Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / August 14, 2026 - Joshua 7 & Proverbs 11:14-16

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August 14, 2026 - Joshua 7 & Proverbs 11:14-16 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bybriding Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Josiah Smith, joined by Tyler Sanborn.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Friday, August 14th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Joshua 7.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: For Achan, the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zarah of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things, and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the men went up and spied out Ai.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: So about three thousand men went up there from the people, and they fled before the men of Ai.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the men of Ai killed about thirty six of their men, and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them at the descent, and the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Would that we have been content to dwell beyond the Jordan?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: O Lord, what can I say when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth, and what will you do for your great name?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to Joshua, Get up, why have you fallen on your face?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: 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, 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.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: So Joshua rose early in the morning, and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zarahites was taken, and he brought near the clan of the Zararites, man by man, and Zabdi was taken, and he brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zarah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and give praise to him, and tell me now what you have done, do not hide it from me.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And Achan answered Joshua, Truly have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: When I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them, and see they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel, and they laid them down before the Lord, and Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zarah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters, and his oxen and donkeys, and sheep and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them up to the valley of Acre.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said, Why did you bring trouble on us?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord brings trouble on you today.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And all Israel stoned him with stones.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones, and there raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord turned from his burning anger.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, to this day, the name of that place is called the Valley of Acre.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Proverbs eleven verses fourteen through sixteen.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Where there is no guidance a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: But he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Joshua 7 is a tragic chapter, Tyler, in this story of Israel and this story of them entering into the promised land.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they just got inside.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's been what like a week, literally, because of uh they they did the the seven days around the the walls of Jericho that fell.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um and here we are in chapter seven, they're moving on to the the next enemy.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now remember, God promised that if they obeyed, that if they kept the covenant, that he would deliver their enemies into their hand.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, what do we see here at the beginning of chapter seven?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: They send just a small squadron.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're overconfident at this point, in some sense, rightfully so, because they have a confidence in God.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: They've seen what he's done.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: They, of course, remember the walls of Jericho.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So they send a small amount of men to go to Ai to conquer them, and they send them running to the hills.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, literally.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it seems like, I mean, 36 men uh in the context of battle uh may not be a large number, but in the eyes of Israel, who at this point doesn't seem like a drop of blood has been shed, this is a substantial blow uh to their you could say confidence.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: It even I love how it kind of describes it here in verse 5.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: The men of Ai killed about 36 of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent, and the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the opposite of what the report from Rahab.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Rahab says that the people's their hearts they're melting because of you, because of what God has done as He's provided for you in Egypt, and as He has provided you as you've crossed the Jordan.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's a Una reverse, and now the hearts of the people of Israel are melting.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean they're they're growing discouraged, they're fearful, they're frightened, uh, they are not being strong and courageous, anything but.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the reality of it is it's because there's sin in the camp.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you can think back to even Deuteronomy, uh, where it talks about essentially getting rid of evil that's in your midst.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a couple chapters there in Deuteronomy where um that phrase of the evil within the camp or the evil within your midst is uh repeated over and over again because God is very clear and very serious about his people following his commandments and pursuing holiness as he instructs.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And yet what we see here is that there is evil in their midst, there is evil in the camp because Achan is disobedient, he is um overwhelmed by the riches and the spoils uh that he was able to find uh by the conquest of Jericho, and he his heart uh is swooned.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that a word?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Swoon, his heart is uh drawn to the riches, the spoils, the the garment, the gold, the silver, and he breaks essentially the one rule that God gives.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: God talks about how you are to leave essentially everything except for the silver and gold, and the silver and gold was to be devoted to God's treasury, essentially the temple treasury, and those were to be eventually kind of put in circulation uh within the tabernacle and in the service of God.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what what do we see?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: We see Achan, uh, who he's even described here as a thief.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: He is stealing.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and even as they're discovering who this is, verse 12, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted for destruction.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that's sort that's euphemism, turning their backs.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: When you turn your back to someone, you're vulnerable, right?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're vulnerable to attack.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: So when you are facing a threat, you face it head on.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: You don't turn your back towards a threat, because if you do, you're more vulnerable and susceptible to an attack.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So what we see here is because of this sin, because they disobeyed God, they broke the covenant, it says they turned their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted for destruction.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: I will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So this sin of Achan, this disobedience, this breaking of the covenant that uh Achan had made, if you can think back to Deuteronomy, this renewal of the covenant on uh in Moab and the whole nation collectively by is being led by Moses to renew this covenant, to make this promise.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then we even talk, we we talked about in Deuteronomy, if you remember, Tyler, the the altar in the valley uh of Ebal, I think it is, and there was the the two ridges that they were standing on either side with the altar built in the middle, and they were pronouncing blessings and curses, and essentially saying, uh, if we break this covenant that curses were going to follow.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And what we see here is that reality unfortunately unfolding.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so the sin of Achan is very serious.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: He disobeys God's commands, and people suffer.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are literally lives that are lost.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, 36 men are mentioned here in verse five.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and just the the nation as a whole, because of even one man's sin, uh, was impacted and suffered.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so they uh had to unfortunately take Achan and they had to go through the legal procedure that was outlined in Achan, knowing that this was a capital offense.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he was uh overrun in his heart by the the spoils of riches and war, and uh unfortunately that cost him his life.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: So just a lot of um really tough things to read here in Joshua 7, but some good reminders, again, of the seriousness of sin, of the the seriousness of uh seeking to honor God as holy and do what he says, take his word seriously.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because here in Joshua 7, of course, in this covenant context of the nation of Israel, uh he did not do that.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: He disobeyed, he rebelled, and there were consequences just like God outlined that there would be in the book of Deuteronomy.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: And something that's encouraging to me, Pastor Josiah, is the words of Joshua here.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: He says, My son to Achan, give glory to the Lord, God of Israel, and give praise to him, and tell me now what you have done, do not hide it from me.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And there's there is a uh an opportunity for people to um to confess their sin, to confess, and and God is honored by that.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: God is glorified when uh a sinner seeks repentance, whether it's the for the first time um for salvation or ongoing confession and uh and reconciliation between between the people of God or people outside of the household of God, we can go about um obeying God and giving glory to him uh by confessing our sin, owning our our transgressions, whether it's to God alone or to the people that are around us.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um, in that, it's a hard, hard line to read, but in in that God is glorified in the midst of transgressions, in the midst of uh of sin.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then as we look over to uh our proverb, a very short section here, and and you'll notice an ongoing, as you mentioned yesterday, Pastor Josiah, an ongoing um really to the month of December.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be taking much smaller bites out of the uh out of the Proverbs.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And today we see just a handful of verses that um give us some some punchy uh nuggets of of wisdom here, uh speaking first to uh the the impact of wise counsel, the impact of guidance.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And when there is a lack of guidance, a people will fall.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: A people falls because they have no no leader.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And what a prime example of a leader doing uh what a leader does.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Joshua is is really uh within the first week or so really put to the test.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are you going to follow my commandments?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Joshua in uh chapter one, the people before uh Joshua say, Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words that are gonna be straight from Yahweh, straight from God, this person shall be put to death.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's tough love from Joshua, where I'm gonna obey the Lord, I'm gonna love him, I'm gonna do something very difficult.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he is following the guidance of of the Lord directly.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we see him um stepping out in faith and in obedience to God.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: So a people falling, um, we can see that in our world today.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: A people with no with no lawgiver, they're not abiding in um in the scriptures, they're not following the the leading of God as we see in in the Bible.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh a people they're falling left and right all around us without without a hope and without a guide.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we have great safety, we have uh a great gift from the Lord as we consider the different counselors, the the people who would apply and minister the word of God to our souls and to our minds.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like what a what a gift that is uh to us.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's just the the first of three verses that that we see today.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Pastor Josiah, what else can we say about our our section in Proverbs today?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I was just thinking about verse 14.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of baked into uh an analogy in language that's kind of more military in nature.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: You can think about in terms of conquest, battles, war.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so when there is no guidance, when there's no strategy, when there's no battle plan, a people falls.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so you could even parallel that to Joshua 7, uh, where there really wasn't a battle plan.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, hey, just take a couple, a couple troops, I mean 3,000, but a small number of troops, not a big deal.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but because there was other things going on, because uh ultimately Aiken did not heed counsel, the uh the plurality of counsel of the nation as a whole that committed to the covenant, uh, they fell together collectively.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's this military kind of again, fighting battles, fighting wars, but in an abundance of counselors, and you can even think about that in the context of battle strategy that when you're actually going into war.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, even from a modern standpoint, there's always multiple people discussing, strategizing, coming together.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there's a chain of command and things like that, but there's uh a group of counselors, right?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: An abundance of counselors making those decisions.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's never just one person independently all by themselves.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so we, of course, we can parallel that to our lives, and I think most especially within the context of the church, uh, when there's no guidance, when we're not surrounding ourselves with the body of Christ, when we're not availing ourselves to the wisdom of other believers, other brothers, brothers and sisters in Christ, then we are prone to fall.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: But in an abundance of counselors, and of course, where better to find an abundance of counselors than the the body of Christ, than the local church.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, then it says there's safety, there's wisdom.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can find a sense of comfort there.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, verse 15 is interesting.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is more financial in nature.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: But he who hates striking hands and pledge is secure.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is kind of in a sense, security.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can think of it as like a loan of some sort where you're giving money to someone else uh for some financial reason.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it says if you if you do this, if you put up security for a stranger, you will surely suffer harm.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a wisdom and a prudence that we must exercise with the way that we use our money, the way that we invest our money, who we give it to, and why.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then it says, but he who hates striking hands and pledge is secure.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: So the person that's like, no, I'm not making a deal, I'm walking away.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're not shaking hands, we're not doing this, not co-signing for you.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's secure.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's uh this idea of being wise with our money.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, again, putting putting thoughts and even listening to the abundance of counselors and what we do with our money, how we spend it, how we invest it, and who we're shaking hands with in these agreements.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because if we're not careful, it can lead to suffering harm, as it says there in verse 15.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just a it's a very practical, very tangible reminder of something important like like money.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And our final verse today, PJ, verse 16.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: A gracious woman gets honor, uh, and violent men get riches.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And uh this again speaks to the the character as we look to the uh the past verses in Proverbs chapter 11, uh, speaking about uh a person's character and just the outcomes of of what proceeds or or what what comes uh as a result of um the decision making and the desire that comes from um a person's heart and a person who is who is gracious uh is is going to um is going to see honor.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: They are respected, they are a person who is um sought at as as wise.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um in if we look at those who go about pursuing riches in in the ways through through violence, violent men who who are out to secure things by force, by aggression, um, and uh th through wickedness, those those people are are going to get riches.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're not going to have honor.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're not respectable um people.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: So as we think about the the ways that we desire to honor the Lord, um, through the way that we earn money, the the way that we um treat people and um live a life that is respectable and gracious, honoring to the Lord, there are some some outcomes that naturally are going to flow as a result.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: I love that the juxtaposition is between honor and riches, because riches are not inherently bad.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's not, I mean, we we can think of plenty of Bible characters that had lots of riches.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and for a lot of people, riches is exactly what they want.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but look at the kind of person in this context that is receiving it.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's a violent man, someone who is not wise, who's not gentle, who's not prudent, who um is not gracious, certainly.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: So a gracious woman gets honor.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: She she has a reputation, she's known for certain things.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's a respect that people have, there's a reverence that people give her.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh a violent man, someone who can can go out there and literally take take things by force, yeah, they might get riches, but but they're losing uh things that are far more precious.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, the the proverbs say.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so here, yeah, riches are something that I'm sure lots of people would love to have.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in some sense, uh I think in in our hearts, there's always some level of like, yeah, it'd be nice to have a little bit more money, right?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and then you know, if we move on to the next level, it's like it'd be nice to have more money than we have, and then we move on to the next level.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's some level of always in our heart, if we're not careful, that that sort of endless loop of desire of wanting more.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and some of that is not necessarily sinful.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, some of it is that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but here, something like riches, just this tantalizing, tempting reality uh is is achieved, conquered, it's received, it's um attained by someone who is wicked, someone who is uh violent.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it just again it reminds me of of Joshua 7, uh, where what was he going after?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean Achan wasn't violent in the in the sense of uh going out there, he wasn't beating people up to get the riches or something like that.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but he was after riches, and it ultimately cost him his life, cost them the lives of other soldiers, and it uh caused the whole nation of Israel to suffer as a whole.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just an interesting the proverbs are so punchy.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they they really are just a great mirror for us to reflect on what's going on in our hearts, and I'm excited to just take it really bit by bit for the next couple of months together.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit Compass Bible SV.org.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.