Joshua 7

Joshua 7

After such a great victory in Jericho it seemed as if Israel would have no problem in taking over the rest of the Promised Land. Joshua 7, however, paints a different picture. Achan, a man out of the tribe of Judah took some spoils from their victories that God had told them to destroy. He had disobeyed God’s specific commands. We find out later in the chapter that he was not the only one to do this. So when Israel went to their next city, Ai, God did not grant them victory. Instead, He allowed them to be defeated so that they would once again turn back to Him and realize that He deserves complete obedience, for partial obedience is disobedience.

This story shows that God is the one who is in control in our lives. We may think at times that we are the ones accomplishing great tasks and making life great for ourselves. When life throws us a tough situation and we overcome it, it is easy to be tempted to keep all the praise for ourselves. We must be careful not to forget about the One who is in control, God. He may give us the ability to overcome these tough situations, such as Israel’s defeat of Jericho, but we must in turn praise His name and not our own name. After this defeat, Joshua and Israel fall on their faces before God in repentance saying that they want His name to be glorified. They repent of the sin that had crept into their camp, and ask God for another chance.

God was willing to give them a second chance, but on one condition. They had to fix the mistake that they had made. The spoils that they had taken that God had ordered to be destroyed had to be destroyed before He would grant them His protection again. So the next morning, the nation of Israel was present before Joshua and before God as Joshua sought out who was responsible for that great sin. He went tribe by tribe and then man by man until he found the one responsible, Achan.

Achan confessed that he had taken a few items and hidden them in his tent where he and his family lived. So that signifies that Achan was the one that took them but that others knew about it. After confessing his sin to the nation of Israel and destroying all that he had taken, Joshua ordered that he and his family be stoned to death. Now you might wonder how it was fair for his family to endure the same punishment. They did not take the things, Achan did. The problem with the rest of the people was that they knew about his sin and did nothing about it. They did not confront him about what he had done or gone to a leader to find help in this situation. Instead, they sat on that knowledge and allowed Israel to be defeated at Ai. They allowed God to punish all of Israel for their mistake, and 36 Israelites died as a result. As Jesus taught us in Matthew 18 we should go to our brothers and sisters in Christ and confront them about their sins. We should not do this out of pride and self-righteousness but out of love and humility. We should also expect them to do the same to us if they see us living in a sinful manner. There is a fellowship amongst believers, and we are to live this life together so that God can be glorified through our lives. If we are hiding sin in our lives or hiding the sins of other, then we are not living our lives for the glory of God.

Matt