March 21, 2006 - Joshua 7-9 and Luke 1:21-38
Yesterday, we read about the victory that comes through faith in God. Today, we read about the defeat that comes from disobedience to God. The tragedy is that they come so close together. It is easy to slip from victory to defeat. Let's look and see how this happened, and apply what we learn to our own lives.
Chapter 7 begins with the revelation that Israel had sinned by keeping some of the spoil of Jericho that they were not supposed to keep. That was the sin, but there were other problems, too. Joshua sent men to the next town, Ai, but he did not ask the Lord first. They attacked Ai, but God did not tell them to attack. They assumed that was God's will after the great victory at Jericho. However, they were wrong, and they were defeated at Ai by a very small army. They were defeated because of sin, but they should never have attacked without asking for God's direction. If they had sought God's will, He would have told them of the sin, and they could have corrected the problem before lives were lost. How many times we miss God's will because we fail to pray.
Once Achan and his family are punished for disobeying God's orders, God tells them to go against Ai. Chapter 8 tells us how they ambushed the city. The interesting thing to me is that God used the defeat to set up the victory. He used the fact that the army of Israel had fled before the army of Ai to devise a plan to win the victory over Ai. Doesn't that show how God works based on what we do first? I am sure the plan for taking Ai would have been totally different, if the people had obeyed Him the first time. God is flexible based on our free will to follow Him. The other thing about Ai is that the rules were different. Now they could keep the spoil. That was the sin at Jericho. Therefore, we see how important it is to obey God each step of the way. What was sin at Jericho is not sin at Ai. We have to listen to God each day or we can disobey by assuming God wants us to do things the same way as before without asking Him.
Chapter 9 is very insightful in that they made a treaty with the Gibeonites without seeking God's counsel first. They should have learned this lesson at Ai, but they didn't. Therefore, they ended up disobeying God again. They did not kill all of the inhabitants of the land the way He told them to. The interesting thing to me is that they did not seek God's will even after they found out the Gibeonites had lied to them. They assumed that God would want them to keep the treaty. I do not think He would have had them to keep the treaty that was made through deceit. I do not think he would have wanted the pagans to live among them as servants, because it led to idolatry in Israel. However, they missed God's will, because they acted on human reason, and they did not seek the Lord's will. I am afraid we do the same thing today. Remember, our thoughts are not God's thoughts.
Luke 1 shows us how God works. He had Elizabeth conceive and hide for five months to make sure she was pregnant. They did not have ultra sound tests back then. Once it was a sure thing, He sent Gabriel to Mary to explain the virgin birth. Mary's faith in God is wonderful. However, it would still have been difficult for her since people would not understand how a virgin could conceive. God had thought about all of that, so He had Elizabeth ready. Gabriel told Mary about Elizabeth, so she could go for a visit and be encouraged by her relative, who was also experiencing a miracle of God. That way both of them would be assured that with God nothing will be impossible. (v.37) Isn't God good? His ways are always perfect. We just have to stay in touch with Him and not assume we know His will without asking Him. Then, when we know His will, we do it faithfully.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 10-12 and Luke 1:39-56.
Chapter 7 begins with the revelation that Israel had sinned by keeping some of the spoil of Jericho that they were not supposed to keep. That was the sin, but there were other problems, too. Joshua sent men to the next town, Ai, but he did not ask the Lord first. They attacked Ai, but God did not tell them to attack. They assumed that was God's will after the great victory at Jericho. However, they were wrong, and they were defeated at Ai by a very small army. They were defeated because of sin, but they should never have attacked without asking for God's direction. If they had sought God's will, He would have told them of the sin, and they could have corrected the problem before lives were lost. How many times we miss God's will because we fail to pray.
Once Achan and his family are punished for disobeying God's orders, God tells them to go against Ai. Chapter 8 tells us how they ambushed the city. The interesting thing to me is that God used the defeat to set up the victory. He used the fact that the army of Israel had fled before the army of Ai to devise a plan to win the victory over Ai. Doesn't that show how God works based on what we do first? I am sure the plan for taking Ai would have been totally different, if the people had obeyed Him the first time. God is flexible based on our free will to follow Him. The other thing about Ai is that the rules were different. Now they could keep the spoil. That was the sin at Jericho. Therefore, we see how important it is to obey God each step of the way. What was sin at Jericho is not sin at Ai. We have to listen to God each day or we can disobey by assuming God wants us to do things the same way as before without asking Him.
Chapter 9 is very insightful in that they made a treaty with the Gibeonites without seeking God's counsel first. They should have learned this lesson at Ai, but they didn't. Therefore, they ended up disobeying God again. They did not kill all of the inhabitants of the land the way He told them to. The interesting thing to me is that they did not seek God's will even after they found out the Gibeonites had lied to them. They assumed that God would want them to keep the treaty. I do not think He would have had them to keep the treaty that was made through deceit. I do not think he would have wanted the pagans to live among them as servants, because it led to idolatry in Israel. However, they missed God's will, because they acted on human reason, and they did not seek the Lord's will. I am afraid we do the same thing today. Remember, our thoughts are not God's thoughts.
Luke 1 shows us how God works. He had Elizabeth conceive and hide for five months to make sure she was pregnant. They did not have ultra sound tests back then. Once it was a sure thing, He sent Gabriel to Mary to explain the virgin birth. Mary's faith in God is wonderful. However, it would still have been difficult for her since people would not understand how a virgin could conceive. God had thought about all of that, so He had Elizabeth ready. Gabriel told Mary about Elizabeth, so she could go for a visit and be encouraged by her relative, who was also experiencing a miracle of God. That way both of them would be assured that with God nothing will be impossible. (v.37) Isn't God good? His ways are always perfect. We just have to stay in touch with Him and not assume we know His will without asking Him. Then, when we know His will, we do it faithfully.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 10-12 and Luke 1:39-56.