Loss From A Promised Victory

Loss From A Promised Victory

10/7/18

The title of this article brings out an emotion of ours that many of us have experienced before yet still do not know how to handle.  All of us have had some type of victory smashed in front of us but not know why the results concluded as they did, this was not the intended answer we believed would transpire.  We find this type of example many times in the Bible and those who know who to ask for the truth find it but for those who rely on other sources seem to wander around aimlessly without any direction.  God wants everyone to understand that He is the only being that can provide constant, pure, holy, and complete guidance for every occasion that arises within our lives, but we first need to know Him and to know that when things turn chaotic that it is His advice and not the world’s that will be around when troubles arrive.

It is truly time once again as I will ask a question about personal relationships and then center the question around who you take advice from to reach a conclusion about what has just transpired.  Every single person in this world has had some type of relationship go sour and end or have a setting suddenly fall apart when it was not expected, and the way we handle such conditions really sets into motion the expressions that we give off to those who were involved in the other side of the process.  We know that we cannot control their actions or stop their wishes for the said circumstances.  But should their actions be the most enjoyable target for our hearts to think about or should it be ours and how we could improve for the future?  Have you ever considered such an option or have you just followed suit and took practice at doing your best to “right” the situation with a nasty smear campaign with mutual friends and acquaintances?  I was the master at ignoring those who I believed did me wrong and now as I look back at those idiotic choices I made I see that not only did it hurt those involved but it hurt me further because my heart was not asking for help from the correct person, along with the correct attitude in place as well.

I have to admit that in most of my hardship cases when I was younger and after I became an adult that my heart was not set into motion concerning what I could have done to improve my words, actions, and most importantly my heart but to focus on how to seek a vengeance mentality without physically striking out.  ALL of us have had these types of tendencies towards our ex’s and those who have done us wrong in other types of relationships.  We hear about this type of activity through such phrases as “karma”, “getting what they deserve”, or some other type of word or phrase that places the blame on them instead of our contributions to the setting.  I used to distribute such nonsense when I was dumped in younger years and when it came to my marriage, the blame went round like wildfire trying to settle scores that I know I could win yet defacing the truths about my own heart that needed to be fixed instead of scapegoating the truth to one side.  It is easy for us to ask God to strike them down for what they did to us or what we believe they did to our lives, but as asked previously, is this really a good practice to harbor or is it justifying a divisional process that will only breed further divisions in our future possibly to our own children down the line?  This is the truth that God wants us to understand and wants us to ask Him for guidance through a repentant heart instead of an accusatory anger that can only produce further stripping away.

There are countless examples that one can use from the Bible to accurately describe the condition of a human heart when things go wrong but God has chosen to continue our current study in Joshua as the setting for the message He wants us to hear today.  Our passage will be from Joshua 7:10-12 and will deal with the condition of Joshua’s heart after the loss at Ai even though it was supposed to be an easy promised victory.  As we have previously heard, Joshua and his army were to take the city of Ai and with all of the positive reports from the scouts, it seemed like God was correct again in that it should be a quick victory as they had just witnessed at Jericho.  But something went wrong and disaster struck the army even before they reached the gate of Ai, so much so that the army of Israel actually turned face and ran away from the battle even though they had followed what God had shown the scouts and Joshua.  This was the beginning of a setting that did not turn out pretty for one man and his family but it also demonstrates to us just what answers can be given to us and how we should deal with them as long as we know which source of information to ask.

It is vitally important that we understand that God created us to be in our standoffish manner, separated from these types of acts because they do not represent God and His Ways.  When Achan heard that they were not supposed to take anything for personal use or gain because it was accursed, it should have perked up his ears enough not to want nothing to do with but instead the layers of his heart were intrigued about just exactly why things were so exotic and accursed enough to warrant God’s telling of not to take.  This single act of a previous victory was the key influence of a devastating loss to Israel and served as the ignition point of a failed battle campaign from that point onward.  Obedience or disobedience originates in our hearts and it is our choice, which color our hearts choose to live.  This passage gives us the perfect example of how we need to direct our eyes towards God and to live for Him every day, for when our hearts become blackened with sin the separation from our Creator is not far behind.

When one turns on the news in this day and age it becomes apparent real quick that there are numerous amounts of fires that present themselves in our nation alone.  As I watch the so-called experts try to place blame for what has occurred, they all have a common speech in that our issues are due to other people’s voices and points of view that differ from theirs as the reason for such internal destruction and thus destabilization of our nation.  And at the same time, their only response to how to end such violence is with a human-based answer that promotes their agenda on all sides and leaves out any other party’s aspects if disagreement is present.  What a futile response and solution, for this type of answer only deals and can only deal with the superficial aspect of the issue and does not even come close to touching the root of the problem which means that root is still alive and will continue to grow and flourish as originally began.  In addition, when we treat superficially the things that harm us or place us in dangerous positions the problem will not just grow again but follow the truth that Jesus gave us in Matthew 12:44 where He shows us what occurs if the roots are not drawn from the ground and replaced with the real vine.  When one clings to the superficial always remember that whatever solution they deem correct shall only produce further and more in-depth struggles down the road.  Here we see that Joshua does the opposite and seeks out the truth by desiring to reach the root of the failure.

It is easy for us to quickly point the blame in any other direction but our own and if we do not lower our pointed fingers and stop and examine the possibility that the fault lies within our lives, times shall not change but continue to grow uglier as each day passes.  That is why it is vital that we listen to what God shares with us today and to take heed of the passage that He wants us to recognize as to how to deal with issues that comes as a surprise even though the victory had already been promised while in defeat.  The passage is a continuation of the study we have been doing for a couple of articles now in Joshua so we shall continue with Joshua 7:10-12.  One must ask ourselves if the procedures we do in order to find out why things occurred in our lives really come from our heart or from our superficial emotions, and the example Joshua gives here shows us this difference.

Joshua brings himself to the face of God by ensuring that he seeks the correct guidance for the answers needed due to the embarrassing defeat by their enemy before the battle even began and a picture painted of a very dangerous position to be in because something terribly wrong had to have occurred for God to not be present during that defeat.  But instead of God trusting down His hand against Joshua for the sins of the nation before the battle, God opens His heart and shows Joshua exactly what the issue was and how through this one act caused Israel to lose such truth within their ranks of existence.  Joshua 7:10 states: “And the Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus on thy face?”  God wants Joshua on his feet so that He can address the situation with Joshua face to face and not allowing Joshua to hide, kind of like when Adam and Eve tried to hide their guilt with fig leaves or when Moses talked with God through the burning bush, God is a direct God and nothing can be hidden when speaking to Him, a condition we must always remember when we think about judgment day.

Verse 11 states: “Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.”  There is a bunch of information in this verse and when God speaks about what the origins of the issue were He did not beat around the bush and this is obvious with the first three words of the verse when God plainly states that Israel had sinned.  Even though Israel was on the correct path for preparing for the battle the disobedient portion of the issue had already taken place and had been executed, but it did not pass from God’s heart and it had to be dealt with on the same level of execution of when the sin had been committed.  We must remember one item when it comes to dealing with sin, Satan shall never admit to anything and blame others for the issues at hand; therefore, when confronted those who do not believe in or reside under Covenant shall act according to their master and not believe in the entire process of Covenant living either.  In this simple portion of a verse, God outlines exactly what occurred and just how important it is that everyone living within a community or nation live in accordance with His Ways; disobedience ruled that day.

It is this point of the message that begins into play a condition that all of us suffer from and that is known as sin of the heart.  In theory and above all appearances, Joshua and all of the army of Israel should have walked up and slaughtered their enemy without any issues what-so-ever, but it was the condition of one ma that thwarted this victory BEFORE the battle even began.  The word before is the key here because the effects of such a darkened heart through direct disobedience had already gained enough ground that the army and its mission was defeated before anything began.  It is this condition of our darkened hearts that God wants us to identify before He must do the same so we can change the outcome of our battles from a devastatingly defeat to a glorious victory.  We must always remember that a blackened heart and its intentions may be hidden from the outside eyes, but it is never too far from the eyes of God.  Another detail to remember about such a darkened inner secret of ours is that God cannot allow such blessings of victory override His authority according to His definition, in other words, if our victories are made without 100% compliance with God and His Ways then at some point in time He must crack our chest and expose the evil that lies within.

A quick response to this result of Israel would be to ask why did God choose this moment to inflict His Judgment at this point in the Book of Joshua instead of waiting for another opportunity to prevail As the eternal Father of each person.  The answer is quite clear as well for it does not matter at what point in time God makes such an act apparent, but the important idea is that at some point He shall execute judgment so why not obey first and not have to worry about such judgment or future ill consequences of such evil desires from within.  Obedience is all God wanted from the people when the victory of Jericho occurred and give the results of such victory to His House and not the personal issues of those who did not obey.

So, can we ask ourselves this question as well and truly look at our hearts in order to see what lies within them before God has to expose them?  The process if chosen correctly will be a painful one but if far better to serve one day in the court of God instead of thousands elsewhere.  Church, you are a beloved institution that God wishes to use for His glory and Kingdom but He cannot allow our blackened hearts to receive dividends when He stands in complete opposition of this state we are in.  There can be no question about it that our “Achanous” have led us to this state of standard and of living and it is time we truly turn our hearts over to God because Whether or not we wish to believe it or not and how hard we try to hide it He definitely sees our hearts and the color it has.  In overall truth, the actions of our darkened hearts rob us of any victory that we have over the enemy which he really does not care anyway because knows that as long as our hearts are darkened he has our victory in hand.

DLB