Doubt and Tempation

The Bible is a book about God. It starts with God. Genesis chapter 1 is about God. In the beginning, God created. We talk about Genesis 1, as though it is about creation, but it really is about God creating the universe!

When we read the Bible, we like to put ourselves into the story, which can be very dangerous. The most obvious reason is that it makes the Bible about us, which it isn’t, it’s about God.

Knowing this, what does this passage teach us about God? What does this passage teach us about us? Who are the characters? We have Joshua, the Israelites, Achan and God. Rather than putting ourselves into the passage, let’s look at each of the persons in this passage, and learn what God is teaching us.

From verse one, we have an advantage over Joshua. We find out right away something that Joshua and the majority of the Israelites didn’t know. The children of Israel (this is plural—the whole community is responsible) committed a trespass, a sin, regarding the accursed things. Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Serah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. This is information Joshua didn’t have, which explains his actions.

Utter Failure

Faced with the utter failure at Ai, Joshua despaired. I can totally relate to Joshua. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one. I think there are many Christians in North America who behave in the same way as Joshua did in this chapter. Something goes wrong; we doubt. Something goes wrong; we suddenly question everything.

Consider Joshua for a moment. Up until this moment, God has told him, “Be bold and very courageous, for I will be with you as I was with Moses. Trust me; you can trust me. I’m going ahead of you, I’m preparing the way for you; I have caused the people to fear you. I’m the one who will fight your battles for you.”

Then, the first major battle takes place. They march, they yell, the walls fall down, and they take the city just like that. The Lord has fought the battle for them. The Lord has blessed them with victory.

They’re confident, I tell you! They are confident in God! Joshua sends spies to check out the next city, and they come back saying, “It’ll be a cakewalk! No problem. We could send only a few thousand men, and even with one arm tied behind their backs, we could take them no problem!”

They attack. They are utterly defeated. Around 36 men died in battle. This wasn’t the promise! Why didn’t God fight and win the battle for them? They are distraught, afraid, despondent, hopeless and lost. The hearts of the people melted. They grew very afraid. They lost all their confidence, in themselves, in God.

Joshua is shocked. He tore his clothes, fell on his face in worship before the ark of the covenant. He and the elders humbled themselves before the Lord. And Joshua prayed.

Doubt

And Joshua’s prayer revealed his doubt. In the face of this utter defeat, he is at a total loss. Consider Joshua’s prayer. Have you ever prayed like this? I have. I know elders and deacons who have. I know fathers and mothers who have. I know widows and widowers who have. I know children and aunts and uncles who have.

“Alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!  O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

Now, let’s unpack this for a moment. Joshua isn’t blaming God, he isn’t questioning God’s plan—God told them to take the Promised Land—what Joshua is saying here is, “Lord, we don’t deserve what you have planned for us. We can learn contentment. We sort of learned it in the wilderness, the east of the Jordan is good enough for us. But why did you bring us here, only for us to suffer defeat? How does this fit in your plan? How does this give glory to your name?

We all face trials, don’t we? We all have hopes and dreams and plans. Grace Reformed Church today, isn’t Grace Reformed Church six years ago. It is different today. It will be different next year, it will be different six years from now. But one thing remains the same, it is the one thing that we see in Joshua’s prayer—it is that God would be glorified in Grace Reformed Church. We are focussed on God and on His Word. We desire to glorify him in all that we do. We trust in God, especially in the midst of doubt.

That’s what Joshua is doing. He is reminding himself, and God, of God’s promises. And he’s doing it in a respectful way. “Lord, faced with all these challenges, I’m afraid, I’m doubting everything, even the promises you made. This isn’t going how I thought it would go. Help me understand.”

Can you relate? Have you prayed similar prayers? God, I’m trying to do what you want me to do! God, why did all this happen in my life, what are you trying to tell me? So, does this mean you don’t love me anymore? Does this mean that I’ve sinned so horribly against you that you want me to die? Why are you letting these things happen in my life?

Listen to God’s response: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” Even though this was the right response, God expected a different reaction from Joshua. God expected Joshua to remember that he and the Israelites were to keep all His commands, neither going to the right or to the left. If they kept them, God would be with them, and give their enemies into their hands.

But if they sinned, what would happen? God would not be with them, and their enemies would not fall into their hands.

So, knowing that, Joshua’s first response should have been, “Wait who sinned among us? Who broke trust with God? Who took something from Jericho and kept it for himself?”

But God did not depart so far from Israel that he didn’t hear Joshua’s prayer. He heard it, and he answered it. Israel has sinned. The whole nation is guilty on account of the sin of one person. They sinned by taking the accursed things. They stole and deceived.

Temptation

We must avoid the temptation to blame the Israelites out of hand. We have a very different vantage point. We know what they did not. We have the Holy Spirit residing in each one who has trusted Jesus, they did not. But they did have God’s commands.

But let’s consider the temptation. Here is the first battle and the first spoils of war. I can empathise with Achan. Having wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Wearing the same clothes. Eating the same food. No internet, no social media, nothing. Then, suddenly, the enemy city is in ruins. There’s stuff everywhere. Ooh, look at this gold! Wow, that’s some fine silver! It all has to go to God? Who will miss these little things? There’s some cultural significance to this, isn’t there? Who will keep their history alive? It isn’t for me, it is for posterity?”

I have no idea what Achan was thinking. But what I do know is this, his heart, like my heart, like your heart, like every heart since the fall into sin, was attuned to Satan’s whispers. “Go ahead and take it. You’ve earned it. It doesn’t matter. God won’t mind. He’s got more than enough anyway. What’s a few little things?” So Achan took them, and hid them, and lied about doing it.

I’m sure Joshua went around asking, “Did anybody take anything? Remember what God said, “Nothing was to be taken? The valuable things, gold, silver, bronze, and iron are for the Lord’s treasury. Everybody has given everything, right?”

In Achan, we see how one sin leads to another. Taking anything was wrong. Then, having to lie about it compounded the wrong. And because of that, God wasn’t with them in the battle. Around 36 men died—more sin, more pain, more sorrow.

God wasn’t with them in battle because they weren’t with God in obeying his commandments. They were guilty of rebellion, disobedience, sin and defiance. Achan’s guilt affected all of them.

This is a very important lesson. We are the one body of Christ. When one part suffers, we all suffer. When one part rejoices, we all rejoice. We are all members together. Being a member of a local congregation is important, rewarding and valuable. It recognises the connections that the Holy Spirit creates between the members of Christ’s body.

When Achan sinned, it affected the whole nation. God didn’t go with the soldiers. God didn’t fight the battle for Israel because they had broken covenant with him. Joshua and all Israel had to deal with Achan and his sin. He desired gold, silver and clothing more than he desired God. He thought he could find treasure in this world, when he’d already had his greatest treasure in God himself. Achan’s punishment shows how seriously God takes sin.

But what about us? Don’t we break covenant with God all the time? Why aren’t we called out before the church to have all our sins on display? Why don’t we all suffer every time one of us falls into sin?

Salvation

The answer is Jesus. Remember the covenant God made with Abraham? Remember how God caused Abraham to fall asleep, and while he was sleeping, God walked between the dead animals? Remember that the consequence was that if we, as Abraham’s children failed to keep covenant, that God would keep it for us? Remember that when God submitted the lamb for Isaac, that he was pointing to Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?

That’s the difference. God has placed all our sins on Christ, past, present and future. Sin still affects Christ’s body, certainly. Not one church on earth has ever existed in freedom from sin. Our sins do have consequences, though they are not as they were with the Israelites. Next week, when we look at chapter 8, we’ll get into the whole first fruits thing that was going on here.

But what did salvation look like for the Israelites? Achan paid for his sin. Through a guided process of elimination, the sinner was revealed. Caught out, he confessed and told them where he hid the goods. Taking the proof with them, they took Achan, his sons, his daughters, his animals, all his belongings, his tent to the valley of Achor. Israel meted out the punishment that day. They stoned him with stones. They killed him, his children, his animals, and they burned everything. But Achan’s memory lives on, as a warning. That valley became named after him.

Does this part of the story bother you? It should. But not because we live in wimpy times. By that I mean, we tend to look at Achan’s punishment as being excessive. He just took some stuff, is that such a big deal?

Yes, to God it is. God is holy. There is no deceit in him at all. Achan disobeyed, broke covenant, put himself first, he lied about it. He had time to repent. He had time to confess. But he held out hope that he wouldn’t be found out.

God created us to be holy too! When we sin, we deserve the full wrath of God. But God showed grace. Only Achan and his family and his belongings paid the price. Even though his sin affected all Israel. God has shown us tremendous grace. Our sin is paid for by Jesus. Jesus conquered the root of our disobedience, our bondage and slavery to sin!

When things happen in our lives, when we sense that God is not with us, let us examine our hearts. Let us not doubt God, but trust in Him—he is perfectly faithful. When faced with temptation to sin, let us also turn to God, let us trust in him to live in and through us, to turn away from sin, and turn toward Christ and faithful living.

God has poured his lavish grace upon us! God has forgiven us of our personal sins, past present and future! As God has lavishly poured out his grace on us, let us also lavishly pour grace on others! Let us be bold and courageous in the forgiveness of others! Let us dare to forgive as God has forgiven us! Let us live out an exuberant forgiveness, trusting that God really has forgiven us! Every day presents an opportunity to show God’s amazing grace to others! Amen.