Worthy of obedience

But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. Joshua 7:10-12 NLT

From the text, God rebukes Joshua and commands him to ‘Get up!’ It is now time to take actions to address the disobedience. God takes sin seriously, and it must now be discovered and removed. Joshua should not grieve for the defeat but should eliminate the cause of their defeat. We should not take light the sin of disobedience. Though society has such tame views of sin today, Christians should not live like the world. The world has been conditioned to sin and it has become the norm. We just use other names to describe it and we overlook what should be the attitude to the sin. Sin is excused on every hand, but, call it what you will, in God’s eyes it is evil and it needs to be exposed and judged. “Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me” (Joshua 7:11). God says that Israel sinned, broke the rules and disobeyed. They also stole, deceived and concealed. Because of their sin “Israel itself has been set apart for destruction.” His judgment is clear: “I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.” There is nothing worse than God withdrawing His presence with them. The presence of God is everything! Nothing is more crucial than the presence of God with His people (Joshua 1:5, 9; 3:7, 10; 4:14; 6:27). The method used by God to defeat Jericho was designed to show them the truth of His grace. They did nothing to cause Jericho to fall, but simply received it as a gift from God. By bringing all the spoils to God, the people are showing that they understood that such a gracious God is worthy of wholehearted obedience.

Blessings,