This is the final week in a 4-week series on the Old Testament character, Joshua, called “Josh Journey”.
• He was one of the 12 spies that checked out Canaan.
• He was the one that led the Israelites into the Promised Land.
• The Jordan River parted for him
• He led the Israelites into victory over Jericho
• They lost to a much inferior city, Ai, then rebounded to beat them
• The sun stood still during one of their battles
Josh had quite the journey! Three weeks ago we talked about how all 12 spies were in the same place, saw the same people, experienced the same sights, sounds and smells but 10 of them had a much different report from Caleb and Joshua. We learned that:
WHEN YOU SEE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO SEE, YOU CAN DO WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO
Two weeks ago we looked at the first chapter of Joshua, when they were on the verge of crossing the Jordan. When God spoke to Joshua. It was critical that Joshua not only HEAR what God said, but BELIEVE. And for us to:
BELIEVING WHAT GOD SPEAKS, GIVES STRENGTH AND
COURAGE TO THE WEAK!
It’s NOT ENOUGH to HEAR what God speaks. We must BELIEVE! We looked at many of the different things that God has said about US as followers of Christ and I challenged us to BELIEVE what God has said, instead of what others or ourselves have said.
Last week we looked at the most famous snapshot of Joshua’s life, Jericho. We learned the secret to their victory at Jericho was not the silence and was not the shout but was obedience, and that:
OBEDIENCE IS TRUST TESTED
Today in part #4 we are going to look at a story in Josh’s life that I can relate to and I’ll bet many of you can too. Before I get to that story…
In honor of March madness, what is the greatest upset you can remember?
• #11 VCU over #1 Kansas in 2011 to reach the Final Four.
• #15 Richmond over #2 Syracuse in 1991
• #6 N.C. State over #1 Houston - Phi Slamma Jamma in 1983 to win the title?
• #8 Villanova over #1 Georgetown in 1981 to win the title?
• Or Texas Western, the first team to have a starting lineup of 5 African American players, defeating national powerhouse Kentucky for the championship in 1966?
No doubt, overconfidence played a role in many of those upsets. Have you ever trusted in your own strength? Ever underestimate an opponent or situation? The favorite thought they would win just by showing up. We will see some of that in our story today. Let’s take a look.
Joshua 7:1-13
I want you to notice that Joshua’s first response is to blame God.
“Why did YOU bring us across the Jordan, if you are going to let us get killed?” You have never done that right? Joshua goes to a whining, blaming prayer. With one defeat, he is ready to quit, ready to give-up. Notice what God says to him in verse 10 and 13. “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this?” “Get up! Purify yourself” He’s basically telling him to stop praying and start doing. There’s a time for that! This is what God was telling Joshua:
“DON’T GIVE UP, GET UP”
Instead of giving up, get up and figure out, with God’s help, why you experienced the defeat. There just might be a reason you experienced that defeat. There might be a lesson to be learned in the midst of that defeat. For Joshua, he soon learned the reason. Someone had directly disobeyed an order from the Lord.
“Never underestimate the
amount of damage one person
can do outside the will of God”
• Abraham’s disobedience almost cost him his wife
• David’s disobedience in taking an unauthorized census led to the death of several
• Jonah’s refusal to obey God almost sank a ship.
Achan disobeyed God just to possess some wealth that he couldn’t even enjoy. Where was he going to spend it? Who was he going to show it to? Had he waited just a day or two, he could have gathered all the spoils he wanted from the victory at Ai! But he must have felt like God was unjust or God wasn’t going to provide for them. I mean what had God done to prove himself to Achan?
Achan isn’t the only one at fault here. Joshua did NOT inquire of the Lord!
• Coming off such a great victory at Jericho
• He sent spies into Ai and their report was simple
• Let’s save some energy and only send a few thousand men
• This is an easy victory
• Joshua listened to them and did not ask God
• It seemed like an open and shut case.
• We don’t need to take the varsity on this trip.
Since God’s thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), we’d better take time to seek His direction.
Prov. 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.”
What Israel needed was God-confidence, not self-confidence. After the defeat Joshua humbled himself and sought God. Had Joshua humbled himself BEFORE the battle, the situation would have been different AFTER the battle.
God sometimes permits us to experience humiliating defeats in order to reveal to us what’s really going on in our hearts.
WHAT LIFE DOES TO US DEPENDS ON WHAT LIFE FINDS IN US
So Joshua and Israel experience defeat and were ready to give up, with their tail between their legs and head back to Egypt. But God says:
“DON’T GIVE UP, GET UP”
God takes Joshua through a process of discovering who was at fault. Who had disobeyed. Who had sinned. Know this: Nobody can hide from God. Everybody will face God’s righteous judgment. Also, if the punishment seems a bit harsh by our standards today, understand this. At the beginning of new periods in Bible history, God sometimes revealed His wrath against sin in some dramatic way.
• After the tabernacle was set up, Nadab and Abihu invaded its holy precincts contrary to God’s law, and God killed them. A warning to not treat the sanctuary carelessly
• When David sought to restore the ark to its place of honor, and Uzzah touched the ark to steady it, God killed Uzzah, a warning not to treat sacred things carelessly.
• At the beginning of the church age, when Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and God’s people, the Lord killed them.
Such a strong punishment served as a STRONG statement to Israel that if they obeyed God and sought His direction, they would experience victory, but if they ignored Him, defeat would follow.
The next thing that Joshua did was listen to God as He gave instruction on the way He wanted the battle to go. Perhaps it was to reiterate the destructive nature of pride or self-reliance, but the battle plan was dependent on Ai being over-confident. When Israel turned and began to flee from Ai, the soldiers of Ai followed like Roscoe P. Coltrain “IN HOT PURSUIT”. They were going to put an end to these pesky Israelites. Only problem was, when they left their city unprotected, the second half of the Israelite army, entered Ai and set it on fire. That was the signal for the fleeing army to turn around. Now, Ai was in a pickle. Surrounded and soon defeated.
What would have happened had Joshua and the people not obeyed God’s instruction to:
“DON’T GIVE UP, GET UP”
They would have been permanently defeated. Not even a footnote in history. But they didn’t give up, they got up, they went up and they ended up victorious! What will happen if you refuse to give up but you get up? EVERY TIME!
• You seek God’s face?
• You learn what you need to learn?
• You repent of what you need to repent of?
• You follow God’s revealed instructions?
• You do those things and you WILL be VICTORIOUS!
“DON’T GIVE UP, GET UP”
If you are committed:
• To rebound
• To NOT let your failure define you
• To NOT stay down
• To NOT give up
Than I challenge you to GET UP! Seek God! If we do things His way, we will be victorious and we will wear the VICTOR’S CROWN! If you want to take that step this morning than I challenge you to GET UP and STEP OUT and COME UP as a step of commitment this morning as we sing that song “VICTOR’S CROWN” again. If you need someone to pray with you, our prayer team will be on the left and the right. The middle area is for you if you just want to seek God or worship God on your own.
