EPISODE 104 :: JOSHUA CHAPTERS 7 THRU 9 (PART 1)

JOSHUA 7:1-5  ACHAN COMMITS A SIN AND ISRAEL PAYS

JOSHUA 7:1

The last chapter ended with the name and fame of Joshua spreading throughout Canaan.  I thought it was unusual that this chapter started off with the word “But”.  That three-letter word not only set Joshua apart from the children of Israel, it indicates that God set Himself against them because of Achan’s trespass of taking something under the ban and hiding it in his tent.  Even though Joshua would go on conquering his reputation would continue to grow because he did everything God asked him to do. 

Some of the men who spied out Ai and came back with a report that there were few people there and that Ai could be taken with 3,000 men.  But Israel was defeated to the degree that even Joshua’s name, fame, military prowess, and courage had no impact in that skirmish.  Why?  Because God was not with them!