A Treacherous Act

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

A TREACHEROUS ACT

Josh 7:1-5

7:1 But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there." 4 So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

NIV

Chapter seven deals with the unfaithful act of one man who took some of the plunder from Jericho and hid it under the ground of his tent. We will find out all about that as we go further into this chapter, but we can now see that unfaithfulness has a cost. Instead of three thousand fighting men taking the city of Ai, they were routed and about thirty-six of them were stuck down, and then the men of Ai chased the Israelites and struck them down on the slopes. We would think that means all the rest of the two or three thousand Israelites leaving none of them alive. We do live in the age of grace because God sent Jesus to reconcile himself to his creation and to redeem us. However, even though our sins are forgiven, there is a difference between sin and unfaithfulness. When we examine the Hebrew word translated as unfaithful, ma’al, its direct meaning, is to betray trust, which we think would be a purposeful choice to be unloyal or disobedient to God. However, isn’t all sin we commit a choice we make? Do we not know what sin is? Of course, we do because we know the word of God and what is right and wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Still, is it possible for us to live free of all sin? That is doubtful, and we can be sure that we sin, that we do that which we do not want to do, and that we do not do that which we should do. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with that same issue. Yet it is a treacherous act when it is a decision of our will, knowing something is wrong to simply say to ourselves, we don’t care, we want to do this thing or act this way, think these thoughts, or say these words anyway. Sure, we all make mistakes and we seek the Lord’s forgiveness. But to willfully act against God, and keep that a secret, hiding in the ground under our tent, so to speak, as we will find out what happened, is where we run into danger, into the dark side, not allowing the light of God to expose our sin. Let us try, with the strength of the Lord, and the power of the Spirit to always walk in the light so that our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus. Let us never commit a treacherous act against God.