May the mumbling commence!
A whole nation suffers from the indiscretion of one person. One person’s sin can cause the death of others. This hard lesson is found in Joshua 7. Achan took some of the devoted things from the city of Jericho. Achan carefully hid these items away in his tent. He buried these items that he coveted for himself – a beautiful robe, five pounds of silver and one-and-a-quarter pounds of gold. Of all the plunder available, it must have seemed a small, insignificant amount to Achan. Who would know? God would know.
And the nation of Israel found out the hard way. Israel looked to the next city they would conquer, Ai. They spied out the city and found it small, so they decided to send only a small portion of their fighting men. They were confident that a small army would take the city. But Israel was routed, and thirty-six men were killed in battle.
Joshua wondered if the Lord truly wanted Israel to invade the Promised Land. Joshua fell facedown in prayer, asking God what He would do to uplift His great and holy name. I have, at times, commended Moses and Aaron when they fell facedown before the Lord; but there are times when a leader must stand against sin in the midst of the community. It takes wisdom to know the difference. Human leaders must inquire of the Lord, or the time to stand and the time to fall facedown will be confused.
I say this now because of the Lord’s answer to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned.” Yes, sometimes, we need to stand – just as Moses stood in his anger when he returned to Israel’s camp with the first set of commandments on the stone tablets to find Israel worshiping a golden calf.
When Achan was found out by lot, Joshua and the people showed Achan their anger. Achan had caused the death of thirty-six men in battle and had put all of Israel underneath the ban of God. All of their lives were at risk. As Joshua rightly knew, if the people of the land heard of this defeat, Israel would be quickly surrounded and wiped off the face of the earth. Here is how the chapter ends:
Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since. (Josh 7:25-26)
Achan had to be disposed of from their midst, and then the Lord turned His fierce anger away. Trouble (Achor in Hebrew) would then be lifted from Israel. May we be on guard against letting “small” things slip from what the Lord commands us, because the fortunes of the entire community of God’s people will be put at risk – not just our own lives.
Had Israel been overconfident in their own military prowess in their first attempt to take Ai? Perhaps. They took only a small portion of Israel’s fighting men. The second time God commanded them to take everyone. God wanted all they had, but God won the day. Let us trust in God alone – not in our own wisdom or wealth or prowess.
Now, the Lord called Joshua to use the overconfidence of Ai to their destruction. Israel set up an ambush behind the city of Ai, and a smaller group openly attacked Ai. This smaller group fled before the men of Ai, who all came in pursuit of Israel. They left the city unprotected. They lost their city and were trapped between the two groups of Israelites.
Joshua 9 shows, once again, the dangers of not inquiring of the Lord. They were fooled by the Gibeonites. Israel thought that they were from a distant land, so they promised not to harm them – they gave Gibeon an oath sworn to the Lord. And oaths could not be broken, so Israel forced the Gibeonites to hard labor of woodcutting and water carrying. When in doubt – take it to the Lord in prayer. Otherwise, we will be fooled into wrong moves. Our confidence is in the Lord alone!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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