Reflection

Joshua 7 demonstrates not only the consequences of sin on a person, his family, and a whole community, but it speaks to the importance of accountability.  God set up tribes not simply to be divisions of Israel but to be communities of accountability.  In order to narrow down Israel to find the offending sinner, Joshua has all of Israel pass in front of him, then the Tribe of Judah, then the Zerahrites, the the family of Zimri, until he gets to Achan.  It was a way of saying, “These are the people who should have been accountable” – starting with Achan and going all the way to Judah and all of Israel.

The purpose of accountability is not to show how we’re better than others, it’s not a way to pass judgment, but it’s a way to protect others and the community.  When we confess our sins to each other, it helps us in breaking bondage of sin that we may be struggling with and gives us someone who can hold us accountable.  But how can this happen?  Does it happen on Sunday mornings?  Generally no.  These relationships of accountability can only happen in tight, trusting relationships.  They don’t happen overnight.  They happen as we build a relationship with a person and feel comfortable revealing some of our deepest struggles.

Prayer

Thank God for His amazing grace that makes us white as snow.  Ask for forgiveness in areas of your life.  If you don’t have an accountability partner, ask God to bring someone along so you can help each other in your spiritual walks.  Ask God to help you identify and make connections with this person.

Reflection

Sin is really not that enjoyable.  Achan found that out the hard way.  He thought of all the pleasure that the robe, gold wedge, and coins could bring, but in the end, he couldn’t even enjoy them.  He hid them under his tent.  It’s not like he could show them off to his family and friends with gleaming pride.  Why?  Because they were ornaments of shame.  He had to bury those objects he so desperately lusted after, and in the end, they buried him.

Sin may seem like a good idea at the time.  We see something.  We lust for it.  Just a taste.  Just to fulfill a momentary pleasure.  We give in.  And then we realize what a terrible decision it was. We’re constantly cleaning our tracks, looking over our backs to make sure no one will find out.  Why live that kind of life?

As long as there is sin, there will be a hangover.  It’s like watching someone so anxious to go out and get drunk, and for the next couple of days, he is in an altered, foggy state of mind, wishing he hadn’t done what he did over the weekend.  Sin can do that to us.  Sin can make us regret, make us paranoid, impale us, and ultimately destroy us and our family.  It leaves us asking, “why did I trade all I had for a momentary, superficial pleasure?”

Christians should have nothing to hide, nothing buried, nothing of shame.  We shouldn’t have to put on a different face to go to church; it should be the same one we have on all week.  We shouldn’t have to hide who we are because who we are should be the person Christ wants us to be.  A Christian should not have two different lifestyles or a heap of sinful pleasures hiding in the closet.  Those things will be our ball and chains.  Instead, let’s get rid of it.  Let’s open up the closet, ask for forgiveness, and throw those sins and secrets out.  The freedom that the Holy Spirit gives is so sweet and powerful, that just a taste of it will make us never want to go back.

Prayer

Ask God to forgive any sins you are struggling with.  Ask Him to examine you and see if there are any wicked ways.  Ask Him for help overcoming and getting rid of those sins in your life.  Are there people you need to forgive or ask for forgiveness?  Ask the Lord to help you with this.

Reflection

In Joshua 7, we read of Achan’s sin and the consequences that Israel faced because of it.  Because Achan chose to take some spoils from Jericho – something strictly forbidden, Israel was defeated and embarrassed by Ai.  36 men were killed in the battle, and it left Joshua asking “what have you done God?”  But God quickly let Joshua know that the failure was due to Achan’s sin.  Unfortunately, Israel had to pay a price for one man’s sin.  That night families were left without husbands and fathers.

Unfortunately, our sin often will cause others to suffer more so than ourselves.  Such was the case with Achan.  We learn in Joshua 7, the sobering reality that our sin often affects our whole community.  The reason for this is because God does not bless sin.  Don’t think that forgiveness means overlooking.  No, certainly not.  God does not bless sin.  He wants to help us get rid of it and transform our crimson stained hearts to being white as snow.  But first, we have to get real with God and ourselves.

Prayer

Ask God to examine your heart and see if there be any evil thing that needs His forgiveness.  Ask Him for forgiveness, and ask Him to help you overcome temptation.

Blessings,

Justin<><

Reflection
In Joshua 5-6, Joshua gets to witness a Christophany – a preincarnate appearance of Christ. What was the purpose of this meeting with the Commander of the Lord’s Army? One of the reasons was so Joshua could get war plans – blueprints on what he needed to do in order to defeat Jericho.

We often don’t picture Jesus as a warrior. We’re much more comfortable and accustomed to picturing Him as meek and mild, riding a donkey, peacefully speaking in a soft voice, soft blue eyes, and flowing long brown hair. No doubt the 1970s had something to do with that hippy perception. However, passages such as Joshua 5 remind us that Jesus is as much as a warrior as He is a peacemaker and as merciful as He is a judge. We serve a perfect and loving God, who will one day come to make war with the nations. Revelation 19 gives us a haunting image of the same man who healed the multitudes, forgave the prostitutes, and suffered and died on our behalf.

11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

This should give us great comfort as well as pause. First, we like Joshua can trust that the battle is the Lord’s. He is the one that breaks down the walls that stand before us. But secondly, it’s a reminder that we serve a Holy and Awesome God. Too often it’s easy to slip into misconception of Jesus – thinking He’s our naive friend who turns a blind eye toward sin, who never admonishes us for doing wrong, and only wants what’s best for us. To that degree, we perceive Jesus more like a Santa Clause than a Warrior with a sword in hand. In thinking about this, I’m reminded of the scene in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe where Lucy inquires about Aslan in a conversation with Mrs. Beavers.

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”

Prayer
Read Revelation 19 and spend time exalting and worshiping the Lord and His Majesty. Ask the Lord to help you see that the battle is His and begin trusting Him to break down the walls that are towering before you. Pray with a humble spirit like Joshua, telling the Lord that you are His servant and your purpose is to follow Him.

Reflection
In Joshua 5, we find that the Lord meets with Joshua, appearing as a Commander with a drawn sword. He does this to fulfill His promise to Joshua that we find in chapter 1 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I’m sure Joshua wanted to know if God would meet with him like He did with Moses, and he gets his answer in a face-to-face meeting with the 2nd Person of the Trinity.

So often people think that God doesn’t listen. A man named Christian Smith termed today’s mainstream worldview (especially among youth) as “the Creed of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” In other words, religion is only to make us feel better, and the only god that exists is one who is not active in our lives or in this world. The great theologian Francis Schaefer wrote a book entitled “He is There and He is not Silent” to say that God is just as active in our lives. Sometimes we don’t hear Him or sense Him because we aren’t listening and haven’t been accustomed to having Him speak in our lives. We look to Him during the crisis moments, but what about the everyday moments?

Practicing the Presence of God, as Brother Lawrence coined, is a discipline of spending time with the Lord and making a conscious effort to realize that God is always there with us. We will hear Him… but only if we take time to listen.

Prayer
Thank God for being there for you. Thank Him for His awesome presence. Thank Him for revealing Himself to you. Ask Him to help you cultivate a discipline of practicing His presence and living a life of prayer. Ask Him to help you recognize His voice.

Reflection:
In Joshua 5, the Israelites celebrate the Passover, as it was the 15th of Nisan.  God certainly has a way with timing.  Remember, it was the Passover that marked the beginning of their freedom from Egypt and slavery.  And now that they have crossed the Jordan and are in the new land, they are celebrating it as a Nation in their homeland… for the first time – 40 years later.  Many of the symbols in the Passover refer to the time of slavery in Egypt – such as the bitter herbs, the charoset, and the cup of plagues.  However, some of the elements in the Passover feast, while originally pointing to the Exodus, can also apply to other times in our lives.  No doubt, when the Jewish people drank the 3rd cup- the cup of redemption, they not only remembered the end of slavery in Egypt but also celebrated God’s redemption of their lives and their new place of Canaan.

When Jesus celebrated the Passover with His Disciples – His last supper, the took the third cup (the cup of redemption) and said, “This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.  As often as you drink this, do this in remembrance of me.”  Jesus was ushering a new understanding for the application of a cup that signified God’s redemption.  It now was a symbol of ultimate redemption – the death of our Lord Jesus – the propitiation for our sins.

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, it is to be a reminder of what God did for us.  It’s not a magical meal.  It’s a way to remember all that the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.  Just like the monument the Lord had the Israelites build once they crossed the Jordan River to remind them of what happened, so the Lord’s Supper – the Passover – is a reminder of God’s sacrifice to us on the cross.

Prayer
Spend time worshipping and praising the Lord.  Thank Him for His sacrifice on the cross for you.  Thank Him for His love that He pours out over you.

Blessings,
Justin<><

Reflection:
One of the first things the Israelites did in the new land was that the men were circumcised.  This was a requirement in the Abrahamic Covenant.  However, it was one of those Laws that got forgotten or put aside.  What is remarkable about this action is that the Jewish people are so dedicated to the work of the Lord in the Promised Land, that they adhere to God’s ordinances – even though it was a painful process.  They are demonstrating that in this new land, they will begin a new era of obedience to the Lord.

There is another type of circumcision that we ought to be about as Believers and followers of the Lord.  In Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 4:4, and Romans 2:29, we are told to be circumcised of the heart.  The Jewish men cut off a part of their natural self that they shared in common with all men so that they might be set apart.  In the same way, there are sinful areas of our lives – our carnal nature – that we share with humankind, that needs to be cut off that we might be identified as a devoted man or woman of God.

When we cross over from wandering to promise – when we make that commitment to follow Jesus, then we ought to do as the Jewish people did and cut off the areas of that former lifestyle.  This process called sanctification – being more and more holy – more and more set apart, is a lifelong process.  More and more, we want to become like our Master.

Prayer:
Thank the Lord for His example and His holiness.  Thank Him for His mercy.  Ask the Lord if there are areas in your life that are not confirmed to the likeness of Christ.  Ask for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and courage to help you more and more become like Christ Jesus.