Joshua 6-8: What's God's is God's

With God's help, the Israelites captured and destroyed both Jericho and Ai. The attacks were different, but the final results were the same.  The Israelites rushed in and took anything of value as plunder.  The only difference was that at Jericho, as the people marched around the city walls, they devoted the city to the Lord.  On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.” - Joshua 6:15-19 NIV

You cannot rob God.  The Israelites learned this lesson through Achan whose sin in carting off plunder from Jericho caused them to lose their first battle against Ai.  Just as with Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament, be very careful with what you devote to God.  If you give him your voice, don't think you can lead worship on Sunday and sing in a night club the other nights of the week.  Once you give something to God, devote it to him, you can't take it back.  History is littered with the ruins of those who once ran wholeheartedly after God and then started living for themselves.  It never works:  Everything accomplished for yourself will only be a shadow of what could have been done for God.

Does that mean God has nothing for us?  No, the Israelites were given permission to take all of the spoils of Ai for themselves.  There were riches available for them, but those dedicated to God were for God alone. That is why tithing is so important for a victorious Christian life.  Ten percent of what we earn is supposed to be devoted to God.  If we rob him of that, we will see the effects on our prosperity.  It's not a matter of  'if we give we will prosper', rather if we don't give, we will not experience the overwhelming prosperity of God.

2010 Post - Joshua 6-8:  The Valley of Trouble