7.27.26 – The Book of Joshua, Chapter 7

 We continue our journey through the book of Joshua. Okay, this is what you need to imagine. The shofar has not even stopped ringing in their ears. The dust has not even settled from the walls of Jericho going down. The plunder of the city, the victory, every single detail, the crossing of the River Jordan, the promise that God had given to them—now they have entered the land. Now they have taken their first conquest. Now they have defeated the greatest city in the Promised Land, which brings us to chapter 7—Israel's greatest failure.

They are getting ready to move from a life of miracles to a life of participation. Yes, in the wilderness, what did they have? Everything. God provided a pillar of cloud to guide them. God gave them water to drink. God gave them enemies that were defeated who were behind them. God did everything. He provided for them manna. People were never sick. People never pooped. People never peed. Everything was taken care of.

Now they are moving out of the wilderness where God was a miracle-working God. And God is still going to move. He is still going to work. But now it is not with open miracles. Now it is with responsibilities. In chapter 7: "But the children of Israel"—but, but the children of Israel—they just got done having victory. They just ended up. Joshua's fame is now spreading throughout all the nations, all the country, all the people are beginning. But—"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." Crazy. The children of Israel are in the Promised Land. In the Promised Land, one individual sin affects the entire nation.

This is the concept that the Apostle Paul gave to us regarding the body of Christ—the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, and Ephesians chapter 4: many members, one body. Paul has also told us that when one member of the body hurts, the whole body hurts. When one person of the body rejoices, the whole body rejoices. In the land, one individual affects the entire nation. And in reality, out here in exile, one individual's actions affect the entire body. Now, we do not think about it that way because we have lost the concept of a collective mindset. We have lost that mindset in Western Christianity—everything is turned into individualism. But if you read carefully through the Torah, through the prophets, through the Gospels, through Paul's letters, and Peter's and John's, you will find it is never about individualism. It is always about the body. So Achan is fixing to be Achan.

And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them saying, "OK, boys and girls, go up and view the country." And the men went up and viewed it. And they returned and said, "You know what? This is 'Simple Simon met a pieman.' This is going to be a victory that we have no problem with. So we do not even need to send all the people up—maybe 2,000 or 3,000 men to go up and smite Ai. But whatever you do, there is no reason to take everybody and send them up."

So Joshua sends up 3,000 men. All right. And they go up. And what happens? By these little guys, they flee from the men of Ai. How in the world could that happen? They just got done whooping hiney on Jericho. They just got done crossing the River Jordan in its flood stage. They have just left the wilderness. They have experienced everything from A to Z victoriously. How in the world could they flee before the men of Ai? In fact, to the point of, according to verse 5, thirty-six individuals died. And what happened? The very thing that all the nations did when they heard about the children of Israel crossing the Sea of Reeds—their hearts of the people melted—as you read Joshua chapter 2, now the hearts of the people melted and became as water. In fact, it affected Joshua, the leader, so much who had been encouraged, "Be strong in the Lord. Do not let the words of this Torah leave your mouth. Keep it before you." And here is Joshua, the leader, the one who has got one shoe on and one shoe off. He goes in, and he does not know what in the world is going on. He rends his clothes, he falls to the earth, and he is lying there before the ark even until the evening. And the elders of Israel put dust upon their heads.

In verse 7, Joshua is saying, "Why did You even bring us over into this Promised Land? To deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would to God we had been content and dwelt on the other side of Jordan." Maybe, you know, Gad and Reuben and Manasseh were smart in saying, "Let us have our inheritance on the other side." "Why did You bring us here?" Almost sounds like the children of Israel whining and complaining, "Why did You not leave us in Egypt?" Joshua is really, really distraught. "And You brought us into the land for what? O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns their backs before their enemies? And we are supposed to be wiping out the enemies, not turning our backs and running. I mean, the Canaanites and everybody, what is going to happen to Your great name?"

And the Lord says to Joshua, just as I talked about this morning in Jeremiah chapter 3, "Hey, it is time to get up, boys and girls. Get up. Get up. Why are you lying on your face? It is time to rise up. You are going to have to deal with the situation. Israel sinned. They have transgressed My covenant, which I commanded them. They have even taken of the cursed thing, and have also stolen and dissembled also, and they put it even among their own stuff." Oh, Joshua is going, "Oh, my stars. No wonder." As Leviticus chapter 26 says, and Deuteronomy chapter 32, one person on the enemy's side will cause a thousand to flee. How could that be unless their God had sold them? What sin had they done?

So He tells Joshua, "You need to get up. You need to get things taken care of. You need to sanctify your people. And in the morning, you need to find out—go tribe by tribe by tribe—and then figure out what exactly happened." And picking up in verse 16: Joshua rises up early in the morning, and he brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. He brought the family of Judah, and he took the family of the Zorites, and he brought the family of the Zorites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And then, of course, Achan was caught with the goods. And Achan, verse 20, answered Joshua and said, "Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done."

Now, I want you to pay close attention, because the Promised Land is really a Garden of Eden test. You go, "Hmm?" Because the Promised Land is likened to the Garden of Eden in Scripture. Notice what Achan did. After Achan was told in the previous chapter, chapter 6, "When you go in, and you conquer the town, you are not going to do anything. You are going to plunder the city. You are going to take care of the victory. Nobody is going to build the city. Nobody is going to live in the city. It is going to be a firstfruits offering to Me." Achan says: "And I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. Then I desired them and took them. And behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver underneath it." Do you see the temptation in the garden? "I saw it, I desired it, and I took it." Hmm—exact same order as the woman in the garden.

So Joshua sent messengers; they went into Achan's tent, they found the stuff that is there, they ended up taking all the gold, everything from him. They melted, they put to death everything—Israel's stones and with stones. They burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones until this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor, or the Valley of Trouble, unto this day. Yep.

They have to deal with all the obstacles on the outside, but it was the temptation within. It was the Garden of Eden test: what we see, what we desire, and what we take. It was covenant treason, which begs to ask a question: What am I hiding in my tent that could be affecting the entire nation? And if that is negative and affects the nation in a negative way, what about the positive? What can I elevate to lift the entire nation? See, the setbacks are about spiritual refinement, responsibility, and redemption. It is about failure, but failure is not final. Failure is exactly what God wants us to experience so that we can experience Him. 

Alan