The Next Battle

“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.  The successor to Moses and a mighty man of war.  Jericho was the first city they encountered upon entering Canaan.  It was a mighty city, an impenetrable fortress; but the Israelites defeated Jericho in the most unorthodox way by simply obeying God; but the topic of this discourse is not Jericho but the next battle…..Ai.

The battle of Ai followed the great victory over Jericho.  All things considered, this should be an “easy win” for Joshua and his army.  Ai was considerably smaller, less formidable, and weak by comparison.  In the confidence of their own strength and wisdom; the Israelites sent a smaller battalion to Ai; no need to trouble the whole army with little Ai.  However, 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, and not little Ai?”  God responds: “because of Achan and his disobedience.”  Achan was a man in the camp of Israel who disobeyed God. Israel was given specific instructions to refrain from taking 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?  We are often defeated, not because of the strength of the enemy, but because of the condition of our 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 to 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.   

Never forget that the next battles is God’s, the same as the last battle was.  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.