03.22.2015 Old Testament: Jos 7.13–15

To read the Bible in a year, read Joshua 7–8 on March 22, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

The little town of Ai defeated the mighty fighting force of the Israelites. It stunned Joshua. He asked the Lord why He had brought Israel into the Land of Canaan. He thought that perhaps they should have stayed on the East side of the Jordan. However, the Lord answered back that the problem was with Israel,

“Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God 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.” In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel’” (Joshua 7.13–15). 

Joshua thought the problem was God, but He said the problem was Israel, and He would not go with Israel any longer, until they fixed the problem.

The God of heaven is perfect. If a problem exists, it is not Him. We have to look at ourselves.