Victory
In Corner Clubhouse (children’s ministry) we went through the story of Joshua. I am continually amazed by how God will use the little things to speak to us. God made it clear that He was, is, and always will be a God of victory. I sat at the back of the room as all the kids were learning the lesson and I had the biggest smile on my face. I was so excited. We were going over the story of the sin of Achan and the battle of Ai. It was just after the victory God gave the Israelites at Jericho. But unknown to Joshua, they broke faith in the things they were supposed to be devoted to (Joshua 7:1); God’s desires versus man’s desires. Joshua had a good strategic plan to defeat the city of Ai. But God did not deliver Ai into the Israelites hands, for there was sin in the nation of Israel. They did not follow God’s instructions. This was the encounter between God and Joshua after the first battle, when Israel was defeated.
Joshua 7:10-15
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things 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 an outrageous thing in Israel.’”
Do you see what God said there? The people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies because of sin! So Joshua went tribe by tribe and tent by tent to find where the sin was (Joshua 7:16-18). Achan hid the beautiful cloak from Shinar along with silver and gold and they lied about it. The nation of Israel stoned Achan and left a heap of stones that remains to this day (Joshua 7:19-26).
Joshua 8:1-2
1 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
Joshua 8:18
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.”
Immediately after God spoke to Joshua with these instructions, Joshua went and obeyed and directed the fighting men to obey as well. God gave the city of Ai into Israel’s hands, and they took only the plunder that God instructed. Joshua renewed the covenant with the Lord, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices, and he read the words of the law of Moses to Israel.
God is still a God of victory. He will always be that. Instead of delivering cities to us today, He works in us to show us the path for victory over our sin. We see that in the battle of Ai, shortly after the Jericho victory, Israel and Joshua tried to obtain victory in their own ways and strength. That ended in disaster. During that first battle. Sin in the camp prevented a victory, it didn’t matter if they went to battle or not, victory was unattainable.
This is the same for us today. We are so eager for victory over a sin pattern in our lives that we attempt to get it done ourselves, but we make it into a disaster as the Israelites did. Jesus was the only one to satisfy the Father. He seals us with His Holy Spirit, so He can have His victory in us. Our role is to do what the nation of Israel and Joshua did after God revealed the sin in their camp. We need the Holy Spirit to give us the same hatred of sin that God has for it. How much are we willing to put all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength into loving Christ. How much are we willing to take up our cross to deny our flesh? The nation of Israel went tribe by tribe and tent by tent to find one man’s sin. Do we love and obey Christ that seriously?
Instead of animal sacrifices and offerings of the Levitical priesthood, the Old Covenant, God so deeply desires the living sacrifice of the New Covenant, denying our old nature, as we are priests in the order of Melchizedek (Rom 12:1-2, Heb 7). As Joshua read the law of Moses to Israel after their sacrifices, we are to position our hearts and intake the scriptures so that they can be planted deeply in us. The Word of God is there to reveal Christ to us and to renew our minds. We are to be led by the Spirit to sacrifice our old nature. Christ is so faithful to bring life after death. When He leads us to sacrifice all the passions of the flesh, in that death, He is faithful to be the life living through us.
Yes, we are in a different but better covenant, but that does not mean that God’s sacrificial system has been abolished. Now, His desire is for a living sacrifice which is reasonable and more acceptable, and our spiritual worship (Rom 12:1-2). Walking in love is directly connected to giving up ourselves and giving God this fragrant offering and sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2).
As we remember Christ in this Easter season, His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, we must remember that the purpose of the Cross is not just to save us. It is to make us more Christlike. We must ask for our shortsightedness to be brought into eternal-sightedness. The joy of the Cross was for Christ to experience His people loving and obeying Him, to develop oneness. Do we love God enough to obey Him like this? Will we be perfect at this? No, but our hearts must be positioned to intentionally be willing and ready to do anything that He asks of us.