Joshua 7:1 – 15 “The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So, the LORD’s anger burned against the Israelites.
Meanwhile, 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 land.” So, the men went up and spied out Ai.
On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So, the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
“O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies? When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
But the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied about it, and they have put these things with their own possessions. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction. Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them. In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects shall come forward clan by clan, and the clan that the LORD selects shall come forward family by family, and the family that the LORD selects shall come forward man by man. The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’”
SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG IN THE ISRAELITE CAMP! After the resounding defeat of Jericho, the Israelites are running on an adrenaline high. When they send out a small force to attack a small city, they suffer a shocking defeat and lose 36 men in the process. What’s gone wrong? Remember that in Joshua 6:18 – 19, God warns the people, saying, “But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it. For all the silver and gold and all the articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they must go into His treasury.”
Joshua and the elders go before the ark of the covenant and tear their clothes, pouring dust on their heads, and falling on their faces in prayer until the time of the evening sacrifice. Joshua asks God why He has ever brought the Israelites across the Jordan, only for them to run from their enemies. And Joshua subtly accuses God by asking Him how He, God, is going to defend His name if the Israelites are wiped off the face of the earth. In a way, Joshua is asking God what God has done wrong. But God isn’t about to be manipulated and commands Joshua to get up from the dirt and quit complaining. Then God reveals to Joshua that one of the Israelites has kept some of the forbidden things and must pay with his life and the lives of his family members as a result.
What made “things devoted to destruction” so bad? These items were dedicated to demons; as long as the item survived, it could serve as a channel for demonic activity, bringing evil to anyone who came near it. The demons might even entice the spiritually unwary into worshiping them as gods. If the Israelites were to do God’s work, they couldn’t be cherishing items dedicated to Satan at the same time.
APPLICATION: We were friends with a lady who had been a missionary nurse in northern Ghana. In one community in which our friend worked, there was a horrible cult called the “Kwansi” Cult. The Kwansi Cult kidnapped teen – aged boys and girls, whisking them off to remote huts where they brain washed them. The boys appeared to survive relatively well, but the girls likely suffered gang rape. Once a girl had “entered the hut” and had gone through those rituals, for the rest of her life she would hang her head down and would refuse to make eye contact with anyone or take initiative for anything. The body language was that of girls who had been repeatedly raped and tortured. Our brave friend, along with two police officers and some local pastors, had to confront cult members when they kidnapped some local pastors’ daughters.
Eventually, the cult was defeated; however, our friend mistakenly collected the cow horn they used as their symbol as a prize of war. Our friend took that horn back with her to America and proudly displayed it as a sign that Satan had been defeated, little realizing that she should have burned it at once back in Ghana. Years went by, and our friend suffered one health problem after another. Ghanaian pastor friends visited her and begged her to destroy that cult object; yet, she did not. When we visited her in December 1997, we convinced her to destroy it; however, there was no way of burning it that night and we left the following morning. We doubt that the object was ever destroyed.
THERE IS NOTHING SAFE ABOUT OBJECTS FROM CULTS! Sometimes tourists innocently bring carvings, paintings, woven work, and other objects home with them, having no idea who originally created the item. When we returned to America in 1990, we found a carving of a drummer among our belongings that neither of us remembered receiving. The carving was well done; however, we always felt that somehow it was looking at us. Finally, after moving the carving from room to room, my husband beat the carving to pieces and burned it. We suspect that when our things were at the port to be shipped, someone slipped that carving in as a means of gaining some kind of power over us. I do not tell these stories to discourage anyone from collecting beautiful hand made items, but one must be careful and discerning.
There is a second lesson to be learned from this story in Joshua, a lesson of obedience. God clearly warned the Israelites not to have anything to do with those items that should be turned over to the temple. Gold, silver, brass, and iron could all go through fire and thus be purified. The Israelites were not to become hoarders.
What makes a hoarder? During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, many families found themselves in tight financial circumstances; as a result, many in that generation saved string, glass jars, material, buttons, cardboard boxes, etc. These people recycled and upcycled long before it was trendy, simply out of fear of lack. There is nothing wrong with being thrifty and there is nothing wrong with recycling or re – purposing things. But the question is that of motivation. When people act out of fear, it becomes far more difficult to separate them from the items they have hoarded. As the reality TV show “Hoarders” has illustrated, hoarders can wind up prisoners in their own homes, surrounded by piles of rubble that they are carefully saving. These people don’t own things; the things own them.
God does not want us to become hoarders. We are given things to enjoy but also to pass on to others. We must receive with open hands, ready to give when God prompts us. And we must always be obedient to God. When God tells us to let something alone, we must listen and obey! God sent many people to our missionary friend to warn her, but she had become so attached to that cult object that she refused to listen.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to receive Your good things with open hands, ready to pass them on as needed. But also help us to be wise and to leave cult objects and anything questionable alone. Help us also to remember that certain things belong to You alone and that we should never envy those things but leave them alone. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
February 16, 2022 at 9:49 pm
Your experience adds to each message. Really good sermon, as always.