I Will Be With You No More...

Joshua 7:12 - "... I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you."

What would cause God to make this declaration and what are the devoted things??  Joshua had been given clear instructions regarding Jericho.  "And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction... (Joshua 6:17)."  The entire city of Jericho was devoted to destruction.  The only exception was that the silver, gold and every vessel of bronze and iron were to go into the treasury of the Lord (Joshua 6:19).
What are the devoted things?  They are the entire city of Jericho, with the above exception.  Those items kept from destruction were to be placed in the treasury of the Lord.  The people were not to take these things for their personal gain.  God had also warned them that if they took any of the devoted things for themselves, trouble would come upon Israel (Joshua 6:18).

Joshua 7:1 provides the answer as to why God would declare, "... I will be with you no more."  "... for Achan... took some of the devoted things..."  The items taken by Achan are identified in Joshua 7:21  as a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels.  Achan coveted these items and then took them and hid them in his tent.

As I observe the world around me, I must wonder what we covet.  We see Achan coveted the material things.  That's easy to identify.  Our flesh is always wanting the material things.  What about the more subtle things we covet?  Do we covet the philosophy of the world?  Do we covet the world system both in our personal lives and in our churches?  I will leave that answer for each of us to discover in his or her own heart.  However, I believe we, as Christians, would say we don't, but what do we do?  Perhaps we can learn a lesson from King Saul in 1 Samuel 15.  Saul argued his case for obedience to the Lord's instructions, while Samuel heard the bleating of the sheep.

There appears to be a not so subtle shift in Christianity.  We preach against not having our lives wrapped up in the material things, but adopt worldly ideas and philosophies in our churches.  I cannot conjecture as to the motives for this, but can't help but wonder if this is the bleating sheep for us today (1 Samuel 15).  There seems to be less and less contrast between Christians individually and churches in general from the world.  The clear command is that we are to be in the world and not of  the world.  We have believed the lie that it takes more than just the word of God being used by His Spirit to change lives.  We have accepted the idea that we must be relevant and appealing to a lost world, while the scripture declares that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4).  We immerse ourselves in the latest and greatest "christian" author, theologian, etc... and neglect the principle that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth (John 16).  That is not just for the pastor, deacons, teachers et al.  It is for every man, woman and child of God to have complete and utter dependence on the Holy Spirit to illumine their hearts and minds concerning His Word.  We have weak personal lives because we have a lethargic spiritual life.  We have weak families because we have neglected this principle.  We have weak churches because only the pastors and teachers are searching the scriptures.  The end result - a nation that has for all practical purposes declared, with a clinched fist, that we do not need God.

What were the consequences of Achan's actions?  We like to believe our actions only affect us and do not affect those around us or those closest to us.  Achan made his decision.  He wanted the cloak from Shinar, the gold and the silver.  He either decided he knew better than God or God's warning never entered his mind.  He knew he wanted these things.  Achan's decision had severe and immediate consequences for a nation, his family and himself.

First we see that upon Israel's attempt to capture Ai, thirty-six men died (Joshua 7:5).  These deaths are directly attributed to Achan's actions (Joshua 7:1).  Today we would say, "That's not fair!"  These men had nothing to do with Achan's sin.  What we ignore is God's clear warning.  What we also ignore is that we have responsibilities as citizens.  While we may not know everything Achan was thinking, at best he never even considered that his actions would result in the deaths of thirty-six men.  At worst, he could have considered the possible consequences and decided to do it anyway, because he just had to have the cloak, the gold and the silver.  Do our choices to engage in things in which God has clearly warned against result in death?  How about the drunk driver who kills the innocent, yet he/she survives?  How about gross immorality?  I could name many more.  You see, our sin is our master.  As slaves to it, apart from God, we obey it and never realize that it could actually result in the physical death of another person.

Second, we see that Achan's choice resulted in embarrassment for his family.  The Lord instructed Joshua to bring all the tribes of Israel before him and He would show Joshua who had taken the devoted things.  I wonder what the entire tribe of Judah felt as they were singled out from the entire nation.  Then the clans and ultimately Achan's family was singled out before the nation.  I can't help but think of the embarrassment they must have felt as they stood before God, Joshua and the entire nation (Joshua 7:14-21).  Achan not only disregarded his responsibility as a citizen of the nation of Israel, he disregarded his responsibility as a member of the family of Carmi (Joshua 7:18).   This disregard resulted in Achan's own death by stoning.

Last, we see that Achan's actions resulted in God declaring, "I will be with you no more... (Joshua 7:13).  As bad as death and embarrassment are, to hear the words from God that He will be with us no more are completely and utterly devastating.  Do we even consider that our actions and choices may result in us losing God's presence in our lives; that in making our choices that go against clear scriptural teaching that we walk away from God's presence?  How about that because of His holiness God can't "walk" with us when we choose to walk in sin (Psalm 66:18).  This is a battle we all face.  Sadly, I believe, based on personal observation, we are not affected by the thought of being out of God's presence.  After all, to quote the trend of today, we are forgiven!  While, I would never, ever downplay the forgiveness offered to mankind through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for truly that is the greatest gift ever made available to a sinful world, I truly believe that the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ is being as used as justification for sinful for behavior, i.e. "no body's perfect," or even worse, as justification to not even try to live a Spirit filled life. 

As we navigate through this life, should we, as Christians, not desire the presence of God in our life above all else??  If that is the case then why are we choosing to walk away from Him?  We must search our hearts and ask, "What am I hiding inside my tent?"

He must increase, I must decrease!