Is There Sin In The Camp?

Is there sin in the camp?

Theme: To show the devastating affects of sin in life and in the church.

Text: Joshua 6:27 - 7:1-26

Joshua 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country. 7:1But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

Introduction

At this point Israel had been on a emotional and spiritual high. In the last few chapters we have seen two of the greatest miracles in the Bible. First God split open the Jordan river, at its fullest capacity, and they walked across on dry ground. Now I know that the Jordan was not the Red Sea yet God, before their eyes caused the river to split and they walked though. What I love is the test of faith that God showed by telling the priest to step into the water and it wasn’t until they stepped into the water, by faith, that the river split.

Next in chapter 5 & 6 we read that God gave Israel a great victory by causing the great walls to fall flat. Jericho was surrounded by two walls of defense. One was about 12 feet high and the other, about 15 feet back, was over 30 feet high. 20,000 people who occupied Jericho

By this time Israel must be thinking, “nothing is impossible with God”. I will repeat that to you because I know that it is true, “nothing is impossible with God”. With God all things are possible. I have seen God do many things just in my life time.

Sin in the Camp

Yet by the time we get to chapter 7 Israel runs into a snag. They saw the city of Ai and Joshua draws up the usual battle plan. As he did at Jericho he sent spies into the city to find out how big they were and to figure out what the strategy would be. The spies came back and told Joshua, “Ah don’t worry too much, this will be a cake walk compared to the rest. Why should we all get tired, just send in 2 to 3 thousand. That should do it.” Well Joshua went with the higher number and to their dismay 36 people were killed and on top of that Israel fled before this city.

You got to understand this generation didn’t know the word defeat. They had seen the miracles of God. Yet this was a defeat and it melted the heart of God. Joshua knew something was up and he tore his close, as a symbol of distress and went directly to the Lord.

Joshua did what we all should do when we know something is not right and that is go to the Lord. Find out what is wrong. With this Joshua appealed to God’s reputation and what the nations would think about him and God told him, “There is sin in the camp”.

This was the problem sin had entered the camp. You see God had commanded that none of Israel would posses any thing from Jericho. Either it was to be destroyed or dedicated to the work of the Lord. This was a direct command from God himself. It was not a command for every city, there would be times when Israel could take what they wanted and keep it for themselves. This would happen often. By the time we get to King Saul and David Israel had collected much treasures from their defeat foes.

But as for Jericho nothing was to be kept. This was God’s command. And this might sound strange but “true freedom comes from obeying God’s command”.

True freedom is following the commands of Christ

Some people are afraid to be a Christian they say that they enjoy their freedom. Yet Christ says, “ If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

Earlier he said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32 AV)

Paul put it this way, “Stand fast therefore in the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1 AV)

For some it is hard to grasp but true freedom comes from following the ways of God. Why? Because it sets us free from the passions that want to control us. It releases us from the sins that want to rule us. We know what it is like to have this battle of the flesh and to give into things that we know is just plain wrong yet the allurement just entices us.