How goes the Battle?
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This is all about battles! Turn with me in your Bibles tonight to the book of Joshua chapter 7. For those of you who have not been in our Joshua study up until this point, the book of Joshua is an important book for us because it Chronicles for us the history of Israel when they finally came to the promise land under the leadership of Joshua.
They came to the Jordan, the Lord miraculously brought them across the Jordan and into the promise land, and once they got into the promised land they now faced the battles of clearing out the land. But they had something to go on when they faced those battles, they had the promises of God. He said I have given you this land, consider it yours. In fact wherever the sole of your foot touches consider it yours.
Now all they had to do was believe. We have been making the connection, that this study in Joshua is the exact image of what it is for you and I to walk out our relationship with Jesus Christ, where we take hold of the promises of God and deal with all of the enemies that we face along the way.
Those enemies can be sin, in our own lives, it can be the sin that touches someone elses life, and eventually gets around to touching ours. It can be fear, it can be the world and how it presses in on us to get us to fit into its mold. You name it, its really just the battles we face the battles you guys are dealing with on a daily basis, to walk out your relationship with Jesus.
Sometimes those battles are the things that keep YOU FROM WALKING OUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. In other words they are the battles you fight to stay devoted, you know the battle you fight just to get to church, or be in the word, or be in prayer on a regular sort of basis.
Those sort of battles we all deal with them. Every single person in this room has weaknesses, I am riddled with them. Those weaknesses provide wonderful targets for the enemy. Thats the other thign we got this enemy, this evil personality that the Bible refers to as the devil or Satan, or Lucifer. He is out for us too, as if life wasnt bad enough with us just having a sinful nature, and world that is fallen and broken and here we are living in this fallen broken world, were fallen and broken people, and then we got a devil gunning for us on top of it.
Were filled with fears within and threats from without and theres just issues galore. Then we come to this place where we get saved, wonderful we et saved, what does God do he delivers us from bondage which is what God did with Israel by taking them out of Egypt where they were in slavery.
Then we go through this wilderness type of season where were just kind of getting to know God, and so forth. But you know what eventually as Christians we gotta get to the point where we say you know what? I want everything God has for me, I wanna take hold of everything the Lord has for me.
I wanna walk in the promises of God that I see in the scripture, and we make that decision to stop being a wilderness christian. We step into the Jordan and we cross that border, and here we are were faced with all the promises of God that are before us and God says its yours!
This is your inheritance, this is what he said to the nation of Israel, He said all of this land right here this is your inheritance, now take it but you know what? Even though the land was in front of them even though the land had been given. They had to get up strap on their sword, get on their shield and walk toward the enemy.
It wasnt like they could just sit there and wait for the whole thing to happen you know, ok God were just gonna kind of wait here God, no God said I want you to step out in faith. So theres that element, the battle belongs to the Lord but we still have to do some fighting. There is an aspect where we are involved in the process. God is going before us God is enabling us, God is empowering us, but were still fighting.
Thats the hard part because you see a walled city and you think OH BOY THAT BABY AINT GONNA COME DOWN EASY. You know what your facing that seems impossible for you right now and I look at em sometimes and I think whew thats gonna be a tough one, then I realize God told me WAIT A MINUTE ITS MY BATTLE AND ITS NOT TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME, WIL YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME?
thats when we begin to see the walls coming down, thats when we begin to see the enemy running, thats when we being to take hold of what is ours in Christ. The inhertance that we are to not live in bondage to sin, to live a life hwere the world is not telling us constantly how we should live and what we should do.
A world where Jesus Christ is realy Lord of our life. But there is battle in that isnt it?
Dont do that, dont judge your life by the struggles you face because the Christian life is a battle, we are in them every single day. Now the sad news is that sometimes, we fail. sometimes we are defeated, whether it is by sin or the temptations of the world, or the false wisdom of the world, or the work of the enemy.
Every single one of us know what its like to go through defeat, not fun. But its reality.
The important thing is that we learn the lessons we need to learn, this chapter in Joshua tonight is all about learnign the lessons from the mistakes we make. Owning up to it, recognizing what it is that we did, and what we can learn from it, and then not making the same mistakes again.
So Let’s read
Joshua 7:1
The Israelites, however, were unfaithful regarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the Lord’s anger burned against the Israelites.
Heres basically what God said when you go into the land, your gonna conquer all these city states that are in Canaan, and when you go in and take a city, everything that you can have there is yours, you can have it. GOLD SILVER, ANIMALS, all the stuff you can have it BUT I want the first city, the first city is mine, dont covet, dont lay a hand on it, it belongs to me. Thats all God said.
In other words what He was telling them is this I WANT THE FIRST FRUITS GIVE EM TO ME, then after that its all yours. Those are the devoted things they were devoted to the Lord. So it says here that Israel was unfaithful with the things set apart and then it tell us what happened.
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.
After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about 2,000 or 3,000 men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.”
So they basically went out and they did a little recon and they came back to Joshua and they said listen AI is gonna be peice of cake. Its a small fairly insignifgant city they dont have much in the way of defenses I dont think its gonna be much of an issue to take the city so you know dont weary the whole army just send a couple thousand up there they can handle it.
So about 3,000 men went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.
The men of Ai struck down about 36 of them and chased them from outside the gate to the quarries, striking them down on the descent. As a result, the people’s hearts melted and became like water.
Their hearts turned into water, thats a poetic way of saying they were totally defeated by fear. Have you ever been wiped out with fear, so much so that you can hardly even stand. But remember they just came off of this remarkable victory at Jericho. Here they are quaking with fear, after what happened at AI.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell before the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground until evening, as did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads.
“Oh, Lord God,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!
In other words we should have just stayed over on the other side of the Jordan. They were saying we should have never stepped out in faith look at what is happening...
What can I say, Lord, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do about Your great name?”
So you see he is saying one the one hand this is gonna get around, this is the kind of info that will get around quickly, because these people have been scared out of their minds about us coming. Now we have been put to flight by this little puny city of AI.
This si gonna get around and they are gonna surround us and their gonna wipe us out and you know what theres another thing about this God, this is not gonna look good on your resume. he is kind of talking about how this is going to make the name of the Lord appear to the enemies of God.
So he thinks they are going to say you see they can be defeated their God cannot even defend them against little piddly AI. So Joshua is praying this from when the word got back until morning he is just on his face before GOd crying out to the Lord , and I want you to notice how the Lord responds to Joshua.
The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you on the ground?
Israel has sinned. They have violated My covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put the things with their own belongings.
This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from you what is set apart.
Stop here for just a moment I wanna tell you whats going on here. Its interesting isnt it that when the army of Israel meets up with defeat, that the first thing Joshua thinks is that somehow God is at fault. Isnt that interesting? The first thing he does is he gets on his face before God and he says whats this???
WHY DID YOU BRING US ACROSS THE JORDAN YOU SAID THIS IS OUR LAND, YOU SAID I PROMISE YOU ILL GIVE IT TO YOU. We stood on that promise and we believed you. We came and yeah JEricho was a hoot but now we get ot this little city of AI and 36 of our men are dead. WHATS GOING ON GOD?
This is human nature here guys, what your seeing here is a common reaction when you and I deal with defeat. Have you ever met someone who was this way at some time? Yeah I prayed one time, prayed for awhile even but he didnt come through for me....
Then the Lord says JOSHUA GET UP WHY ARE YOU SPENDING TIME DOWN ON YOUR FACE YOU THINK THIS IS MY FAULT?
YOU THINK IM NOT GOOD AT KEEPING MY PROMISES?
YOU THINK THAT IACTUALLY WENT BACK ON WHAT I SAID?
IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME? That you would just immediately assume that I didnt care, that would bring you into this land and let you suffer, why because I was in a bad mood, or I decided I didnt wanna help with this city suddenly?
Is this what you think of me?
When you and I go through a trial, what you and I really think about God what we think about who He is really gets exposed, its like Job all over again. Were dissapointed with God and we might never verbalize it but sometimes we might.
HE SAID THIS FAILURE HAS HAPPENED FOR A REASON THERE IS SIN IN THE CAMP!
(explain)
Joshua
“Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.
In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the Lord selects is to come forward family by family. The family the Lord selects is to come forward man by man.
The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has, because he has violated the Lord’s covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.”
Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected.
He then had Zabdi’s family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.”
Joshua
Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, 200 silver shekels, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the money under the cloak.”
So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the money underneath.
They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the Lord’s presence.
Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Today the Lord will trouble you!” So all Israel stoned them to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them,