Devotion:
Read Joshua 6:27 - 7:6.
During the battle at Jericho Israel obeyed all of God's directions. At every turn, Joshua did exactly as he was told and the Israelites prospered under his leadership. An ongoing theme in the Old Testament is that when the Jews obeyed God, they did well. When they disobeyed, the consequences were bad. After the battle of Jericho, God instructed the Israelites not to take “devoted” things. God had ordered the Israelites to leave all the spoils of war, the silver and gold and bronze and iron. These were sacred to God and were to go into the treasury. This was Joshua’s first battle and these treasures were the first fruit. They were God’s. But a man named Achan took some of the “devoted things.” Achan’s sin caused God’s blessing upon the Israelites to be withheld in their subsequent battle against the city of Ai. Joshua sent spies out to survey this city and they wrongly advised Joshua that Ai would be an easy victory, so he only sent some of his army to attack. Israel was soundly defeated. God made it clear that this defeat was a result of Israel violating their covenant through Achan’s sin and underestimating their enemy. This brought discouragement, despair and a loss of vision. As we continue to read in Joshua 7, God redirected their thinking. He gave them a course correction, a recovery plan. He said to Joshua,
“Stand up!” What are you doing down on your face?” Joshua 7:10
God promised they could turn the place of defeat into a place of victory. He instructed Joshua about the next battle and Joshua commanded the people accordingly. The people obeyed, and God gave Israel a victory. Sometimes success comes through the back door of failure.
Personal Worship Option:
Recall a time when you learned from a past mistake and made a course correction. Praise God today for giving us second chances and vow to listen to his directions.
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