THE COST OF AVOIDABLE TRANSGRESSION IN A MILITANT CONQUERING CHURCH

Text: Joshua 7, 8, 9.

God expects the church to be militant so that it can be triumphant. The church is made up of called-out people—people who are called out of the world and called into the kingdom to fellowship and to go into the world to fulfil the Great Commission that Christ has given to the church. If we are going to fulfil the Great Commission, we must be militant in our approach, preaching, praying, and going forth to possess the land. Transgressions are avoidable because we are warned ahead of time, the grace of God is provided, and the presence of the Lord is with us every time.

1.      THE COSTLY WILFULNESS OF DEFIANT SACRILEGE

Joshua 7:1-26.

“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” (Joshua 7:21). After Achan was identified as the one who brought transgression and sin into the midst of the people of God, he confessed that the source of his problem was what he saw. The eye gate into every person is a gate that could become a dangerous thing for each person. The problem of Lot, ten of the spies that were sent to Canaan, Saul, and Samson all began with what they saw. You have to know what to do with the eye gate so that the defeat, destruction, and damnation that came upon Achan will not come upon you.

• The Defeat of Conquerors by God’s Enemies – Joshua 7:1-9; 1 Chronicles 21:7-14, 17; Ecclesiastes 9:18; Hebrews 12:15-16. The avoidable transgression of Achan brought defeat to the army of Israel and caused the death of 36 men. Transgressors are wicked and thoughtless, thinking about themselves alone while their transgressions could affect many other people. “Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.” (Ecclesiastes 9:18). Fathers, mothers, and children must consider what the impact of their actions would be on other family members, their ministry, and the church of God. A man can fail of the grace of God because the grace of God does not continue automatically when anyone yields himself to sin. All sins are avoidable. The sin of a person can affect many people. Both Achan and Esau were not able to repent; going wilfully into sin with the mind of repenting later is a risk that no one should take because you also may not be able to repent.

• The Discovery of the Curse by God’s Eyes – Joshua 7:10-19; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Jeremiah 23:24; Hebrews 4:13. Prayer is useless when there is transgression; if there is sin in your life, it destroys the power of prayer. Sin makes a person accursed in the presence of God and rejected in the courts of heaven. When there is sin, peace is gone, confidence is eroded, faith is affected, and the sin will not allow the voice of the transgressor to get to heaven when he prays. If you jettison and refuse holiness because you have weapons and promises, you will discover that the victory, power, and breakthrough you ought to have will all be gone. “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:24). God sees and knows everything, and nothing can be hidden from Him. Except we deal with the transgression that caused the backsliding, our lives can be wasted from now till the end of our pilgrimage.

• The Directive for Correction and God’s Expectation – Joshua 7:13, 20-26; Romans 16:17-20; Ephesians 5:11-12; 1 Corinthians 5:11-13. God directs that we should correct the past, make restitution, and expose sin.  Achan saw, coveted, took, and hid what was forbidden. If he had cautioned himself when he saw it, there would have been no sin in him. If you have to hide what you watch or do from your spouse, it is probably because you know it is a sin. God has written His law in our hearts, and that is how we know what is sinful even without being told.

2.      THE COURAGEOUS WARRIORS WITH DIVINE STRATEGY

Joshua 8:1-35.

After the children of Israel had taken care of the sin and the sinner, and they came on God’s side, God gave them directives and strategies on how to overcome Ai. If we approach a challenge as God wants us to approach it, we will overcome it; if we don’t overcome it, the challenge will come again, and we will have to overcome it before we can make progress.

• The Readiness of Warriors Under Divine Strategy – Joshua 8:3-4, 1-13; 2 Samuel 15:15; Romans 1:14-16; Titus 3:1, 8, 14. Where the children of Israel had failed before, God now gave them the strategy to overcome, and they listened with rapt attention and were ready and willing to do what the Lord wanted them to do. “And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.” (2 Samuel 15:15). The attitude we ought to have and the statement we ought to say to the King of kings and Lord of Lords is that we are ready to do whatever He commands us to do. “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:14-16).

• The Redemption of the World by the Designated Saviour – Joshua 8:18-22, 25; Luke 9:54-56; 19:10; John 3:16-17; Acts 5:30-32. The Hebrew word ‘Joshua’ means ‘Jehovah saves’ and is translated as ‘Jesus’ in Greek. As Joshua was designated to be the one to bring victory to the children of Israel and lead them to possess the land, Christ Jesus is the designated Saviour and the only Saviour to save us from sin. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). When the Jewish leaders rejected Christ as Saviour, tried, tested, and tempted Him, He endured it all because the salvation and redemption of the world depended on Him alone. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). God did not give one of the angels for our sins but gave only Jesus as the Saviour, and there is no other saviour apart from Him. Christ has now passed the commission unto us to preach the gospel to every creature; an angel or a glorified saint in heaven will not come and do the work. Whatever challenges we face in the field of evangelism, we cannot quit or run back because we have been appointed and designated to share the gospel with the people. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.” (Acts 5:30-32). We are witnesses that Christ is the only Saviour, whether we are arrested, imprisoned, or persecuted, therefore, regardless of any challenge we face, we must not run back from the mission field.

• The Reading of His Word with Delightsome Submission – Joshua 8:34-35, 30-35; Deuteronomy 17:19-20; Acts 13:27-33, 38-41; Acts 8:30-31, 35. Every individual, family, and minister should read the word. Ministers in particular must still read the word and learn from it because the word of God is inexhaustible; whatever we have read or known in the past, there is more still to be known. We must be committed to reading the word, hearing the word, and meditating on the word. It is not what we hear that gives us victory, it is what we meditate on. It is what we practice of the word we have read, heard, and meditated upon that makes victory and triumph visible in our lives. We must also believe the word and pass on the fresh word.  We need to plead with the Lord that whatever is making us to be dragged down, pinned down, tired, and weary will be taken away and God will give us the excitement and passion we had at the beginning of our ministry to run in this new day and new ministry. Our priority should not be for interactions and discussions of current affairs but to make the people understand the word of God. Jesus is revealed throughout the Bible and as we search the Scriptures, our priority must be to find Jesus.

3.  THE CONDEMNED WAYWARDNESS OF DECEPTIVE SUBTILTY

Joshua 9:1-27.

• The Fear and Falsehood of Godless Gibeonites – Joshua 9:1-13; Psalm 119:104-106; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Proverbs 26:25.  Unity is good, but if the unity is against the decision and decree of heaven, that unity will collapse. Being in one accord is good when it supports the decree, decision, and directive of heaven. Deception and falsehood do not pay as they erode into the reality of our sanctification and holiness. There are many things that look incredible and believable, but they are false; beware. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The end of our actions begins at death and continues for all eternity. Consider the eternity that follows the actions of today.

• Their Fault and Failure Without God’s Guidance – Joshua 9:14-17; Numbers 27:1821; 1 Samuel 30:7-8; Proverbs 3:5-6. Despite the great things said about the Old Testament personalities, many of them did not have the gifts of the Spirit. The Gibeonites were able to deceive the whole leadership of the children of Israel because they lacked the gifts of the Spirit, unlike Elisha and Peter. As we serve the Lord in the New Testament, we don’t go by only what Joshua had, but we go by what is available for us in the New Covenant. The fault and the failure of the leaders of Israel is that they did not seek God’s guidance and counsel, and that eventually brought them down.

• The Fatality in Future with Guilty Gibeonites – Joshua 9:18-27; 10:1-6; 2 Samuel 21:1-6; Jeremiah 28:1-4, 15-17; Proverbs 6:1-5. In making a decision, even if we have made any mistake in the past, we can still go and ask the Lord because He has the solution to every problem and He can readjust, redefine, and redirect even after the first mistake. Although Joshua had made the initial mistake of accepting the Gibeonites, he made a further mistake of promising to keep them alive. While this was alright during the time of Joshua, it became a problem during the time of David. We are studying this to understand that we must seek the Lord in every step we take, everything we do, and in every agreement that we get into. After so many years of interaction between the Gibeonites and the Israelites, the Gibeonites were still in the heathen and idolatrous behaviour and remained unchanged. It is important that our lives influence and convert the people that interact with us. We must always ask the Lord about the decisions we are taking, the steps we are taking, the processes we are following, the people we are agreeing with, what they are demanding of us, and what we are going to do in response to them.