Of all the characters in the Bible, perhaps none are quite so well known (at least to myself) as Joshua son of Nun. Besides having an oddly named dad, he was famous for the military victories Israel clinched under his leadership. He led Israel into the promised land, an honor given not even to Moses. What some people may not know, however, is that "Joshua" was not always his name. He used to have the far less common name of Hoshea. According to Numbers 13:16, "These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)" (NIV 1984, boldface added) As it turns out, "Hoshea" means Salvation. But when Moses changed Hoshea's name to Joshua, the meaning of his name became "The Lord is salvation". Also, the name "Joshua" is actually the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek name "Jesus". Obviously Joshua had a pretty great name. Some of God's first words to Joshua as leader of Israel were, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9 NIV 1984) God repeatedly told Joshua not to be afraid, and promised to be with him wherever he went.
Then we read about Jericho, and the amazing victory Israel had over that city because God gave it to them. (Joshua 6) However, there was a slight catch to their defeat of Jericho about the way they were to handle the plunder. They weren't to keep any of it. God said, "And
you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become
accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of
Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.” (Joshua 6:18-19 NKJV)
This sounds like a fairly simple command, right? Yes, "But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel." (Joshua 7:1 NKJV)
It was a sad day, and Joshua couldn't understand it. He'd just won the victory against a far more formidable city, and now this? His response was as follows: "Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?” (Joshua 7:6-9 NKJV) Joshua did what most of us would probably have done in his place. He panicked. And he took his panic to God, but not in a particularly trustful way. Instead, he told God that he wished Israel had not done what God told them to do, and asked God why He brought Israel there at all, and asked God what He would do for Himself. But what's interesting is God's response. "So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?" (Joshua 7:10 NKJV) This was probably not the response that Joshua or anyone would expect. But God wasn't going to let Joshua sit there and be upset and despairing. He said, "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’" (Joshua 7:11-15 NKJV)
Now let's pause for a moment. Have you ever taken on a task and had it fail on you miserably? Well, how did you respond? Joshua responded with panic and a lack of trust in God, even though (1) his name meant "The Lord is Salvation", (2) he had just won against Jericho, and (3) he had been told (repeatedly) not to be afraid. We have all the promises in the Bible, and yet as Christians we often feel as Joshua did, especially after a massive failure. Do we respond in the same way? Consider what happened next.
"So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day." (Joshua 7:16-26 NKJV)
After this happened, you can guess what followed. Israel went to battle against Ai again, and was victorious
So what's the lesson to be learned? Simply that we must trust God regardless of what happens, and not let failure motivate fear. If something (even something we undertake for God) goes wrong, we can ask God why, but we must remember that He knows everything that goes on, and is aware of things we may not be. Whether it's "sin in the camp" that we must repent of, or simply the fact that we made a mistake, or something that only He knows about, yet we must remember not to fear. God is always there, and He keeps a better eye on us than we know of. He will not leave or forsake us. When things go wrong, remember that He is still God, and He still loves you. That is something you can permanently rely on. Don't let your fear squelch your faith, but rather let your faith conquer your fear. Above all things, when things go sour, even then "be strong and courageous".
(NIV 1984 Means New International Version 1984)
(NKJV means New King James Version)
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