“Battle Strategy” 1 – Joshua 7

The people are obedient. God blesses. Then what? Satan attacks, right? The people are obedient. God blesses. Satan attacks. It’s a cycle all through the Old Testament and into the New Testament and into our lives as individuals and as a church. We have seen it in the life of our church from day one and we have definitely seen it since we have started preparing for battle like we have the past few months. God wants us to be prepared for the battle we all have against Satan and his spiritual forces and since we as a church have made a conscious effort to do that, he has attacked and attacked in some ways none of us saw coming. He is very clever and very powerful. He has been doing this for thousands of years. He is more powerful than we are. He is smarter and stronger and will stop at nothing to kill us or at least tempt us to sin and there is nothing you can do to stop him…on your own.

Now, that is a bummer of a way to start a message, isn’t it? The good news, though, is that we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). Greater is He that is in the us than He who is in the world (1 John 4:4). I’ve read the back of the book and we win. The war is won…but we still have to fight this battle.

While practicing auto-rotations during a military night training exercise, a Huey Cobra messes up and lands on its tail rotor. The landing is so hard it breaks off the tail boom. However, the chopper fortunately remains upright on its skids, sliding down the runway, doing 360s. As the Cobra slides past the tower, trailing a brilliant shower of sparks, this radio exchange takes place: Tower: "Sir, what assistance do you need?" Cobra: "I don't know, Tower, we ain't done crashin' yet." https://unijokes.com/military-jokes/6/

My dear family and fellow warriors, our battle is not over and in fact, it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. We ain't done crashin' yet. We have had successes and we have had failures but the hard part is yet to come in this life unless the Father sends the Son to rapture us all and that could very well happen at any moment. But until it does, we need to be ready to do battle against a slippery, scheming serpent who wants nothing more than to kill you and this church dead. We have come a long way in preparing for this battle, haven’t we? We went through Boot Camp, Combat Training and Specialty School and in our last part of preparation, we are going to Battle Strategy Training. Here we will see some of the ways our enemy has attacked in the past so we can be prepared for similar attacks in the future. In the great military strategy book by Sun Tzu entitled “The Art of War” he says the first thing to do is to know your enemy. It’s why football teams study films of their opponents and why countries spy on other countries. Battle Strategy Training will help us to know our enemy, Satan, and how he works.

We are doing all that we can do and should do to prepare for this battle but if our great General, Jesus, was to bodily come to our church and inspect the troops as generals sometimes do, I think He would have just a few words of encouragement for us before we go out. I believe Jesus would encourage us with just three words. He would simply say, “I got this.” Do you know why I say that? Because God tells us all through scripture that very thing (although in better grammar). In 2 Chronicles 20 it says, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.” No that is not written to us specifically, but we can see a pattern if we keep reading. Zechariah 4 says, “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” In 1 Samuel 17, a young punk kid looks up at a giant warrior from Gath and says, “And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” Again in 2 Chronicles, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.”

On a pretty big day in the history of the Hebrews, we read this: “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” I don’t want to stop. I could read these all day long: “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.” That’s Exodus 15:3. How about a New Testament verse? 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (That’s a good one for Freedom Force, Debi.) Alright, and the big kahuna of all scripture showing what we have to do in this battle is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Whoever believes. That’s all you have to do. Be still and know that He is God. He is fighting this battle for you from the position of a King who has already won the war.

Our text for the day is in Joshua chapter 7 but if you were to go to Joshua 4, you would see the Hebrews crossing the flooded Jordan River into the Promised Land. God provided a way where there was no way and they walked over on dry ground and all they had to do was walk through and believe. Then in chapter six there is the craziest story about their first real battle at a place called Jericho. Do you remember what happened? God provided a way and all they had to do was walk around and blow some horns, right? Easy peasy! Then in chapter seven we see their next enemy to defeat is a little farming community called Ai. Ai was set high up on a plateau but there were only a couple of thousand people and the Hebrews were in the millions and so the spies who had checked them out advised Joshua to just send a few thousand men and they shouldn’t have any problem. So that’s what they did,

Don’t you know those Israeli soldiers left camp smiling and strutting? They were so confident. They couldn’t lose. They had God on their side. “Honey, I’ll be home in a little while. Just gotta go kill a few pesky Ai’ers. No big deal. NBD. Lol. #GodsGotThis.” Right? Let’s read Joshua 7:4-5 to see what happened. “So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5who 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.”

Now, imagine being in Joshua’s place. He had some big shoes to fill when Moses died and the people didn’t really know if they could trust him to lead their country like they did with Moses. But the trip across the Jordan and the Battle of Jericho had given them the assurance that Joshua was God’s man for the job. Now this. What could have happened? Well, God tells them what happened in verse 11. Again, just three words. God says, “Israel has sinned.” Israel has sinned. Wow! This must be some sin, huh? This must be something really big and bad and nasty.  Probably worshipping another golden calf or something, I bet. Probably has something to do with homosexuality or abortion or corruption in government, don’t you think? Let’s keep reading and find out. Verse 11 again. “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. 12 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.”

If you went back to Joshua 6:18-19 the Lord tells them what to do when they take these cities. “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. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury." So, here is the story in a nutshell. It’s a lot of verses to read so I’ll give you the Readers Digest version. When they destroyed the city of Jericho, they killed everybody; men, women, kids, sheep, goats, cows, lions and tigers and bears, oh my, except Rahab the prostitute but you know that story. That’s what they were supposed to do. The problem was, one guy by the name of Achan took some of the stuff for himself and buried it in the dirt under his tent. Nobody will ever know, right?

When I was a kid, we lived in Joshua, Texas and the family across the street from us had a swimming pool. We loved to swim in that pool but I was too young to swim there if no adult was around. They had a son about my age that I hung out with a lot and one hot summer day, he said we should go swimming. He knew neither one of us was supposed to swim without an adult but we came up with a plan.  I would wear one of his swimsuits and when we were done we would just dry our hair with a hair dryer and put the suits in the dryer. Nobody will ever know. It was genius. So, we did just that. We swam and had a good time. No problem. Dried the suits and the hair and I went home. I promise this is the truth. I’m not in the door of our house good and my mom asks, “Have you been swimming over at Jon’s house?”

Don’t you hate that feeling when you know you’re busted? I tried to lie about it but not for long. I knew she knew. I found out later that the only way she knew was because it was the only time I had come in from playing and was clean. I was clean on the outside but not the inside. 2 Chronicles 16 says that the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth. Mama’s eyes aren’t far behind either. But the Lord saw what Achan had done and the whole nation of Israel was punished for it. God said, “Israel has sinned.” He didn’t say “Achan has sinned.” Have you ever noticed that, as it says in Numbers 32, your sins will find you out and that when they do, your sins affect not just you, but the people you love the most?

Let’s continue reading a little bit more in Joshua 7, starting with verse 19. 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." 20Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath." 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the LORD. 24Then 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. 25Joshua 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. 26Over 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 ever since.

Anybody else read that and think, “Wow. That’s harsh”? They didn’t just kill Achan. They killed, on authority from God, Achan and his whole family and even his animals and then burned them with all their stuff. Now, one of the commentaries I read on this made a big to-do about coveting being the sin Achan had committed and that God judges coveting very harshly. I think they get that because you know how that commandment reads. In Exodus chapter 20, verse 17 God says, “Thou shalt not covet because I really, really dislike it when you covet.”  Right? Isn’t that how it reads? No. God hates all sin and He’s not going to put up with it. He hated it back then and He still hates it today. Yes, coveting leads to all kinds of other sins. It is the basis of theft, lying, idolatry, hatred and more and sometimes the consequences of coveting are worse than other sins but in regard to both eternal consequences and salvation, all sins are the same. Every sin will lead to eternal condemnation (Romans 6:23). All sin, no matter how “small,” is against an infinite and eternal God, and is therefore worthy of an infinite and eternal penalty. Further, there is no sin too “big” that God cannot forgive it. Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin (1 John 2:2). Jesus died for all of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). Are all sins equal to God? Yes and no. In severity? No. In penalty? Yes. In forgivability? Yes. (https://www.gotquestions.org/sins-equal.html)

What I want us to learn from all this is that all we have to do to win our daily battles against Satan is to be obedient to what God tells us to do. He will fight these battles for us. Scripture is clear on that but we just have to stay well clear of sin and we have it made. We can be content in any situation just like Paul said he was in Philippians 4:12– if we are right with God. You’ve heard me say several times through our preparation for battle that sin is the worst thing that can happen to you and I know some of you think that’s a bit extreme, right? “He has to say that. He’s a preacher. Preachers are always a bit dramatic.” Or maybe you think this passage in Joshua is just how Old Testament God worked but He has obviously loosened up lately in His old age.

Well, what about Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? They lied and God stopped their hearts where they stood. In Ephesians chapter 5 there is a fascinating passage. It says, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Now, aren’t you glad for God’s love. That’s what we like to read in the New Testament, right? But if you keep reading, it says, “3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

We don’t like to think of God’s wrath but Paul says you can expect it even for foolish talk or coarse joking. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin IS death, not WAS death. It still is. God still takes sin as seriously as ever. You may not fall over dead the next time you tell a dirty joke but your relationship with God dies until you repent and ask forgiveness. You’re not under His protection and provision like you are when you are right with Him.  So, the first thing we all have to learn in Battle Strategy Training is that if we are going to win the battles against Satan, all we have to do is not sin, stay right with God, putting on all our armor every day and then stand and let God fight the battle. Let Him deal with the consequences. Just expect that you are not going to see how it could possibly work out but just put up your shield of faith over your face and say, “Lord, I can’t see how this is going to work out but I trust you. I’m going to be obedient no matter what happens and I am going to make you look good in the process. Amen.”

Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the consequences of not doing it."

How about you? Are you doing what you know God wants you to do? Are you still struggling with that same old sin? What if that sin – your sin – was the one thing hindering the ministry of this church? Achan’s sin cost the lives of thirty-six men and the rout of an entire nation. God still hates sin the same amount as He always has. Let’s pray right now that God will show all of us where we are falling short.

Let’s all pray the prayer that David prayed in Psalm 139.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.