READING: Joshua 5-8
What an amazing victory God gave His people! The walled city of Jericho was fortified. No one was entering or leaving. God, though, had a plan — a strange one, at that. “March around the city for six days,” He told them. “And then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets, and then shout loudly, and the walls will come down.” Strange, indeed — but exactly what happened. The supernatural commander of the Lord’s army was present (Joshua 5:13-15), and the warrior God delivered Jericho in the hands of His people.
But then came Ai. The Israelite army attacked the city, and this time they were soundly defeated. At least 36 Hebrews died in the battle. The people who had recently celebrated victory now mourned in grief. Their leader — the one who was to be strong and courageous — could only tear his clothes in grief and fall on his face before God.
What happened? The answer: there was secret sin in the camp.
Achan had kept some of the spoils of the victory of Jericho for himself, in direct opposition to God’s command to destroy (to “devote to destruction”) those spoils. He did exactly what Adam and Eve did, and what you and I do too often in temptation: he saw, he coveted, he took, and he hid (Joshua 7:20). What he could not do was hide what he did from God. At this pivotal point in Hebrew history, when God’s people were freshly in the Promised Land, He dramatically showed them the seriousness of sin by calling for the death of Achan and his family. God simply would not tolerate sin among His people.
In fact, read what He said to Joshua as he grieved the military loss: "Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” (Joshua 7:11-12).
The lesson is quite simple: we have no right to expect victory when we have hidden sin in our lives. That’s why the enemy wants you to keep your sin in the darkness today. As long as you do that, he’s winning.
ACTION STEPS: Consider these steps:
- If you have secret sin in your life, confess it to somebody. Bring it out into the open before God brings judgment.
- If your life is marked by obedience, thank God for granting you victory. You’re only one stupid decision away from hiding in your sin.
PRAYER: “Father, teach me again how much complete obedience matters. Show me now if I need to talk to someone about any hidden sin.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Joshua 9-10
