Joshua 7:3–4: “And they returned to Joshua and said to him, ‘Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.’ So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.”

March 28th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The children of God had an easy victory over Jericho, and Joshua sent men to spy out another part of the land, Ai.  The people had developed a “We can do it; no sweat” attitude. We notice that there is no mention of prayer before going out to battle this time. There is also no mention of a personal time of prayer for Joshua after victory of the stronghold of Jericho. We find nothing comparable to the time he spent before the Lord on his face with his sandals removed in surrender and submission. There was also no Gilgal consecration experience of circumcision or celebration of the Passover. It seems the enemy of God, pride and self-confidence, had replaced humility and brokenness. The last part of verse 4 says, “but they fled” before the men of Ai. Strangely there isn’t any mention of fighting going on, just running on the part of God’s children. It appears that as soon as Israel came to the gate of the city, the army of Ai came running out, and the children of Israel turned and fled. Why? God wasn’t with them and they didn’t have enough courage of their own to even put up a fight.

In addition to not seeking the Lord before going into battle against Ai, there was also sin among the people. Achan, of the tribe of Judah, had secretly taken some of the things from Jericho that they had been forbidden to take. It turns out there is no such thing as a secret sin. No one’s sin is ever just his business alone. No matter how secret a sin might be, its effects spill over into the lives of others. In this case, Achan’s sin affected the entire people. Achan and his family were taken outside the camp, stoned to death, and then burned with all his possessions. The list of possessions given makes it clear that Achan was already a wealthy man by the standards of his day. So we must conclude that Achan’s theft was inspired by greed not need. The consequence to Achan and his family may seem extreme but that is only because we have a tame, docile view of sin. We need to be afraid of the contagious power of sin. They piled stones over Achan and his family and left them as a lasting monument because God wanted His people and us to remember the terrible consequences of sin.  Hidden sin must be brought into the light. We can do it now through confession and repentance, falling on God’s grace, or God will deal with it later, more severely.

“LORD, please forgive our sin this day. We turn from it and ask You to change our heart’s response, learning to hate it in our own lives more deeply.”