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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Josh. 7-8
So, the Israelites were one battle in after renewing their covenant with God, promising to remain faithful and obedient to all His commands. And they failed. That didn’t take long! To be fair, it was only one man, with no indication anybody else knew about it. But still – it was the first battle! There is significance in that beyond just the brevity of Achan’s commitment. This battle was the firstfruits. The spoils belonged to God. So not only did Achan covet, but he was also impatient and took for his own what belonged to God. Had he simply been faithful, God provided spoils-a-plenty with a multitude of future battles.
So why, in the face of abundance, do we set our hearts on the little that isn’t available to us? We see this tendency in Adam and Eve and King David, among others. Why are we so short-sighted and impatient? And why are we so ready to defy God in spite of the consequences and all that He does for us? Human nature is pretty ugly, isn’t it. Thankfully, in spite of our faithlessness, God is perfectly faithful. He gives second chances and turns our failures into victories.
Josh. 9
Speaking of human nature…we get another dose of it in this chapter. The Gibeonites deceived the Israelites. And Joshua and the Israelite leaders failed to seek God’s guidance. Who among us doesn’t get it wrong sometimes? The answer is that we are all imperfect people. But God is a perfect God. He knows our faults and our failures, yet still He desires to be our God and to have us as His people. He does all the heavy lifting so that, even with our faltering faith and wavering path, He guides us into His presence. Once again we see that He turns our failures into victories.