Don’t Take It, It’s Not Yours
Joshua 6: 18 & Chapter 7: 19 – 27
Focus Verse 7:21
Don’t take it its not yours! My mind began to go back to a game that we use to play back in B.V.G., that’s before video games called Hot Potato. Hot Potato was a game that you would sit in a circle or stand across from each other and you would pass this Red Plastic Potato. As soon as someone tried to pass you the potato you hurried and passed it off to someone else, because you didn’t want it, it didn’t belong to you, and you knew that if you got caught holding the potato when the buzzer went off that you would be out of the game.
It’s like that in the spiritual, if you take something that’s not yours you could end up out of the game. Don’t take it, It’s not yours.
To take something that is not yours is a sin, because God said in Exodus 20:15 “Thou shalt not steal” that is the 8th commandment
The word steal comes from a Hebrew word called “ganab” it means to thieve or deceive; the etymology of the word steal is to take and carry away without permission.
The word take means to get into ones hands or possessions, to accept into the mind or understanding, to assume or undertake, to receive or derive from another source, to become impregnated with or to absorb, to do, to make, or perform.
A thief is one that steals. If you receive something that is not yours you are as a thief because you accepted into your mind and you assumed it into your possession from another source, you have received stolen property; therefore you are as a thief. The Bible says in Luke 12:33 “No thief approacheth heaven.” Why because their intention is only to steal, kill, and destroy. When you take something that’s not yours you can’t approach heaven, you will be out of the game. Unlike hot potato when you are out of the game you can still encourage you friends, you can say come on you can do it you can win the game, but when you are out of this game of life the only thing you will be able to say is death fall on me, but death will turn and laugh at you because you got caught with something that wasn’t yours and now you have to pay the price in hell, retribution must be paid for taking something that wasn’t yours, Don’t take it, it’s not yours.
We find in our text a man by the name of Achan that took something that wasn’t his and because he took something that wasn’t his all Israel suffered. DON’T YOU DARE THINK THAT oh it’s o.k. if I do this or if I take that, I’m not hurting nobody, If I sneak over to sister halter tops house I’m not hurting anybody, If I sneak off with brother blue suit I’m not hurting anybody, If I take just a little drink I’m not hurting nobody that’s a lie because we are all the body of Christ, we are the only Jesus this world will ever see and just like in the natural body if I smash my finger my toes know that something is wrong, they might not have felt the impact or the direct pain, but they know that something has affected the body. When you take something that is not yours you affect the whole body of Christ, if you don’t believe that that just look at the Catholic Church, I’m not putting them down, because we all make up the body of Christ, but because of a few doing something they had no business doing, eventhough they are Catholic the whole body of Christ has been affected by it WHY because they took something that wasn’t theirs. Don’t take it, it’s not your.
Achan took something that was not his. In Joshua 6:17 Joshua said “And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. “ Everything and everyone had to be destroyed. Rahab and her household were spared because of what she did to protect the messengers that were sent into the city to spy out the city, the gold silver, iron and brass were to be put into the treasury of the Lord and consecrated to the Lord. In verse 18 Joshua said “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.” Achan took something that wasn’t his, he became a thief. Then it came time for Israel to fight against Ai and like they did with Jericho spies were sent out to survey Ai, they came back to Joshua and said “Let not all the people go up, but let about 2 or 3 thousand men go up and smite Ai surely they are no match for us, but because of Achan taking something that was not his, little tiny Ai smote 36 men and chased the rest of them unto the valley of Shebarim, which means broken place, and smote them there, all because Achan took something that didn’t belong to him.
Joshua fell on his face and began to pray, I believe he said Lord why did we lose to little bitty Ai when you just delivered into our hands the might city of Jericho, God said there’s sin in the camp. God showed Joshua just what had been done, you see you thought you were getting away with it, but rest assured your sins will find you out because you can’t hide from the all seeing God.
Joshua said in 7:19 “Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.” Achan in verse 20 & 21 answers “And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”
In verse 25 Joshua said “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The LORD shall trouble thee this day”. Then all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day all because he took something that wasn’t his. All because he took something that wasn’t his. Don’t Take It, It’s Not Yours.
Let me talk about another person that took something that wasn’t his by the name of Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the king of Babylon, the grandson of king Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchanezzar in 598 B.C. conquered Jerusalem and took out of the Temple that Solomon built all the treasure of the house of the Lord, the vessels of gold and silver. This is one of the reasons that he had to crawl around for 7 years like a wild animal, because he took something that wasn’t his. One day he lifted up his eyes unto heaven and blessed the most High and praised and honored Him that liveth forever. Once he did that he was restored back to his place in the kingdom; however, he didn’t return the vessels of the Lord, but he kept them in his house. DON”T YOU KNOW that you can’t keep sin around or keep hanging around sin and not be affected by it at some point.
Let me clarify something right here, the vessels were not sin, but Nebuchanezzar having possession of them was a sin they were not his.
Belshazzar one night got lifted up in pride. Babylon was surrounded by the Persian army; Belshazzar felt that Babylon was inpeneratrable because of its massive walls that protected the city of Babylon. They tell me that the walls were 15 miles square, something like 100 feet high, they went down into the ground about 20 feet they were so wide the 3 chariots could be put side by side and ride the whole way around, that is as wide as a 3 lane highway, in between the outer wall and the inner wall they filled it with sand, this way if someone tried to ram the wall the sand would become compacted making it virtually impossible to knock the walls down. So Belshazzar felt invincible and decided to throw a party in rivalry of Babylon being under siege. During the party he commanded that the vessels of gold and silver that his grandfather King Nebuchadnezzar had taken form the temple of the Lord be brought to him so he, his princess, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein, he took something that wasn’t his.
When he took what wasn’t his he got caught, a finger of mans’ hand began to write upon the plaster of the wall of his palace, it troubled Belshazzar, it made him weak in the knees, he didn’t know what the writing was it said Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin but he didn’t know the meaning of that, so he sent for Daniel to come and interpret the writing on the wall. Daniel looked at the wall and I believe he began to shake his head and said Oh Belshazzar what did you do, you took something that wasn’t yours you got caught and now you have to pay for what you have done, because you took something that wasn’t yours MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting, Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians all because you took something that wasn’t yours. That night Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Median took the kingdom all because he took something that wasn’t his.
I know what somebody might be saying right about now. Wait a minute preacher I’m saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost filled, I have never in my life taken anything that didn’t belong to me so what are you talking about how is this message for me, what are you talking about preacher.
We have people who are saved sanctified and Holy Ghost filled taking everything from the devil and they don’t have to take it its not theirs. Look at someone and say oh that’s what he means, Don’t take it it’s not yours.
So many times what happens is the devil begins to bombard our lives with a bunch of mess and we act like spiritual whimps and take it and the devil sees that we will take it, that we are not putting up a fight so he becomes like that bully in school that took your lunch money once, after he seen that you were going to let him get away with it he would keep on coming back, that’s the way the devil is. He sees that you took his mess once even though it didn’t belong to you, but you took it. So what he does is he keeps on coming back he says I’m gonna take your job and because we let him get away with it, because we take it, he comes back and says here’s some depression, here’s some discouragement, here’s some anxiety, here’s some divorce and if you don’t get some spiritual back bone about yourself and you keep on taking it even though it’s not yours you will eventually die WHY because you are taking it and it’s not yours. Don’t Take It, It’s Not Yours.
I remember in school in high school to be exact there was a guy I was for a while scared of, he would bully me because he knew that I would take it one day I made up in my mind that I wasn’t going to take it anymore. He stood up in class said a few things and slapped me in my face, my father had to come up to the school not because I was getting suspended but because I tried to throw him out of the third floor window I said I wasn’t going to take it anymore. You gotta tell the devil I’m not going to take it anymore it’s not mine.
How many of you remember a few years ago the just say no to drugs champagne there was a commercial with a little boy that was walking down the street and a drug dealer tried t get him to take drugs the boys said NO. Tell the devil NO I’m not taking it, it’s not mine.
There use to be a saying in the world when we would go to a club or party and it was just about time to go someone would say “you ain’t got to go home but you got to get the ___ out of here, Baby that’s what you got to tell the devil. When he says I’m gonna get into your finances, I’m gonna get into your children, I gonna get into house, I’m gonna get into your marriage, what you gotta do is get your oil and prayeroritize your life and tell the devil I’m not gonna take it, it doesn’t belong to me so in the name of Jesus get that hell out of here.
Someone may be saying but wait a minute you’re a preacher you’re on a different level you can tell the devil your not going to take it, but I’m not at that level. Understand that it’s not another level because the same Holy Ghost in me is the same Holy Ghost in you, you could have been saved 40 years or 40 minutes it’s the same Holy Ghost just different experiences. But let me teach you something whether you have been saved for a long time or for just a little while that will get you to the point that you are able to tell the devil I’m not gonna take it it’s not mine so get that hell out of here.
Get you Bible and turn to the 23rd Psalm, get a pen, pincle, and tube of lipstick, some mascara, anything to make a mark with. Now anywhere on that page I want you to make a dot. Now look at it, now look at me, now look back at the page what do you see. A dot why, because we have been so conditioned to looking at the now what our current circumstances are and fail to look at everything else around. If you look at the page you see a dot, but what you fail to see was even though the dot is there, beyond the dot The Lord is still my shepherd and I shall not want.
When the devil comes and tries to get you to take something that is not yours you don’t have to take it, when the doctor says you only got this much time to live cause cancer is eating your body alive tell the doctor you don’t have to take it, because it may seem like the end to you but to God it’s just a dot.
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Boanerge Ministries
