“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”
Leon Stewart, a godly man and gifted preacher, once said: “An excellent spirit gives us humility in triumph and courage in defeat.” The excellent spirit must come from, and it can only be the Spirit of God. Even in victory we must be careful to give the glory to God and obey the Lord in all humility.
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 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 by obeying God. Which brought them to the next battle, the battle of Ai. All things considered, Ai should have been an easy win for Joshua and his army. Ai was considerably smaller, and less formidable, but little did they know that there was another enemy, not without, but within, and the great victory of Jericho was soon overshadowed by the defeat at the hands of the Amorites in Ai. This left Joshua grieved in his heart, his mind wondering why. Why did they fail? Why would God deliver mighty Jericho only for them to fall to little Ai? God would make it plain before them that it was because of Achan and his disobedience. Achan was a man in the camp of Israel who disobeyed God by taking spoils from Jericho. Achan took a Babylonish garment and some money, and he hid it in his tent. All the wealth of Jericho was to be left in Jericho; it was to be consecrated to God. However, the pride of victory filled his heart, and he took a little for himself. A little disobedience is disobedience. Are we not in danger of doing the same thing? Often, we are defeated, not because of the strength of the enemy, but because of the condition of our heart. If we are engulfed with pride, by and by, we begin to think that the victory was won not by God, but by us. We must remember that God wins the battle, and he gets the glory. It is not always the big things that defeats us, but many little things that we do not consecrate to God. Take for example the man or women who comes to God broken and obedient. God then gloriously saves them from 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 swept in. They forget to pick-up the Bible, don’t take the time to engage in prayer, and 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 temptation appears, lust conceives, and sin enters the camp. If your soul is for sale, the devil will find the price and make an offer.
Therefore, nothing leaves Jericho. “All glory to Him I bring.” It is God’s fight, God’s glory, and obedience towards him in every way. Obedience in all things, and in every situation. Triumph or defeat.
