When facing a situation with what appears to be no solutions, I try to remind myself of the story of Joshua. Joshua faced an impossible assignment. Moses, the revered leader of the people of Israel for over forty years was dead. Now, after Moses's death, God appoints Joshua the new leader of Israel. Imagine that, being the person in charge of God's nation on earth! God reassures him with these words, "No one will be able to stand against you as long you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and courageous." (Joshua 1: 5-6)
But Joshua's immediate problem was that he had to convince the people of Israel of his qualifications and status as their new leader. So Joshua started first with the elders and the commanders of Israel, communicating the promises of God and reminding them of their allegiance to Moses and his leadership. He then testified to the faithfulness of God and urged the leaders to communicate that to the people under their command. The people responded well to Joshua's leadership and so together, the nation of Israel marched toward the next test of their faith.
Joshua's first assignment from God was to take the city of Jericho. Now it has been estimated by archaeologists that the walls of the city of Jericho were over 48 feet high. The wandering nation of Israel lacked the most basic of military supplies and knowledge to lay siege to such a fortified city. So when the instructions came from God to Joshua on how the city would be defeated it would have been easy to doubt their resolve. Yet, even with the unorthodox instructions that God gave them on how to defeat the city and its fortified walls, the people listened and obeyed. For six days they marched around the town, the priests blowing their horns, accompanied by the Ark of the Lord. Then they returned to their camp. However, on the seventh day they marched around the town seven times and as the priests sounded a long blast on their horns Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the town. Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord." (Joshua 6: 16-17)
But everything was not destroyed. An Israelite named Achan stole some items from Jericho. Joshua, not knowing this crime against the Lord had been committed, prepared his people for their next challenge, the town of Ai. Joshua's spies convinced him that the entire army is not needed to defeat the people of Ai, so only 3,000 warriors were sent to dispatch the town. They were, however, soundly defeated and the people of Israel were paralyzed with fear.
Have you ever faced a challenge so big that it caused you to go weak in the knees? I can remember several times in my life when I faced a crisis that generated such fear that my body seemed to freeze and my mind became overwhelmed. Breathing suddenly became a act of purpose and trying to focus my mind and calm my spirit was beyond my control. That is what the people of Israel felt in that moment. After the great victory at Jericho suddenly their fortunes had turned. Was this the fault of their new leader Joshua? Had he led them in the wrong direction? Had he got the instructions wrong from God?
You've got to remember there was no plan B for the nation of Israel. They didn't have a safe place of refuge to return to and heal their wounds. No infrastructure for instance was in place to feed the people. Their homes were tents. They were exposed, vulnerable, and very scared. If they couldn't find a place to build their cities their future was doomed. Trust became difficult to find and paranoia started to run deep in the camp. So what was Joshua's response to this first crisis under his leadership? "Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed fact down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening. Then Joshua cried out, "Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us?" He continued to implore the Lord for answers, appealing to His promises to the nation of Israel and asking God who will defend the honor of your great name after we are gone? (Joshua 7: 6-10)
Joshua prayed, asking God to reveal the reason behind their defeat. Fresh off their glorious victory of Jericho it had been inconceivable that the little town of Ai would put up much of a fight. That is the reason that Joshua was seeking to gain a perspective that was impossible with his own eyes. He sought the face of God, the wisdom of God, the promises of God, not only for himself (see the first paragraph) but also for the nation of Israel. The act of praying to God, admitting your weakness and humbling yourself in front of Him, will calm your spirit and open your heart. Then God can speak to you in the middle of your crisis, but only after you have relinquished control of the situation to Him. Admit your helplessness and He will answer. He knows the way out of your trial, and He will walk beside you during your times of trouble.
God's response to Joshua was to reveal the reason He had deserted the people of Israel in their attempt to defeat the people of Ai. "There is sin in the camp" is the condensed version of what the Lord explained to Joshua, "The person who sinned must be punished or you will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from you." (Joshua 7:10-13) After you have sincerely and humbly asked God for His perspective on your crisis, He may reveal that your own actions played a part in the situation you find ourselves facing. This is not always the case, (see the book of Job for an entirely different trial that God allowed his anointed man to face) but the point of talking to God about your troubles is to allow Him to reveal to you His perspective. It might be that you need to make some changes in your lifestyle, your relationships, your job or how you handle your money. But we can see from this story that if God is not with us we will not prosper. Without His presence, we will fail. So seek God in His Word, cry out to Him with your all of your heart, appeal to His promises and faithfulness in the crisis that you are currently walking through. God is good and faithful to help us in the midst of our troubles. (Psalm 34:18)
So what happened to the nation of Israel during this crisis of faith? Obedience. Joshua brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, one by one, and then clan by clan until Achan was singled out. Joshua appealed to him to come clean and tell the truth. Achan confessed his sin, he had stolen a robe, 200 silver coins,a nd a bar of gold which he had then buried under his tent. After a quick search revealed the stolen items, Achan, his family, and all he owned was brought to the valley of Achor. Joshua then said, "Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you." All of the people of Israel stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. And to this day that place was called the Valley of Trouble. And the Lord was no longer angry.
Harsh? Did the punishment fit the crime? God ordained the punishment so it was just. At stake was the obedience and destiny of God's people and a lesson had to be served. We also have to remember that God was using the nation of Israel to punish those nations that no longer served Him and chased after other gods. God was orchestrating history to demonstrate His holiness and power over all His dominion.
So right after this event God reminds Joshua, "Do not be afraid or discouraged." Remember, His ways are not our ways. Only God can see the past, present and future threads that our decisions have, currently have and will have on our futures. You would have better luck explaining Shakespeare to an ant than trying to discern the ways of God. True, the Bible is God's love letter to His people. But as deep as the truths and mysteries contained in the Bible, it is written in our language, in words we can understand. He is the great I Am. We trust that His ways are good and that He knows best the paths we need to walk. But we also need to remember that sin is not taken lightly by our Holy God. To properly gain His wisdom and discernment we need to make sure we are walking in the truth.
