Who has a monopoly on God?
Everyone likes to think that God is on their side.
9/11 (2001) remains etched on our minds. Many people praised the Lord crediting Him with interrupting their normal routine so that they were not at work when the jet liners ran through the towers bringing both towers to the ground. I can understand though why that doesn’t make sense to grieving spouses, children and parents, whose loved ones were on time that day and lost their lives.
German emperor Wilhelm the First adopted a motto with his generals – “GOTT MIT UNS” or “God with us.” On the American front the northern preachers who supported Abraham Lincoln during the civil war at a time when the war hung in the balances, made the same declaration to President Lincoln that God was on their side. Lincoln quickly replied, “No, friends, rather pray that we may be found on God’s side.”
God is never on our side. The real issue is whether or not we are on his. To argue life from the perspective of whose side God is on is to suggest that God is not on everyone’s side; that he favors some, while at that same time he despises others. God does not choose one over another because God is for us all! He does however give us the the privilege of choosing whose side we will be on. Our subject, Joshua said himself in 24:15 “if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua and the people of God soon learned a valuable lesson about not having a monopoly on God. Joshua and the Army just came through a tremendous victory – defeating Jericho. We are told that it was a “Place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites (Joshua 3:16). Its site was near…Elisha’s Fountain (2 Kings 2:19-22), about 5 miles west of Jordan. It was the most important city in the Jordan valley (Numbers 22:1; 34:15), and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. It was the key to Western Palestine.” http://www.searchgodsword.org/dic/ebd/view.cgi?number=T2036
With this amazing conquest, Joshua and the people made a mistake – they believed God was on their side. Such was their confidence that they became over-confident when they discussed taking the next objective – Ai. It was quite small compared to Jericho – 7:3…
• Accurate deduction and conclusion logistically but not in terms of understanding God’s heart and position.
• Imagine how humiliated they felt when they were completely embarrassed as only a few thousand of them were defeated by a much smaller force.
• After this defeat we see a prostrate and apparently holy Joshua falling before God.
Verses 6-9…
Our greatest battles are not fought against the looming obvious enemies of the soul. Our battlefront is most often the things that we think are small, manageable and do not require too much effort. We’re so sure of being in control that we may even decide we don’t need to bother God with this one because we can handle it ourselves.
Then, the boom falls; the disillusionment of strength and God’s favor gives way to disbelief and disgrace at being defeated by what was perceived to be insignificant. Everything goes wrong and we quickly look for answers and a way out.
One of the first responses when things aren’t going right is to blame God and wonder what He is doing wrong.
- “Why did you bring us…” v7
- “What am I to say now…” v8
- “What will happen to the honor…” v9
Another response is to re-evaluate our own place in the reality so that our only perceived mistake is having loved God so much that we would follow him in the first place– “If only we had been content to stay…” (v7) E.g. “I don’t even know why I bother”
Finally, God spoke and clarified a few things.
Verses 10-12…
It has been suggested that there is a time when it may be sinful to pray. It is that time when God requires action, not words.
- Broken covenant (went back on their word), theft, cover up
- Battle of Jericho – not to take any booty for themselves. Achan and his family didn’t pay attention and took booty.
Disobedience has always been the hallmark of humanity’s sorry estate, the war that often seems impossible to win.
- Adam and Eve. God said “don’t eat” but you know humanity – “they ate” (Genesis 2/3).
- Moses and water from a rock. God said “speak to the rock” but humanity took over and “Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice.” (Numbers 20:11)
We can plead for God to act, be consumed with sacrifice or even expend all our energies in his work but if sin is in the camp, God will not give us his full blessing. We will fight the war but continue losing battles. Our tears will be wasted and if our grief is like that of Joshua’s and the people’s so that the focus is about what God has not done rather than what we do in disobedience, our grief will be ignored by God because it is misdirected.
Verses 13-15…
“Google earth” – Google’s satellite images for public use. You start with the perception of yourself standing in space looking at the globe and having chosen a location, you zoom in on that spot so that you can focus on a person standing outside their home on the street.
When dealing with sin, God’s telescopic lense zooms in so that the only person standing in front of the camera is you. It is hard when God gets personal. The real war is taking responsibility for our own behaviour and rather than trying to blame it on another, we let the blame rest squarely where it belongs – fingers pointing at ourselves. Ask the questions we must and face the truth we’d better, because God is telling us if we are going to win battles and finally win the war we first have deal with the truth that sin is in the camp; that we are not all we should be. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll challenges that if we are looking for the perfect church and find it we had better not join it because if we do it will no longer be perfect!
God got personal with Joshua and the people. Joshua’s stand-off with God resulted in the lesson of collective responsibility. Donald Campbell speaks to this. “Not only did God see Achan’s sin; because of it His wrath burned against the entire nation. He considered the people collectively responsible and withheld His blessing until the matter was made right.” (Joshua, Leader under Fire)
Collective responsibility is an odd concept. E.G.
- One classmate is disruptive and the teacher holds the whole class for detention. That hardly seems fair!
- Staff room dishes going missing so the employer says “bring your own coffee cup and utensils.”
- God teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12:26 “If one part (of the body of Christ) suffers, all the parts suffer with it.” Why would God design it this way? Verse 25: “This makes for harmony among the members so that all the members, so that all the members care for each other equally.”
Personal misbehaviour and disobedience have lasting repercussions on our families and the people we love. While on one hand we question if God’s solution was too harsh, Carolyn and Craig Williford suggest it was very necessary and God was teaching a lesson and the lesson was this. “You must obey me completely, for I will not be taken lightly.” (Questions from the God Who Needs No Answers)
Verses 16-20…
There was a process of calling tribes, clans, families and men one by one. Achan had opportunity during the whole process to stop it through confession. He didn’t. Achan came clean but only after he was backed in the corner and all the evidence was pointing straight at him and there was no way out. Finally he admitted, with some coaxing from Joshua, “I have sinned against God.”
After this was dealt with, God’s people won the battle against Ai and went on to win the war.
We could list a hundred examples of how, as a church or individually we have not been obedient to God. The greatest shame of it is living in denial and hoping against all odds that we won’t get caught or nobody will know and we hold out in hopes of keeping it hidden.
What is gravely heart-breaking is that we’re more concerned about getting caught than we are about our misbehaviour.
Sadly, this behaviour works against the body of Christ so that we lose the battle and may eventually lose the war personally. Dare I suggest that we might even lose our souls?
Wesley G. Hunt is quoted as saying, “Sin causes the loss of God’s presence and power. Sin shuts off the showers of God’s blessing. Sin stifles and strangles the abundant life promised in Jesus Christ. Sin paralyzes and immobilizes the life of the individual believer and of the local body. God’s message to Joshua applies also to God’s people today in times of obvious spiritual defeat and decline; namely, deal with sin!”
God is restricted in his ability to perform in direct proportion to our lack of confession and owning our behaviour and taking responsibility for our misbehaviour.
WRAP
• Groveling when we should be grieving?
• Come clean and come to Christ
Steps to take:
1. Ask God to speak to you and show you your misbehavior (sin) that has been disruptive to the body and robbed you and us of God’s full blessing.
2. Be silent for 10 minutes and write down the things that come in your mind.
3. Take ownership and collective responsibility. Admit it and confess that misbehavior (sin) and call it by name.
4. List the things the Holy Spirit tells you that you can do to contribute to winning the war, one battle at a time!
