Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because
thus says the LordGod of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” Joshua 7:13
In the book of Joshua there is a great story that shows us the ramifications of having
hidden things in our lives. Joshua and the people had just come off of the high
of defeating Jericho. They marched around that city and followed Gods commands.
On the seventh time around they let out a shout of praise and the wall fell
down. The only had one command. They were specifically told not to take anything
from that city and mix it among their stuff. Joshua 6 The walls came
down and they defeated the armies of Jericho, but one person decided to hide
something that he wasn’t supposed to take with him One thing, one moment, one
decision to not let everything go, just as the Lord had commanded.
As the story goes on you know that they were shortly defeated by the army
of Ai. The defeat came as a surprise to Joshua and immediately he reverted back
to fear and wondering why God called him to be the leader. At one point he
wondered what the surrounding people would think of him. I love how God responds
to Joshua, He basically tells him to stop whining. (Joshua 7:10-12) Maybe not in
those words. God tells Joshua, there is an accursed thing among you. There is
something in your midst that doesn’t belong there and I want you to sanctify the
people and find who is hiding something. He was telling Joshua, you have to get
that thing that doesn’t belong out of your camp.
This is the same thing that God would say to anyone who is trying to find
true hope in God. Have you struggled to reach the point of freedom that God is
calling you to? Maybe you attend a church service and you feel temporary relief
from what is haunting you. Maybe for a day or so, you are not tempted to lash
out in anger at your family. Maybe you go a couple days without being tempted to
return to your old ways. Then you turn to God and ask, “God why have you called
me to change, I can’t do it?” At times you may turn to God and ask him what the
people will think of you since you continue to fail at the same thing. God’s
answer, “Stop Whining!” Again, maybe not in those words.
I believe God would tell us today to look at what’s hiding within us. He would ask us to
sanctify ourselves until we find what is hidden. You have to find that thing
that is hidden among you and remove it. For me it might have been forgiveness. I
know I needed to forgive the person who hurt me, because God already knew what
happened to me. Justice was for the Lord, it was not in my hands.
Maybe your hidden thing is forgiveness, maybe its abandonment, maybe it’s
ineffective grieving, maybe its unconfessed sin, whatever it is, its hidden and
its causing you to lose your battles.
Joshua was at the point of despair. The bible says that he fell to his face and poured dirt over his head as a sign that his grief had overtaken him. He couldn’t believe that what God had called him to do was not coming to pass. Many of us know that God is calling us to a higher calling. We know that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and yet we have spent many of nights on our face, asking God why we can’t see his plans come to life in our lives. We wonder when the struggle is going to be over. Search out your camp. Look at whats hidden. Tell God to show you those hidden things that even you can't see. Tell him to lead you to complete a true cleanse of your soul. Allow him to lead you to a higher calling. Search your camp, get rid of the junk God never intended for you to carry around, then get ready for your next victory. Joshua did!
thus says the LordGod of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” Joshua 7:13
In the book of Joshua there is a great story that shows us the ramifications of having
hidden things in our lives. Joshua and the people had just come off of the high
of defeating Jericho. They marched around that city and followed Gods commands.
On the seventh time around they let out a shout of praise and the wall fell
down. The only had one command. They were specifically told not to take anything
from that city and mix it among their stuff. Joshua 6 The walls came
down and they defeated the armies of Jericho, but one person decided to hide
something that he wasn’t supposed to take with him One thing, one moment, one
decision to not let everything go, just as the Lord had commanded.
As the story goes on you know that they were shortly defeated by the army
of Ai. The defeat came as a surprise to Joshua and immediately he reverted back
to fear and wondering why God called him to be the leader. At one point he
wondered what the surrounding people would think of him. I love how God responds
to Joshua, He basically tells him to stop whining. (Joshua 7:10-12) Maybe not in
those words. God tells Joshua, there is an accursed thing among you. There is
something in your midst that doesn’t belong there and I want you to sanctify the
people and find who is hiding something. He was telling Joshua, you have to get
that thing that doesn’t belong out of your camp.
This is the same thing that God would say to anyone who is trying to find
true hope in God. Have you struggled to reach the point of freedom that God is
calling you to? Maybe you attend a church service and you feel temporary relief
from what is haunting you. Maybe for a day or so, you are not tempted to lash
out in anger at your family. Maybe you go a couple days without being tempted to
return to your old ways. Then you turn to God and ask, “God why have you called
me to change, I can’t do it?” At times you may turn to God and ask him what the
people will think of you since you continue to fail at the same thing. God’s
answer, “Stop Whining!” Again, maybe not in those words.
I believe God would tell us today to look at what’s hiding within us. He would ask us to
sanctify ourselves until we find what is hidden. You have to find that thing
that is hidden among you and remove it. For me it might have been forgiveness. I
know I needed to forgive the person who hurt me, because God already knew what
happened to me. Justice was for the Lord, it was not in my hands.
Maybe your hidden thing is forgiveness, maybe its abandonment, maybe it’s
ineffective grieving, maybe its unconfessed sin, whatever it is, its hidden and
its causing you to lose your battles.
Joshua was at the point of despair. The bible says that he fell to his face and poured dirt over his head as a sign that his grief had overtaken him. He couldn’t believe that what God had called him to do was not coming to pass. Many of us know that God is calling us to a higher calling. We know that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and yet we have spent many of nights on our face, asking God why we can’t see his plans come to life in our lives. We wonder when the struggle is going to be over. Search out your camp. Look at whats hidden. Tell God to show you those hidden things that even you can't see. Tell him to lead you to complete a true cleanse of your soul. Allow him to lead you to a higher calling. Search your camp, get rid of the junk God never intended for you to carry around, then get ready for your next victory. Joshua did!
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