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Transcript

April 16 - Joshua 7 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's a Thursday, it's the 16th
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  of April, and you have tapped on play and invited me into your
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  day. No matter whether you are just
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  starting out in the thick of things or cooling down at the
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  end of the day. So great that you have invited
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  me and so great to have your company as we continue on this
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  incredible journey as God is giving His people the lands that
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  they are inheriting. And have you ever had a
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  situation where everything is just going so well and you're
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  like, oh, how long is my luck going to last?
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  This is so good. Well, today, unfortunately, this
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  dream run of obedience and God's people just doing the right
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  thing comes to an end and we encounter our first hiccup in
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  the book of Joshua and we see how God deals with that and then
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  how Israel responds to that. So this is a bit more like the
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  ups and downs of our lives. Let's see how this plays out as
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  we read together Joshua Chapter 7.
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  But Israel violated the instructions about the things
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  set apart for the Lord. A man named Akan had stolen some
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  of these dedicated things. So the Lord is very angry with
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  the Israelites. Akan was the son of Kami, a
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  descendant of Zimri, son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah.
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  Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of
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  I, east of Bethel, near Beth Haven.
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  When they returned, they told Joshua there's no need for all
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  of us to go up there. It won't take more than two or
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  three thousand men to attack I, since there are so few of them,
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  Don't make all our people struggle to go up there.
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  So approximately 3000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly
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  defeated. The men of I chased the
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  Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they
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  killed about 36 who were retreating down the slope.
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  The Israelites were paralysed with fear at this turn of
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  events, and their courage melted away.
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  Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay,
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  threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground
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  before the ark of the Lord until evening.
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  Then Joshua cried out. O sovereign Lord, why did you
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  bring us across the Jordan River if you were going to let the
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  amorite kill us? If only we had been content to
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  stay on the other side. Lord, what can I say now that
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  Israel has fled from its enemies?
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  For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the
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  land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name
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  off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the
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  honour of your great name? But the Lord said to Joshua, get
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  up. Why are you lying on your face
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  like this? Israel has sinned and broken my
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  covenant. They have stolen some of the
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  things that I commanded must be set apart for me, and they have
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  not only stolen them, but have lied about it and hidden these
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  things among their own belongings.
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  That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in
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  defeat. For now, Israel itself has been
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  set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any
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  longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set
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  apart for destruction. Get up, command the people to
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  purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow.
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  For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.
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  Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord.
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  You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these
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  things from among you. In the morning you must present
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  yourself by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to
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  which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward
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  with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan.
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  That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point
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  out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the
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  guilty family must come forward one by one.
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  The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will
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  himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has,
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  for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a
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  horrible thing in Israel. Early the next morning, Joshua
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  brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe
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  of Judah was singled out. Then the clans of Judah came
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  forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out.
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  When the families of Zerah came forward, the family of Zimri was
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  singled out. Every member of Zimri's family
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  was brought forward person by person, and Akan was singled
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  out. Then Joshua said to Akan, My
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  son, give glory to the Lord the God of Israel by telling the
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  truth. Make your confession and tell me
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  what you have done. Don't hide it from me, Aiken
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  replied. It is true I have sinned against
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  the Lord the God of Israel. Among the plunder I saw a
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  beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a bar of gold
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  weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I
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  took them. They are hidden in the ground
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  beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.
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  So Joshua sent some men to make a search.
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  They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there,
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  just as Akan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest.
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  They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua
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  and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the
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  ground in the presence of the Lord.
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  Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Akan the silver,
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  the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle,
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  donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they
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  brought them to the valley of Achor.
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  Then Joshua said to Akan, Why have you brought trouble on us?
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  The Lord will now bring trouble on you.
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  And all the Israelites stoned Akan and his family and burned
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  their bodies. They piled a great heap of
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  stones over Akan, which remains to this day.
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  That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble
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  ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.
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  Oh Lord, this is a tough story. And as we hear this, we are so
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  aware that you have this perfect expectation because you are
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  perfect and we are not. And when we fail, somehow things
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  need to be brought back to the way they need to be.
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  And under this old covenant, Lord, that was done in this
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  brutal way of eradicating not only the one who sins, but their
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  family as well. But Lord, here we are living
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  under a new covenant where in order for us to achieve this
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  perfection, we are covered over by your perfection, Jesus, by
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  your perfect life and your perfect sacrifice on our behalf
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  so that debt is paid for every sin that we commit and in the
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  future will commit. Lord, you have taken that from
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  us and you present us perfect before God.
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  And God is no longer angry, but God is overwhelmed by love for
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  us. Oh, what a beautiful gift you
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  give us. And we are so grateful that you
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  do this in your generosity and love for us, Jesus.
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  And so we praise you and we thank you, and we pray all of
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  this in your perfect and saving name, Amen.