“21 When I saw among
the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and
a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them;
and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver
under it.” Joshua 7:21
In the sixth and seventh chapters of the book of Joshua we
find the recording of the battles of Jericho and Ai. The children of
Israel (descendants of Abraham; God’s chosen people) at this time were being led
by Joshua. He is the successor to Moses and a mighty man of war. They
first enter Canaan land (the land promised to children of Israel) only to find
the city of Jericho. It was a mighty city and a seemingly impenetrable
fortress; but Joshua and his army defeated Jericho in a most unorthodox way by
simply obeying God; but the topic of this discourse is not Jericho but the next
battle…..Ai.
Following the great victory of Jericho was the battle of
Ai. All things considered this should be an “easy win” for Joshua and his
army. Ai was considerably small, and less formidable. So in the
confidence of their strength they send but a few men to battle; no need to
bother the whole crew. Lo, and behold, there was another enemy, not
without, but within, and the great victory of Jericho was soon overshadowed by
the obvious defeat at the hands of the Amorites. So the question in
Joshua’s mind becomes; “why can we conquer the city of Jericho, so great and
mighty, and then be defeated by little Ai?” God responds: “because of
Achan and his disobedience.” Achan (in case anybody was wondering) was a
man in the camp of Israel who disobeyed God. Israel was given specific
instructions to refrain from taken anything from Jericho. They were not
to take the “spoils of war.” Achan did; he took a Babylonish garment and
some money, and he hid it in his tent. All the wealth of Jericho was to
be left alone; it was to be consecrated to God. However, the pride of
victory filled his heart and he took but a little. A little disobedience
is still disobedience. I ask all, as I ask myself, are we not in danger
of doing the same thing?
Often we see our fellow man defeated, not because of the
strength of the enemy, but because of the condition of his heart. God
brings many through a fierce battle and they find victory on the other side;
only to carry the “spoils of war” with them. By and by they begin to
think that the victory was won not by God, but by man, by themselves. We
must remember that God wins the battle and he gets the glory. It is not
always the Jericho that defeats us, but the next battle. It is the small
things that we do not consecrate to God, combined with a little temptation
appropriately placed by the devil, which brings the once victorious Christian
back into the depths of defeat. Take for example the man or women who
comes to God broken and obedient. God then gloriously saves them from
numerous sins and changes their heart making them a “new creature in Christ” (2
Cor 5:17). A great victory won, but by and by the cares of this life
sweep in. They forget to pick-up the Bible, don’t take the time to engage
in prayer, their lives become so busy that they can’t even carve out a few
hours a week to attend church; and praise Him who hath called them “out of
darkness into the marvelous light.” (2 Peter 2:9) The failure to
consecrate takes its toll on their soul, and then when a convenient day comes
the littlest temptation slips up to them, and sin enters the camp. If
your soul is for sale, the devil will front the cash. Whatever it is you
want, he will find a way to put it in front of you.
I suppose I am writing this today, because I needed it
most. I needed the reminder that nothing leaves Jericho. Whether it
is Jericho or Ai, it is God’s fight, God’s glory, and obedience towards him in
every way; obedience towards God in the great big things, and obedience in the
little things.
Please respond with your thoughts if you feel lead: pgcollins65@gmail.com
