“So the Lord said to Joshua: 'Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them... Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before the enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.” (vs10-12)
The Lord Jesus is God's remedy for sin. Not only does He reveal where we are wicked, causing an honest confession, but He also pays for the sins, earns the Spirit, and delivers us as promised. We must suffer to honor God in this world, but we shall be saved from all that does us harm.
First, the gospel deals with sin, rectifies us with God, establishes the blood of Christ as payment, and promises the Spirit as the power to conquer. We read, “So the Lord said to Joshua: 'Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them'” (vs10-11). Grace doesn't allow us to live in sin. It deals with sin openly in this life by confession. Achan represents sin UNCONFESSED until it is too late, at the Judgment. He also represents the sins of believers, the sins that must be punished fully, burned with fire. We read, “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” (vs25-26). Israel represents believers who confess sin when God reveals that it is the problem. I can't have God and sin, so God shows me that sin must go, it must be FULLY punished, and then He is with us in reconciliation. The Holy Spirit comes to SINNERS because Christ died to earn the deliverance.
Secondly, the gospel blesses us IN SPITE OF sin, and we must believe grace amidst unworthiness and failure in us (Josh 8:6-7). Israel had failed in the matter of Achan and God defeated them by their enemies. Yet, when they handled the matter in confession and forsaking, He returned to them again. We read, “For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, They are fleeing before us as at the first.' Therefore we will flee before them. Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand”. Now, believe that in spite of the failure, God is with you, using the FAILURE to humble, to bring you to Christ, and then to bless you afresh for His sake, ambushing your foes who had you down. We need humility, sincerity, and spiritual dependence upon God the Spirit, so He reveals the wickedness within, deals with it, and then blesses us FREELY. Never think grace needs your worthiness. It is FOR the unworthy. So take it!
Thirdly, the grace that God gives conquers temptations and fears, even though we must serve Him amidst struggles (Josh 10:12-13). We read, “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies”. Gibeon had surrendered to the Lord, but they were servants, even as we serve Christ, though bound in bodies of sin (Rom 7:14-25). The Lord sees that we're in need, hears our cry, and in faithfulness, He saves us, giving us all that we need to CONQUER the hardships of obedience (Josh 10:4-6). The enemy hates the fact that we love God, but the Lord Jesus shall beat him down. We are saved by grace, and thus, saved unto the very end.
Finally, bless Him that you have this inheritance, that He reveals your sins now, and that He paid for them and subdues them by grace. Bless Him, even though you have many hardships and tears fighting sin.
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