February 12, 2014 - Sunday

Start Time: 5:11 A.M.

End Time: 6:00 A.M.

Title: Achan’s Sin

Scripture: Joshua 7:1 – 26

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.  Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.  When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God of solidity when it comes to righteousness!  He does not allow even just a little stain to enter or involve in His purity.  His presence will sense sin and will not push through with His work because HE cannot be in the same temple or the same area where sin is.  The truth is, sin cannot stand the presence of God and so if man holds on to sin, God will need to eliminate that man so He can continue fulfilling His word!  Many times, we have hindered God to complete the work He has in our lives because of the sin we do, yet God has been patient and merciful that He continues to wait for us to surrender and let Him finish what He has began by purifying us in His son’s righteousness once and for all.  Thank You Jesus because Your righteousness covers all the sins in me.  Help me Lord to surrender to You and never look back to my old life.  In Jesus’ Name!

→Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads.  And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!  Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?” 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: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.  “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man.  Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”

NOTES:

Ø God does not allow the sin we do to destroy His plans of fulfilling His promises or word to us!  Hallelujah!  Isn’t it great that God is a God of His words and HE does not allow sin to remain in us because He will not be able to fulfill His promise when sin does so.  So God, Himself, finds a way to remove sin in our lives by letting us realize the wrong we did and asking for forgiveness and looking up to Him again.  He allows us to see the error of our ways and give us time to repent and be purified once more.  Good thing that Jesus died for us and His blood completely defeated sin once and for all.  His love is great for us which is why HE is always more than willing to wash our sins and cover our shame with His righteousness that we may be worthy in God’s presence.  Thank You Jesus!

→  Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen.  The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen.  Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.  Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”  Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,^[c] two hundred shekels^[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,^[e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.  They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.   Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.  Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.  Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor^[f] ever since.

NOTES:

Ø God reveals the sinner and the sin and remove it so we can continue receiving His promises!  There is nothing we can hide from God and He knows when we have done something wrong.  Out of His great love for His people, He makes sure that every sinner and every sin is revealed to them that sin will have no place among them.  This is true in our lives today.  God loves us so much that HE reveals the areas of our lives to us that are still hidden in the dark and we need to take it out to the light and surrender it to Him.  Let us be willing to accept His revelation and act on it because His revelation is always revealed for a purpose and most of the time is to make us a better person or the person He designed us to be so we can accept the promises HE has spoken for us. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You because You are Rock-Solid!  God Almighty, my Father, My Lord, thank You because I can fully trust in You!  Lord thank You because You do not allow our ignorance, our sinful nature, our disobedience to stop You from fulfilling Your words to us!  Thank You because You are firm and Your words come to life always.  Thank You because You are patient with us and allow us to repent and surrender everytime we make mistakes.  Thank You Jesus because Your righteousness is sufficient to make me clean and whole.  Holy Spirit, help me to see Your plans in me and give me a humble heart to accept Your revelation, especially when You are revealing my sins that I may remove it in my life so I can fully partake of the promises You made for me.  Lord, thank You because You always have a purpose in everything You do and You do not allow anything or anyone to hinder You in accomplishing what You have spoken!  I am grateful that I have You Lord that I can trust to finish what You have started and fulfill what You have promised.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!