Topic: Sin will always cause a set back!
In Joshua 7 we see that Joshua had great confidence in the Lord, therefore he sent only a small number of people to do battle with Ai. It takes confidence in the Lord in order to see victory in the conflict. However, I wish to caution that confidence in oneself can lead to failure and defeat. Pride is a sinful heart condition, and the Bible says that sin will lead to death and destruction (Romans 6:23). Pride will lead you to blaze your own trail, and Proverbs 16:26 warns that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” and Proverbs 16:18 admonishes that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
For Joshua, pride was not the problem in this particular scene. He placed all his confidence entirely in the Lord, but because the people failed, it indicated that there was likely some kind of sin issue present. Have you ever set out confidently in faith that God was leading only to suffer an unexpected defeat? Sometimes the defeat will come as a result of underestimating your enemy—the devil—as he is constantly working against your efforts. However, if you are not walking in integrity then you will sooner or later suffer a spiritual upset. As Moses once told Reuben and Gad, in reference to keeping a promise, “If you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.”
If you should suffer an upset, then perhaps you need to question whether or not you have been walking in integrity. You need to perform a thorough spiritual inventory of your heart and motives, and take a good look at how you are living your life. You will likely find that you have slipped in some small area of your devotion to Christ, and you will find that you have a sin issue that has been left unchecked. You might even discover that you have been placing your trust in something other than the Lord—maybe in yourself, in money.
Notice how Achan’s transgression—the sin of one man —affected an entire nation. The Bible is clear that the whole group was held guilty for the sin of one of its members, whose punishment fell upon the members of his immediate family. If you fall as a leader, then you run the risk of causing an entire group of people to fall.
This is a call to do all things as unto the Lord (Colossian 3:23), even when no one else is looking.
So, what is hiding in your closet? Or, when applied to what we saw with Achan (vv. 21-23), what is hiding in your tent?
First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
See you Sunday,
Dr. Scott Kallem