Joshua 7

Wasilla Bible Church

Joshua 7

August 28, 2024 • Joshua 7

Joshua chapter 7 is a very hard passage for those born and raised in a western postmodern individualistic society to stomach. The reason for this is that in this passage everything is done collectively, and people are collectively held responsible for sin. As much as it may be something that we do not like it is a reality of life, that our sins do damage far beyond ourselves. We have all been impacted by someone else’s sins and had to pay a price for them even when we have not committed any sins as egregious as the ones we may be impacted by. This is what is taking place with the Hebrew people, they are being impacted by the sins of one man and now have faced loss of life because of it.

Although this is somewhat difficult for us it is the latter half of the chapter that is the harder portion. Here we see Achan commit a sin against God and take gold and silver that was devoted to God and took a cloak that was to be destroyed. For the sins he committed not just him but his whole family and even his livestock were put to death, which seem quite rash. When we see perplexing and difficult passages such as this one, we ought to lean into them because they are there for a reason and the reason ought to cause us and our students to do some spiritual self-reflection.

The reason that Achan faced the fate that he did was because with the sin that he committed he revealed where his heart belonged. Last week we talked about Rahab being saved from the attack on Jerrico because despite her being from and living with people who are opposed to God, she was not like them and put her trust in the Lord. Here we see the opposite of what happened to Rahab. Achan is someone who lived among Gods people, but his heart was not like theirs but was like that of those of Jerrico. Therefore, because his heart was the same as theirs, he was to suffer the same fate as they did. Even in the imagery of his death visibly looked similar to the death of those who were in Jerrico.

Therefore, the story of Achan is the antipode of the story of Rahab. If you are born into a great Christian family and go to a good church such as ours and never miss a Sunday or Wednesday, then you still have no guarantee of Salvation. It is the location of our hearts that determine our salvation and if our hearts are found with Christ. So, we should do some self-reflection and ask where our hearts are because if our hearts are not found in him then our fate will not be very different from the fate to Achan.

There is a link in the chapter 7 study page to a short but solid Gospel given by Voddie Baucham. The reason that I am placing that here is because this week in your groups it may be necessary for you to go over what the gospel is and clarify that salvation is not something that we can earn but is given though the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Joshua 23 & 24

December 11, 2024 • Joshua 23, Joshua 24

A few weeks ago, we took some time to reflect on the ways God has revealed Himself to us in the past, and this week’s focus is somewhat similar. In Joshua 23, much time has passed, and we find ourselves at a point where Joshua knows his time is nearing its end. He wants to solidify Israel’s faith and ensure that he finishes well in his role as their leader. In this chapter, Joshua reminds the people of who God is, emphasizes His promises to Israel, and ensures that they have an accurate understanding and representation of God. In chapter 24, Joshua delivers a long monologue recounting everything God has accomplished—from the exodus from Egypt to the present time. He does this not only to thank God for His works, as we did a few weeks ago, but also to clarify who he means when he refers to God. Joshua makes it clear that God is not defined by what we say about Him but by who He says He is. To add to or take away from God’s attributes or actions is to misrepresent Him. For example, one cannot claim to believe in the Jesus of the Bible while denying that He physically rose from the dead. After clearly defining who God is, Joshua challenges the people to make a choice: not only to believe and trust in God but also to make Him their Lord and serve Him alone. Similarly, we, like the people of Israel, must decide whether we will make Jesus not only our Savior but also our Lord—serving Him exclusively. Please take time to ask the students: Do they understand that being a Christian means more than simply believing the Bible as a set of facts? Encourage them to compare and contrast the difference between merely believing something and becoming a servant of it. Challenge them to go beyond belief and choose to be servants of Jesus Christ.

Joshua 13 & 14

November 13, 2024 • Joshua 13:8–33, Joshua 14

Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about the ways that God has kept his promises and how we can trust him to do so in the future. Here we see a continuation of that theme, and we see how we might have to wait a significant amount of time for God’s fulfilled word. Also, we see that God does not always bless people in the order of their obedience. If you were to go back to when the people of Israel were in the wilderness (Numbers Ch 13-14) Moses sent out twelve spies to spy out the land. Ten of the spies came back and told Moses that they were fearful of the people in the land and did not believe that they could take the land, but there were two spies that believed that they could. The two spies that believed were Caleb and Joshua, who trusted in God’s promise, and are now conversing in chapter 14. Caleb fully believed God and was going to see things through and be true to his word and despite this he ended up being one of the last people to receive the blessing of land. This is something that we might feel uncomfortable with because we normally believe that the people who are the most faithful should be the first to receive blessings. As unfair as we might believe this to be it is something comforting to us. The good things that happen to us are not indicators of our faithfulness to God, because if they were then God hated the Apostle Paul (2 Cor 11:21-29). Therefore, we should look to God’s word as the standard of our obedience to God. This week the main goal will be to encourage the students to continue devoting their lives to God despite seeing others receiving good that they might feel they deserve. God will honor their faithfulness in his way at his timing.

Joshua 12

November 6, 2024 • Joshua 12, Joshua 13:1–7

In C.S. Lewis book “Out of the Silent Planet” he writes about a man traveling to another world and meeting many different peoples and creatures. All the groups that he meets have very unique cultures that the main character finds very different from those of earth. One of these groups sets an age cut off for some of the enjoyable activities they do and the reason for that is very interesting. They say they stop because that is the only way that they could bring about a completion of the joy of doing the activity itself. They believe that it is necessary to look back on and remember good things for the joy of them to be competed. This in a way is what we see here in this chapter. Joshua is looking back at what God has done and the land that he has given the people over the past few years. Likewise, we ought to look back on the good things that God has done in our lives and the lives of others around us and remember them. It is very easy to get caught up in all of life’s troubles so we must have times of reflection where we take account of the victories God has wrought in our lives. Therefore, please set aside time to go through the word doc attached to this lesson.