Losing The War

Losing The War

10/11/21

Losing something to a friend or family member is bad enough, but losing something precious to an enemy is totally unacceptable.  How many of us have lost a battle that we should have easily won, or how many of us have made choices bad enough to lose said battle or war?  We were not created to lose anything for we are Created in the likeness of God.  Yet, we chose to give all that up for supposedly personal gain, an act that all of us still contend with on a minute-by-minute basis.  If we do not follow our Creator's instructions there shall come a time when a "given" victory will end in our defeat; however, we do not have to live in such defeat there is a way we can avoid it.  But we need to turn back to our Creator in order to live in such victory, for if not those stinging small defeats will one day catch up with us and will give all our enemies victory over our lives.

For many years, I have heard on several informational platforms that this nation shall lose a war that we have been engaged in.  It is hard to fathom such a thought but no matter how one feels it must be put into place a contingency plan if such a thing would develop.  The United States was created on a different level and designed to lead all other nations in freedom and democracy through God's example.  But our selfishness and self-centeredness have cost us dearly and because of this behavior, we have lost not just one war but many of them over the past few decades.  No, not all of them have been physical losses but it is the spiritual ones that count the most for they influence the physical aspect of things enough to include their losses as well.

What is most disturbing about this topic is the fact that most people do not care about losing these battles and wars.  They fail to admit that our stomach for toughness and defending the innocent no longer lives within our borders thus signifying to all others that our God-given fighting strength no longer exists.  But why is this?  What have we done to lose such power and stability?  These questions and more are easily explained, but the answers to these questions and many more to are not wished for, for it would require the truth of status, and currently we have no real leader to bring about this spiritual audit.  I guess we have not lost enough yet or lost something important enough to warrant such a new detail.

There are many examples in the Bible of how important it is to understand that our spiritual lives dictate how our physical will see and that one can have the strongest army yet lose to a very minuscule battalion.  God shows us this possibility in the passage of Scripture today.  It is one that comes off of a great victory and a battle that really should not have been fought at all due to the sizes of the armies involved; however, it was fought and it was no contest in favor of the enemy, not Israel.  The passage is as follows:

Joshua 7:1-8

"But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed this: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the Children of Israel.  And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country.  And the men went up and viewed Ai.  And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few.  So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.  And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.  And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.  And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?  would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jorda!  O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!"

Many people who do not study war or its properties have a tendency to not know that the fighting itself is not all that occurs during these times.  It is this passage that brings us to this attention and until we understand that we do not fight the physical alone but should rely on spiritual guidance in such tense times.  We have a scenario where Joshua was completing what God had commanded him and Israel to do concerning their enemies in the area.  Joshua sent spies out to the land of Ai this was a smart tactical process, the spies came back and told of a small army and that Joshua should only send a portion of Israel's army to fight, for the resistance would be minor.  Joshua and Israel did just that but were turned back by the warriors of Ai before they reached the gates of the town.  Israel literally turned their backs in fear and running away, total defiance to what God had previously ordained from the nation.

How could God go back on His Word of victory and allow the enemy to force Israel to turn their backs in defeat?  Our passage states the answer for losing that war and it had prior inoculations of sin hidden within the camp.  God cannot in any way turn His back upon His people and leave them defenseless during times of trouble; however, if God sees that sin rules the hearts of those He has entrusted to keep His Word pure then God has no choice but to halt His Word until the matter is corrected.  Many nations would chalk up this loss as being underprepared for the enemy but Joshua knew that something was amiss for God would not allow a defeat upon giving His Word.  Disobedience had occurred and was brought into camp, even if the objects of disobedience would not have penetrated the camp the guilty party's heart did which intensified the condition of Israel.

We cannot ever forget that our individual actions while we may feel are insignificant are not hidden from God.  Achan believed that he had done a pretty good job of hiding things from Israel and from God.  He was only half correct and in anyone's book 50% still chalks up a grade of "F".  It does not matter if just one person selfishly defies God during a scenario or in some type of action, disobedience has occurred and God cannot be called God if He allowed such secrecy and disobedience to thrive.  At that moment Joshua and all of Israel had no idea of what occurred previously but they knew something was not right and that Joshua would hear from God and know the truth.  The root of this defeat had to be found and it had to be done in a precise manner leaving no family or person out of the looking.  We see a few verses later the reason that Israel lost the battle that day, and it was not a pretty ending for that family but it was necessary that dealings had to be finished.

So, how does this passage of Scripture relevant to our lives and situations today?  Some of you may have already figured things out but probably most have not.  In NO way is God saying that you are dumb and should not be written off but He is saying that we have a heart problem and that unless we begin to seek Him for true answers our Achan is going to get found out and we shall not have a pretty outcome.  It has become obvious that we have no intentions of digging past the superficial layers of our hearts in order to expose what really lies underneath and within the depths of our hearts.  By not doing such a task God shall quickly take control of the situation His Way and expose all whether or not we want Him to or not.  Achan had plenty of time in-between battles and fights to turn himself in and confess his dealings, but his pride did not allow him to do this.  It was his selfish and prideful gains that proved more lucrative instead of obedience to God.

General George Patton once said: "Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity."  A controversial statement to say the least but it is one that rings loud and clear when you place this truth around a heart.  We are so quick and comfortable about placing mortar around our hearts to hide what is inside them and do not think about the consequences of our activity of defense.  This nation has built so many fortifications of hiding that they have become the number one hindrance to our advancement.  Almost every day when we wake up we hear about another problem, scandal, heartache, etc. flash across our screen yet as each one unfolds our resources and answers dwindle to ashes many times even before we finish our explanation.  There is a reason for this, we have become our own personal and nation Achan against God.

Church, you were created by Jesus to be the light of the world and to guide the world back to God.  But along the way, you have kept personal treasures from the world and hid them within your heart.  You may have not shown those treasures verbally or "publicly" to others but in all truth, you did for whether you know it or not your heart shines to the world along with its contents.  Through this action of ours, the world sees no problem with carrying its own treasures within their hearts either, see they recognize those worldly treasures we carry and since they know from where we got them it says to them that we carry the world inside our hearts so why would they possibly give up what they already have?  Because of those fixed fortifications around our hearts, the world becomes an equal instead of an enemy, and our presence here along with the mission Jesus commanded us to complete, null and void.

And, like Achan, we hide our sins underneath the blackened walls of those fortifications instead of tearing them down and correcting our hearts before God without His hand being our provocating stick.  The world is in enough trouble that we have no business adding to their woes.  It is obvious that our word to the world has been dulled and almost on the brink of being shut out completely; in some areas of the world, this has already happened.  Sadly, we flaunt our gifts and benefits to a mute and blind world through mute and blind words they are no longer alive but dead.  So how do we believe that we are doing any true and eternal good to the dead when we too are dead?  We may be completely shaken in the coming days but it does not mean we have to wait until our hearts are broken to start repenting and setting things right with God.  Repent, Church! And begin winning the lost for God.  God guarantees total victory when we go into battle with a pure and sinless heart and we shall never lose another war with His Standard.

DLB