It Was Not Joshua

It Was Not Joshua

10/21/21

It is no secret that for the most part, ever since the establishment of the Church she has committed or allowed atrocities to occur within her confines.  All of which are inexcusable and indefensible and cannot be taken back as a means of correction.  It is also agreed, that a good portion of these horrific actions was donned by leaders of the Church community or was known about by them and allowed to be continued.  In no terms ever, did God mean for these actions to be allowed in His Church and because of these humanly completed deeds, God's name has been dampened almost to the point of being totally dismissed even from those who still believe in God and in His presence.  God wants us to know that there are plenty of ministers and leaders in the Church that continue to serve Him faithfully and care about those in need of God.  It may not always look like roses around the area but God is still faithful to tell the secrets of those who need correction.

Most of us share a common thread about our lives in that the plans that we have made do not always go according to the script that was written and designed.  These plans of ours become subject to alterations due to various amount of wavering circumstances that many times cannot be controlled, but this is not always the case for there are times that things do not work out and no reason really presents itself immediately.  While most of our journey can be predictable even though a few stumbling blocks may arise, it is common to have normalcy for the most part when plan making takes place.  Humans like to have a plan of action for many reasons if not just to keep us on track to reach a certain goal, there is nothing wrong with this for it brings us stability and confidence so that we can function safely as much as we can.  Wandering aimlessly about this sod does not pose too much of a stable direction and this wandering way will cause severe heartburn if not corrected quickly.

These unexpected issues and conditions that seem to appear out of nowhere, can really be frustrating to our systems for when a plan has been drawn up it means that a timeframe is at hand and some type of goal reached within a certain amount of time.  It is also these instances where no real explanation is present either, one has to be searched for, because you realize that everything you accomplished up to this derailing process has been done correctly and without failure.  Answers to questions such as this sometimes take a specific amount of time to be answered, while unfortunately a few are never solved.  We chalk it up to an unexplained experience and occasionally bring it up to see if we can take another line of action to get release.

But what occurs in our hearts when the plans that have been made and executed that come from God do not pan out like He said they would?  The questions really start to pile up for you know that you were positive that God shared His plan with you and that your spiritual ears and heart heard what He said.  You look back and see that everything that you did was right on course with what God told you to do yet you failed in this duty?  Also, those that were involved in this plan know what occurred and they cannot help but think that you were the cause of this failure; and of course, your mind is racing thinking the exact same thing the others are thinking as well.  All of these examples bring us to the next portion of Joshua that God wants us to know about and the Scripture passage is as follows:

Joshua 7: 11-13

"Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.  Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.  Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Osrael: though canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you."

There are circumstances that take place where not every detail can be administered to especially when it involves specific actions from a few individuals.  This is one of the issues conquering armies or overtaking companies must address and deal with, but not every leader sees eye-to-eye with such a potential loot and it is the point of a good leader to assume the corrective position of such behavior then take the appropriate measures to correct the situation.  We see here that Joshua has been asking God about why and what occurred on the battlefield and how come things went so wrong after careful and holy preparation was adhered to.  This must have been a scary time in Joshua's life for he was so sure that he had followed everything that God said to do, and yet the battle was over before it even really began.  There are many tidbits of information in this passage that we could address but we are going to stay with Joshua and the knowledge that he was not the culprit of this demise of Israel.

Joshua had been through some pretty tough times in his past, starting out in Egypt, going across the wilderness for all those years, taking over Israel after Moses and Aaron had died. Joshua was not a rookie at his position nor were all of the people in his command, all had experiences with the world and with God.  The people knew how to act and they knew what would occur if disobedience found its way into their hearts.  Joshua was never ugly in the sense that he came across as arrogant or bold because he was innocent of such behavior; however, he did want to find the problem and take care of the issue before trodding along to the next battlefield.  Israel was in a mess, with disbelief and chaotic hearts present in the individual tribes, they had to be.  But only one family knew what had occurred and yet kept their mouths shut hoping God would pass over this detail and allow things to just go on as planned.  How many of us have some such a thing by hoping God would not see our actions and just let them slide?

Let us look at the word "transgressed" in this passage, for it defines exactly what the mood was in Israel and how Israel was thinking at the time.  It does not take an entire population of a nation to make it evil in the eyes of God; however, when the entire nation was warned by God not to do something then did it anyway, yes that nation and all of its inhabitants are included.  The Hebrew word used here for transgressed is "aberu" and it means to pass over or by or through, alienate, carry, carry, do away, take, take away, to emigrate, leave, to vanish, to perish, etc.  This word is a deliberate action word and one that was done without obeying what was established as a boundary.  When God says someone or something has transgressed His Covenant, it is serious business for a violation has occurred and since it cannot be broken, it has to be in order at all times.  This is why it is important that every detail with God is known and lived without exception.

We know that Joshua was "off the hook" with God because God was having a direct conversation with him concerning what the issue was.  God did not miss this detail nor did He allow it to go unnoticed when the battle time arrived.  God also began to tell Joshua that there was sin in the camp and that it was his responsibility to find it and to rid Israel of the accursed items.  Joshua also understood that when the people responsible were found that it would be a high price that they would pay for this disobedient act.  While Joshua could breathe a sigh of relief that he was not at fault, he knew that someone was and they had to be disposed of quickly.  Joshua understood what it meant for God to say that He was no longer with them until the accursed was gone, it meant that they were totally vulnerable to the enemies that were around them and that if God allowed a few men to get killed for an unknown issue just think what He would do while the sin was still known about and active.

Because Joshua knew that God's faithfulness would include devastation if the present sin was not weeded out properly, it fueled Joshua to stand up and be the leader God chose him to be.  All of us know that it is easy being a leader when things are going good, Israel was just over the supernatural victory of Jericho; what a rush that must have been to witness and to participate in, but it was also the source of the accursed thing that God was speaking about.  It must have been hard for Joshua to make the statements he did after God told him of the issue, but at the same time, Joshua knew he had to complete God's Word or Israel would be doomed and then he would be at fault with God.

God gives leaders the opportunity to do the correct thing when wrongs are discovered.  God expects a true and appropriate action, one that He would do, you know, what His Word says.  Battles and wars do not have to be on the table for this type of calling to take place, as a leader this type of action is taught to be dealt with and to be settled as soon as possible for if it is not, it is a guarantee that animosity and distrust within the ranks and file shall arrive.  Just as God gave Joshua the duty to seek out the fault, God also reassured Joshua that he was not responsible for what had occurred to Israel but that he did need to correct things immediately.  Whether we know it or not, God followed a pattern that we read about in the New Testament where correction must first be done in the House of God.  Joshua was tested and proven worthy of such a corrective task, God rewarded Joshua and Israel after the correction was made and all went well for the time being.

As our study of Joshua 7 continues, we will see many aspects of leadership being shown, but also how to deal with sin and what it means to rid ourselves of its clutches.  It is not too hard to see where God wants us to be when it comes to being leaders to those around us and to other nations.  While many people deny our special status in the eyes and heart of God, this nation was established to conquer the world and its leader but just as with Ancient Israel, we have allowed an accursed thing into our hearts and have waivered ourselves from God and His Ways.  One cannot help but wonder how long God would have allowed Israel to be defeated until He told us what was going on, we have taken our leadership role and thrown it to the ground all in the name of equality and equity with the world a grave position to take since the same authority that was given to Israel was given to this nation so long ago.

What does this mean for the Church?  It means that right at this moment we are in the camp of Achan and not in the position as Joshua.  Go back and reread what God stated concerning the status of Israel in this passage.  God says that He will not be with Israel until the accursed thing is gone which means everyone fits into that category and until Joshua (the Church) stands up and cleans what is dirty God has severe issues with us and we are vulnerable to any and all attacks from our enemies.  There is no excuse for our behavior, Church.  We have not been a Joshua and we can no longer claim or say that we were not Joshua.  Joshua was not punished for the mistakes of Israel because he did what God required of him to do, but we are in contempt of what God has ordained us to do as leaders and this needs to be corrected immediately or God is going to shake the Church in ways we have only heard about in history.  It might not have been Joshua but it surely is us!  Do you want a return to normalcy?  Then be like Joshua!

DLB