Many of you may recognize the above lyrics to a Sunday School song about the town of Jericho. This week's reading has brought that song to my mind and I've caught myself singing it quite often. :)
"Now the gates of Jericho were shut tightly because the people were afraid of the Israelites. " ~ Joshua 6:1 God gave Joshua detailed instructions on how to take down Jericho. Joshua then led the people to march around the town of Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, the Israelites were to march around the walls of the city seven times with the priests blowing their rams' horns. Joshua then commanded the people to shout as loud as possible. They did. And the walls crumbled. The Israelites were told to destroy everything. As the walls fell down, the Israelites charged and destroyed everything in town. And take note, God kept His promise to stay with Joshua. "So the Lord was with Joshua, and his reputation spread throughout the land." ~ Joshua 6:27 God keeps his promises. We have seen this week, two specific incidences of His kept promise. First, we see Rahab and her family were spared. The spies, whom she had hidden, went in and rescued her and her family. Not only was their lives saved, but they were welcomed among the Israelites. God also kept his promise in another situation. The Lord commanded the Israelites to destroy everything in Jericho. They were told not to take anything, or they would be destroyed and trouble would come upon the camp of Israel. Unfortunately, one man chose to disobey. "But Israel violated the instructions about things set apart for the Lord....." ~ Joshua 7:1 A man named Achan chose to steal these things God said to set apart. Bcause of his disobedience, all of Israel suffered. Joshua sent spies to check out the town of Ai. It wasn't very large so he sent about 3,000 warriors to conquer Ai. But Israel was defeated. Can you imagine Joshua's distress? We are told that he and the elders mourned this defeat! God promised Joshua that they would conquer the land. Surely, Joshua was confused about why this had happened. He cried out to God, and God answered. He made Joshua aware of the sin against Him and gave Joshua instructions on how to find the man responsible. He also stated what the consequence of this sin would be. "The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel." ~ Joshua 7:15 Make no mistake, Sweet Sisters, we cannot hide anything, ANYTHING, from God. He sees all. He sees our good and He sees our sin. He is not oblivious to our disobedience and our sin will come with consequences. Each tribe in Israel was brought before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. Every clan of Judah was brought before the Lord, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. The families of Zerah were brought before the Lord, and the family of Zimri was brought out. Every member of Zimri's family stood before the Lord, person by person and Achan was singled out. He admitted his sin. God is just. Achan had to pay the consequences of his sin. Achan, his children and all that he had were stoned and then burned. These are unthinkable circumstances, that we probably can't imagine, but there is much to be learned from the sin of this one man. We cannot think that our personal sins will not affect those close to us. We may choose to give into the temptation of sin all the while thinking that it is our own life and what we do on our own is no one else's business. We may think our sin and choices will not affect those around us, but we are wrong. Yes, it is our sin and we will pay the consequences, but our loved ones will pay consequences for our sins, too. They will feel the hurt, rejection and shame of our sin. It can touch them mentally, emotionally, financially and even physically. Our choices will greatly influence those we love. Let's think twice before we put them in that position by giving into our flesh. Let's live boldly for God. Let's be obedient to His Word and His calling on our lives. And let's trust Him to be with us, protect us, and keep His promises! Joyfully His, Andrea
1 Comment
Casey
10/24/2015 07:28:11 pm
How it must have been hard for Joshua to have faith to go to battle again, after they were first defeated. But Joshua trusted the Lord and obeyed Gods direction and went to battle for the second time, and God kept his promise. This is the same for us in each of our own lives, if we just keep the faith in God he has a plan for each of us.
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For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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