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7-7-12. Joshua 7. THEY HAVE VIOLATED MY COVENANT

7-7-12. Joshua 7. THEY HAVE VIOLATED MY COVENANT

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF  Saturday, July 7, 2012

Joshua 7:1-26
Key Verse: 7:1

“But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.”
Dear Lord, thank you for being my Savior and saving me from all of my sin and the meaninglessness of this world. Protect my heart by your spirit and your word. Help me to love others, especially those whom you have brought close to me. I pray for the new men’s accountability group. Help us to grow in our faith and in holiness together. I pray that you may help Rob and Steve to grow as disciples of Jesus. Plant your word in my heart, nurture it and grow it. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part l: God Sees Us As One Community (1-13).

Verses 1-13 reads, “But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,[b] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water. 6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name? ” 10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 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. 12 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. 13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.”

One man decided to be unfaithful to the Lord. But the Lord’s anger burned against all of Israel. Why? God sees us each individually, but he also sees the whole community. When one sinned, they all sinned. That is why they needed to consecrate themselves. They needed to act together to remove the sin from among them. Even today, God views us as one in the body of Christ, so we must consecrate our hearts with every Bible study, restoring our covenant relationship with Jesus. This is not just for our own sakes, but for the sake of the whole community of believers.

I need to think more about the entire body of Christ rather than just my own personal faith. I need to think more about my influence on the entire body of Christ, than just seeking my own benefits. It is not all about me. It is about Jesus and the glory of God and the people of faith, struggling in his world. I repent that I have been thinking about myself only and my own needs and not caring much about my influence and the sorrow that I cause others from time to time. I must care about others and the glory of Jesus. It all begins with consecrating myself to Jesus newly. This is means repentance of holding onto idols in my heart and repenting of loving the things of this world too much. I need to devote myself to loving Christ, loving my wife and kids and loving God’s flock. Lord, I want to dedicate and consecrate myself to you this day. Help me to bring glory to your name and to your church.

Part 2: Achan Was Caught (14-26).

Verses 14-26, “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the LORD chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the LORD chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the LORD chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’” 16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done:21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the LORD. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today. Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.”

Achan thought that he could get away with it if he remained quiet. He took a chance and lost. His heart was not devoted to God, so Achan was devoted to destruction. If Achan’s sin went unpunished, unlimited looting could break out. A basic disrespect for God and the holiness of God would peculate among the community. Their mission would be jeopardized. God dealt with the problem swiftly and cleansed the community.

How hard it is to maintain this kind of intensity in our devotion to the Lord. How easy to fall into our own selfishness and our own ways in order to grab something from this world, even something that does not please the Lord. God has a very high standard of holiness and commitment that he wants from his people. But what about when we can not reach that holiness and commitment factor? Is the ground going to open up and swallow us and our family up?

Though our hearts may not be right all of the time, we can depend on Jesus for his mercy to make us right. We need to confess and repent of our sin and come to Jesus to be forgiven. Based on the efficacy of his blood, and God’s mercy and compassion, we can be totally forgiven and set free to live a new life. We reach God’s standard, not by our own efforts, but by the free gift of God, the Gospel. Then we can be set free to live and new life and growing in holiness and commitment become a reality. We need to be growing Christians because in this way others are blessed around us.

Check our Greg Laurie’s video series about growing spiritually…

Prayer: Lord, I know that I am part of the body of Christ. Help me to think about others.

One Word: Consecrate our hearts today

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