Christians about this spiritual warfare when he wrote, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12). Paul gave those believers some very practical
advice for fighting the good fight. Here
are a few of his recommendations:
- Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
- Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
- Stand, having on the belt of truth.
- Put on righteousness as a breastplate.
- Place on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace.
- Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
- Protect your thoughts with the helmet of salvation.
- Carry with you the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watch with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
In Christ Jesus our Lord we have all the strength, courage, and wisdom
to fight an effective warfare and to resist everything that the devil might
throw at us. Faith in God’s promises to
us in Christ is the victory that overcomes all our foes. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of
power, love, and a sound mind. Let us
therefore be strong and of a good courage; let us go up and take the land that
God has given us; and let us remember that the battle is not ours, but God’s!
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