The Battle of Ai - Sin in the Camp Joshua 6:18 “And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.” Moses is dead, and a new commander has taken over for the people Israel…Joshua. Joshua’s charge is to follow the Lord’s direction and lead His people into the promise land. God has given it to them, but they have to take it! The first challenge is the mighty walled city of Jericho. God showed His mighty right hand and delivered the city into their hands. God however warned the people that all of the spoils of this first victory belonged to Him. When the battle was over, one man out of the entire nation sinned. His name was Achan (His name means troublesome in Hebrew). He had taken a few trinkets and hidden them under his tent without the rest of Israel knowing it. So the next town on the promise land ‘to conquer’ list was an infant compared to Jericho; it was called ‘AI.’ Joshua sent spies to evaluate the city and they brought back the following report, “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 labour thither; for they are but few.” (7:3) So what was the result of the first battle with AI? Read for yourself: “Joshua 7:5 “And the men of Ai smote of [ISRAEL] 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.” Israel lost 36 warriors and retreated like cowards. So why did these men die? Joshua rent his clothes and cried out to God with the same question. God’s simple answer was that there was sin in the camp; that was why the lost the battle. Next we see that after they go through all of the tribes and families to see who’s fault it was, Achan was found guilty. Notice the judgment handed down by Joshua, “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.” So one man sinned and 36 soldier, plus the sinners children and his animals die as a result. An important lesson to remember is that as a Christian, we are all part of a body. What one part does affects the rest of the body. The effects of our sin can and will ripple out beyond us. It will affect those we love.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 06:06:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015