Joshua 7-8

Joshua 7  Jericho was a great victory for Israel, completely accomplished by God's powerful and gracious hand.  Everything that was recovered from Jericho was supposed to be given to the Lord, an offering of the "firstfruits" of the land.
 But...

Achan from the tribe of Judah, sinned by taking some of the goods for himself.  A beautiful robe, 5 pounds of silver shekels, and a wedge of gold.
Because of Achan's greed and failure to fear God:

"The anger of Adonai blazed up against the people of Israel."
The army sent to take Ai was defeated.
Thirty-six men from Israel were killed.
Achan, his entire family, all his livestock, and the things he had stolen - were all destroyed.

Joshua 8

After the stoning and burning of Achan and his possessions, the Lord sent Joshua to conquer Ai.
This time it was the Lord who would hand over Ai, not the boasting army of 3000 Israelite soldiers.
This time it was 30.000 men sent to lie in wait behind the city and the rest of Israel in front to set a trap.
This time all of the spoils of the land were given to the people of Israel for their own.

If only Achan had waited on the Lord.
If only he had trusted the Lord a bit longer.
If only he had really known and feared the Lord so that he had obeyed.

After the victory over Ai, Joshua set up and altar and presented burnt and peace offerings to the Lord.
He brought all the people together and read every word of the Law to them..
"There was not a word of everything Moses had ordered that Joshua did not read before all Israel assembled, including the women, the little ones and the foreigners living with them." 
They all needed to remember who their God was!

Achan saw something he wanted and he took it.  He confessed his sins when he was found out, but it was too late.  He was condemned and died.  We all need to be reminded of how easy it is to fall into temptation - to take what we want; to do what we shouldn't; to forget that God sees everything.  We forget that God holds each of us accountable for everything we do.  We need to learn from Achan's failure:

We need to wait on the Lord... believing that He will provide all we need.
We need to trust the Lord.. for His timing is always perfect. 
We need to know the Lord and to fear Him.  Another quote from Tozer's book, The Knowledge of the Holy:  "When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone."  This was Achan's failure.

Tozer continued, "In olden days men of faith were said to 'walk in the fear of God' and to 'serve the Lord with fear'. However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible.. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a non rational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty".

Father in heaven, forgive us for our lack of knowledge that has led us to an absence of fear, the true fear of You, the Almighty and Transcendent God.  Help us to trust You fully.  Help us to wait upon You completely. Help us to worship You in fear and trembling.. and in love and submission.  Have Your way in us today Lord. For all honor and glory and power is Yours. We are Your people, the creation of Your hand.  Yet, You have made us Your children. How can this be?  What great love and kindness You have lavished upon us. Thank You Lord.  We come before You, wrapped in the righteousness of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us. Amen.