Joshua 7: The Enemy Within – Psalm 139:23-24
- Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See
if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.- Joshua is found in the OT of God’s Word
• Being “old” does not mean it is not relevant, on the contrary this book is alive and
well exhorting us in all things pertaining to life and godliness.- Joshua 6:17-19 - 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the
prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she
hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will
not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will
make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the
silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must
go into his treasury.”- Donald Campbell - God’s people are never more vulnerable, never in greater danger,
than right after they have won a great victory.
Joshua 7
But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things[a]; Achan son of Karmi,
the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So
the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.- One commentator wrote in regards to the reciting of his lineage - A warning is hereby administered to parents, to give the most diligent heed in
training their offspring in the fear of God, lest they be a reproach to their memories
when they themselves are no more.
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of
Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied
out Ai.
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3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against
Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for
only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed
by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from
the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this
the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of
the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled
dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring
this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy
us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Pardon your
servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies?
9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will
surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own
great name?”
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your
face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them
to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have
lied, they have put them with their own possessions.
12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their
backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction.
I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to
destruction.- Warren Wiersbe - “If God says something is wrong, then it’s wrong; and that’s the end of the
debate.”
13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for
tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things
among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall
come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by
family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever
is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs
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to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in
Israel!’”- Numbers 32:23 - 23 “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be
sure that your sin will find you out… (ministers in spotlight)
16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was
chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had
the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen.
18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son
of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. 19 Then Joshua said to
Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what
you have done; do not hide it from me.”
20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is
what I have done:
21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of
silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are
hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”- “I saw — I coveted — I took” - So goes the story- So goes the way of the world – the flesh – the devil
• So goes the unguarded and self-indulgence soul- So goes the one who loves the world
• Eve did the same thing all the way back in the beginning when she was
deceived and listened to the devil to satisfy a desire of the flesh.- It is the same story over and over and the consequences are always
terrible!- Pastor Vic Bright - “Those who willingly withhold their tithes from God are spiritually binding their
family.”