Sin in the Camp.

Joshua 5-7

Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things. – Joshua 7:13 NLT

These three chapters offer us two extremes. On one hand we see the incredible, miraculous victory of God over the fortified city of Jericho. In a strangely fable-like story, the walls of Jericho fall after the people spend seven days marching around them and simply shouting. But then we see a demoralizing defeat take place against the much smaller city of Ai. In a matter or days, the people go from ecstasy to agony, from victory to defeat. What happened? Sin in the camp. They had disobeyed God. But not everyone. Just one man had decided to ignore God's command not to covet and take anything under the ban.

Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury. – Joshua 6:18-19 NLT

They were to completely destroy the city, its inhabitants, and everything in it. Only the gold, silver, bronze and iron were to be given to the Lord's treasury. Nothing else was to be taken by the people. But someone decided to take matters into his own hands. And his disobedience led to the defeat at Ai. "But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, of the family of Zimri, of the clan of Zerah, and of the tribe of Judah" (Joshua 7:1 NLT). Isn't it interesting that chapter seven starts off with the phrase, "But Israel was unfaithful"? Even though one man had sinned, the whole nation was held guilty. While only Achan had ignored the ban and disobeyed God, the entire nation was being held responsible.

There was sin in the camp. And as long as there was sin in the camp, there would be no victory. The presence and power of the Lord would no longer be available to them. "That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction" (Joshua 7:13 NLT).

God wanted them to purge the camp. He wanted them to expose the sin and remove it from their midst. Until they did, they would continue to suffer defeat. ""Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst." (Joshua 7:13 NLT). In our day, we have decided that faith is an individualized thing. It is something that is simply between God and myself. What I do is my own business. But we have lost sight of the reality of the fact that we are part of the body of Christ, and our sins have impact on everyone, not just ourselves. Our individual sins have corporate consequences. The power of God is limited by the presence of sin in the camp. And we seem content to tolerate it. To turn our heads at the sins being committed by the people of God that end up preventing the power of God to be displayed among us. This is not a call for a witch hunt, but a reminder that God takes sin seriously and so should we. We cannot afford to wink at sin and tolerate its presence. It is serious business and has serious consequences. Defeat is a result of disobedience. God is ready to give us victory, but first we must purge the sin from the camp.

Father, show us the sins that exist in our camp. Open our eyes and let us see where we are being disobedient to You. Maybe it is our love affair with the world. Perhaps it is the sins of immorality that exist among us. But whatever it is, help us to see it and deal with it. To confess it and allow You to cleanse us so that we can experience the full extent of Your presence and power. Amen

The Crossing.

Joshua 3-4

Today you will know that the living God is among you. – Joshua 3:10a NLT

This day has been long in coming. For more than 40 years, the people of God have been waiting for this moment to take place – the crossing over into the land of Canaan, the long-awaited Promised Land. This is the event that all their decades of wandering has been leading to. They are getting ready to move from the wilderness to living in the land that was flowing with milk and honey. But before they could get there they were going to have to cross the Jordan. Once again, the people of God found themselves faced with a daunting task – somehow getting the tens of thousands of their people, not to mention livestock, from one side of the Jordan to the other. And at the time of year when the Jordan was at its highest and widest.

It is no coincidence that they had arrived at the Jordan when they did. This was God's timing. The Israelites were to cross the Jordan when the river was at its widest, deepest, and swiftest, in late April or early May. At this time of year, the snow on Mt. Hermon melts and the rainy season ends. The Jordan rises to a depth of 10-12 feet and floods to a width of 300-360 feet at this point even today. This was not going to be easy. But God never said it would be. This was going to be an opportunity to see God work. It was going to be a chance for God to prove the reality of His presence.

The plan was simple. The Levites would carry the Ark of the Covenant into the waters of the Jordan. When they stopped in the middle of the river, the waters would cease to flow and the the people would walk across on dry land. This wasn't just a miracle, as amazing as it was. It was a statement of God's presence and a reminder of His covenant promise to deliver the people of Israel to the Land of Promise. The Ark was a visual representation of God. "The ark is the very symbol of the covenant of the Lord. Thus the full light falls on the redemptive significance of the event. No mere recalling of a miracle is envisaged. The miracle is to be viewed as an expression of covenant fidelity" (Martin H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua). God was fulfilling His promise. He was doing what He said He would do.

Getting from one side of the Jordan to the other was an event. It was a day worthy of remembering and that is exactly why Joshua had the people set up two memorials. One in the middle of the river and one on the far bank of the river. One would be seen for generations and serve as a reminder of God's covenant faithfulness. God does what He says He will do. God is present with His people. His power protects and provides for His people. The other memorial would be under the water of the Jordan – invisible to human eyes– except in times of drought. But even then, it would be a reminder that God is with them.

The conquest of the land had to begin with the crossing of the river. If they didn't get over the river, they would never take possession of the land. It all began with God. That's the way it has to be. Even for us. Our victories in this life all begin and end with God. He must go ahead of us, providing what we need every step of the way. God wants to prove that He is among us, even today. He wants to show His power. He wants to reveal His presence to us. He is still the covenant keeping God.

Father, You go ahead of me every day. You provide the way when there is no way. You do signs and wonders – even though sometimes I don't even notice them. You are at work in my world. You are parting the waters of my life. Open my eyes so that I can see more clearly Your presence. Amen

Yahweh Saves.

Joshua 1-2

Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. – Joshua 1:2 NET

The Book of Joshua, like all other books of the Bible, is primarily a book of theology. Through it God has revealed himself and continues to do so. – Donald H. Madvig, The Expositors Bible Commentary

As we begin a new book, we begin a new chapter in the lives of the Israelites. They have a new leader in Joshua. They have a new generation. The old generation – the one that refused to go into the Promised Land 40 years earlier – has died off. Moses and Aaron are now dead. Joshua has been commissioned by God to serve in Moses' place. "Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: "Be strong and courageous! You must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you" (Deuteronomy 31:23 NLT).

Interestingly enough, the man who God chose to lead His people into the Promised Land was named Joshua. His name means, "Yahweh Saves." Joshua is the Hebrew name that translates into Aramaic as Jesus. Yahweh, God Himself, was going to save His people, but He was going to do it through a man named Joshua. God was going to use this man to lead the people of God into the blessing of His promises for them. Just as Jesus, the God-man was going to lead those whom God has chosen into the blessings of His promise of eternal life and life more abundantly. While the book of Joshua is an historical account, it is more than that. It is a revelation of God's will. It is a picture of God's interaction with men as they attempt, sometimes unsuccessfully, to accomplish His will in a land rife with trials, temptations, and powerful forces that stand in opposition to them. So in a lot of ways, the book of Joshua is a glimpse into the very lives we lead as the people of God today. We have been given a Promised Land. We have been promised abundant life. We have been warned that there will be battles in the days ahead. But like the Israelites, we have been assured of God's presence and of access to His power.

This book is going to be a sometimes uncomfortable reflection of our own struggle with believing God. He has given us our own Promised Land to possess, but it is occupied by enemy forces. It is filled with formidable foes who make it appear as if the promises of God are false. We face the constant temptation to allow fear to replace faith. We have to daily fight the urge to give up on God and give in to the desire to compromise with enemies rather than conquer them. God is going to be highly visible and active in this book. He will be behind the scenes working His plan and fulfilling His promises to His people. But they will be active as well – stumbling, bumbling, failing, and falling – as they attempt to live as God's people in the land He has promised to give them.

They will experience victories and defeats. They will have moments when they obey and moments when they rebel. They will succeed and they will fail. They will listen to God, but then they will have times when they refuse to even hear His voice. Sound familiar? It should. Their story is our story. We are going to see ourselves in the lives of the people of God as they cross over the Jordan and attempt to possess what God has promised.

Father, make this book come alive to me. May I see You clearly in its pages. May I learn more and more about You and how You work. But may I also see me and my tendency to live like the Israelites – with limited faith and a seemingly unlimited propensity to disobey and doubt You. Show me the reality of Your promises and the barriers to enjoying them. Amen