Learning from God's Word (Joshua 7-12)

7:1-26 - This chapter begins with the word, ‘But’ - This is ominous! What comes next? - Sin: ‘the people of Israel broke faith with regard to the devoted things’. The sin was Achan’s, yet it affected the whole people of Israel: ‘the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel’ (1). Sin is like infection - it spreads! What kind of effect do your actions have on other people? Cain asked, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:9). His question was an expression of callous indifference. There is no place for this attitude among God’s people: ‘Decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother’ (Romans 14:13). Read the story of Achan, and remember this: ‘Be sure your sin will find you out’ (Numbers 32:23). Let no one have good cause to ask, ‘Why did you bring trouble on us’ (25).

8:1-35 - The victory was given by the Lord: ‘I have given into your hand...’ (1). The people still had to claim the victory. Israel’s triumph was a spiritual victory from which we can learn much. We learn, first, that ‘the battle is the Lord’s’ (7; 1 Samuel 17:47; 2 Chronicles 20:15). Believing the Lord’s promise - ‘the Lord your God will give it into your hand’ (7) - we act upon His command: ‘Do what the Lord has commanded’ (8). God’s work is to be done in God’s way - Believing the promise, Obeying the command (18) - with God’s Word at the centre. We need the whole Word of God - ‘all that is written...’. In this, we learn from Joshua - ‘He did not leave out one word from everything Moses had commanded’. We need ‘the blessing and the curse’ - the strong warnings as well as the precious promises (34-35).

9:1-10:15 - Some chose ‘to make war against Joshua and Israel’ (9:1-2). The Gibeonites came, looking for peace. They achieved their objective - ‘Joshua made peace with them’ (9:15). In this story we see the work of Satan, and we may catch a glimpse of the work of God. The ‘peace’ was based on deception. The Gibeonites ‘acted with cunning’ (9:4). The Israelites were easily deceived. They ‘did not ask direction from the Lord’ (9:14). The Gibeonites brought trouble to Israel (10:3-5). There were ‘weeds among the wheat’ - ‘An enemy has done this’ (Matthew 13:25,28). Through the grace of God, the Gibeonites’ ‘curse’ could become a ‘blessing’. Working at ‘the place’ of worship, they could come to know and love the Person who is worshipped (23,27; Psalm 84:4). Let Christ bring you from ‘no peace’ to real peace (Jeremiah 6:14; Romans 5:1).

10:16-11:15 - God gives the promise. Believing His promise, we obey His command, pressing on to victory (25,6). This is God’s way of victory: ‘go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess’ (1:11). As we read of Joshua’s military exploits, we must not lose sight of the spiritual dimension: ‘the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel’ (42). This is what we must learn. The victory does not come from ourselves. It comes from the Lord who fights for us. Through ‘the obedience of faith’ (Romans 1:5), - believing God’s promise, we obey His command - , the Lord’s victory becomes a living reality in our lives. Joshua built on the foundation laid for him by Moses (12,15). Learning from ‘the apostles and prophets’, we build on God’s Foundation, ‘Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11).

11:16-12:24 - What is the spiritual value of this list of victories? Don’t be sidetracked by the military aspect. This is not about Israel blowing its own trumpet. It is about giving glory to God. In Genesis 12:1-3, we have God’s promise to bring blessing to all nations. Before Christ came as ‘the Saviour of the world’ (John 4:42), Israel was to become ‘a great nation’ - ‘a holy nation’, ‘a light to the nations’ (Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 49:6). This involved the ‘curse’ on the rebellious peoples who presented a sinful obstacle to God’s saving purpose. The Lord is King! The united people of God won a decisive victory in ‘the whole land’ (11:23). There was, however, still ‘very much land to be possessed’ by the individual tribes (13:1). God’s Word is preached publicly. It must also be applied personally - by you!