Joshua 7:1-26
This chapter begins with the word, ‘But’- This is ominous! What comes next? - Sin: ‘the people of Israel broke faith with regard to the devoted things’. The sin was Achan’s, yet it affected the whole people of Israel: ‘the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel’(1). Sin is like infection - it spreads! What kind of effect do your actions have on other people? Cain asked, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:9). His question was an expression of callous indifference. There is no place for this attitude among God’s people: ‘Decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother’(Romans 14:13). Read the story of Achan, and remember this: ‘Be sure your sin will find you out’(Numbers 32:23). Let no one have good cause to ask, ‘Why did you bring trouble on us’(25).
Joshua 8:1-35
The victory was given by the Lord: ‘I have given into your hand...’(1). The people still had to claim the victory. Israel’s triumph was a spiritual victory from which we can learn much. We learn, first, that ‘the battle is the Lord’s’(7; 1 Samuel 17:47; 2 Chronicles 20:15). Believing the Lord’s promise - ‘the Lord your God will give it into your hand’(7) - we act upon His command: ‘Do what the Lord has commanded’(8). God’s work is to be done in God’s way- Believing the promise, Obeying the command (18) - with God’s Word at the centre. We need the whole Word of God - ‘all that is written...’. In this, we learn from Joshua - ‘He did not leave out one word from everything Moses had commanded’. We need ‘the blessing and the curse’- the strong warnings as well as the precious promises (34-35).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
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