The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
“Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. - Joshua 7:10-13 NIV
God warned the Children of Israel that they were not to allow anything related to the heathen gods to remain in their presence. They were not to marry from the people around them. They were not to worship at their neighbor's sacred sites or worship their gods. God was serious when he said that they were not to serve other gods and that included allowing any other gods to be in their midst. God knew that the slightest encounter with other gods could entice his children to abandoning their devotion to him and in doing so, they would forfeit his attention. As he told them, when he gave them the Ten Commandments: You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. - Ex. 20:4 NIV
Not only would the children of those who sinned be punished, but the entire population faced God's wrath for violating the sanctity of the relationship. Achan's sin when he acted on his devotion to the plunder from the city of Jericho caused the Children of Israel to be soundly defeated when they tried to capture the city of Ai. As Paul told the church at Corinth, "Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough." 1 Cor. 5:6.
Allowing sin into a nation, permeates it until finally God removes his presence. Devotion to anything of the world becomes devotion to destruction.
No comments:
Post a Comment