Over the last couple of months my friend Sandy and I have been doing a Bible Study on the book of Joshua. It has been very interesting and has opened my eyes to some of the most amazing things. I have found that every week I am learning how to better my walk with the Lord and I have opened my heart to Him in ways I didn't realize I needed to.
I have really been focusing on Joshua 6 when the Israelites have been walking around the city of Jericho and "Shoutin' Day" has finally arrived. They are commanded to go in and kill everything and take nothing for themselves. They are to destroy everything that breathes and take over the city. They do that and are ready to move on.
Chapter 7 shows us that Joshua is ready to fight again. He sends spies to Ai and the spies come back to tell Joshua that this should be an easy city to take. Joshua is all ready on a high from what God did in Jericho so he is ready to do it again in Ai. However, Joshua did not consult the Lord. If he had, I believe that God would have let him in on a few things. But, Joshua chose to try to take over the city anyway and that day they lost many men.
I can't imagine how Joshua must have felt. God had just given them victory over Jericho and now He had let them down. He was probably mad, angry that God had not come through for them. It was then that Joshua and God literally had a "come to Jesus meeting". God reminded Joshua that he did not come to Him and talk with Him about this battle. He told Joshua of the sin that was in the camp. The sin that caused them to lose men.
Our next scene takes us to Achan. He is the man who has sinned. He took items from Jericho after being told not too. I wonder if he realized why they had lost the battle. I wonder if he knew he was the reason God did not give victory that day. I wonder if he stood in the battle watching and knowing he was the reason for the death of those around him.
I don't know about you, but if I had been clued in on what was going on and I was in Achan's shoes, I would have been scared to death! There is NO WAY I would have gone back to camp. Watching the women and children cry over the loss of their loved ones, while I returned to my tent of stolen goods. No thank you! I think I would have killed myself on the battlefield.
Or maybe he didn't know. Maybe he thought he had hidden his sin so well that he thought this loss was some sort of fluke. Sometimes we hide our sin and we think we have it so good that we forgot that we cannot hide anything from God. I know I do.
Because of his sin, Achan and his family were killed. KILLED!! It may seem a bit over the top and if I was Achan's wife and didn't know what he had done I would not be happy. I would not want to die because of the sin of another. I think God was teaching the children of Israel a lesson. You can't hide things from Him and our sin affects more than just ourselves.
Even though that is an important lesson to learn, I want to move on to Chapter 8. Chapter 8 brings victory! Chapter 8 brings spoils and provision. Joshua and the Israelites are now told to go destroy Ai AND they are given permission to take the spoils of the land!
2 chapters!! If Achan could have just waited 2 chapters he would have received the spoils of the land! Really if you think about it, if Achan had not disobeyed, chapter 7 would have never been written. How many times do we miss out on something better because we couldn't wait? I am so guilty of this. I like to have things now and I often do not have the patience to wait. Oh, how many awesome things have I missed out on because I wanted something now? It grieves my heart to know that I have missed out on the blessings of God. He wants to bless us. He wants to give us the spoils of the land and sometimes all we have to do is wait for the next chapter.
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