Just after yesterday's reading of being strong and courageous, the first verse in today's passage tells us how the Amorite and Canaanite kings' "hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites." This was another reminder for me that I need to be certain of where I am placing my faith, trust, and courage.
"Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Joshua 5:13-14a
As I was reading this, I was wondering how can someone be neither for us nor against us? Well, I found an interesting note in my study Bible about that. It said that "Joshua and Israel must know their place - it is not that God is on their side; rather, they must fight God's battles".
How true is that. If I am needing to convince God that He needs to come along side of me to fight a battle, it probably means that I am fighting the wrong battle. God is already present at His battle and is waiting for me to show up! Joshua (and I) must take orders from God, not the other way around.
The story of how the city of Jericho was captured is a well known story for us all. One thing that did stand out this time for me was that while they marched around Jericho, the priests always carried the ark of the Lord with them in the centre of the army. The ark of the Lord was to be made the centre of the focus, highlighting the fact that it was the Lord himself who besieged the city.The entire city was destroyed with the exception of Rahab and her family and it was all orchestrated by God. God was the mastermind but used His people once again to help execute His plan. We too need to prepare ourselves daily to ensure we have placed our faith in Him, just at the Israelite's did, so that we are ready to do battle.
"When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,[i]two hundred shekels[j] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,[k] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” Joshua 7:21
How easy it was for Achan to take these items.......but at what a cost!
The command to not covet differs from others in the sense that it is an inner desire, rather than an outward act. My study Bible had a note that said that coveting is rooted in an "attitude of pride characterized by excessive or misdirected desires".
Just as it was easy for Achan to succumb to his temptation, we can too. God wants us to close the door to temptation. Instead of coveting, God commands us to be content with what we have, trusting that He will take care of all our needs. By trusting God, we are putting our pride on the shelf in order to realign our desires to line up with God's.
1 comment:
Joshua 7:13b You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.
Sometimes we have a sin God has convicted us of, but we don't want to get rid of it. And then we wonder why we're not experience spiritual victory! We will never be spiritual victorious while justifying the sin in our lives.
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