By concentration we are talking
about the ongoing process of focusing on the Lord which again involves us in
thinking about those five important concepts about God, His person, plan,
principles, purposes, and promises.
This
fourth step provides us with some insights on how we are able to continue to
rest the problem in the Lord’s hands and keep our hearts/minds focused on the
right biblical goals as did the Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter
of the walk by faith.
The sin of Achan, the defeat of
Joshua acted unwisely and four deadly errors were the result:
(1) they were ignorant of the sin of Achan
described in verse 1,
(2) they underestimated
the strength of the enemy,
(3) they overestimated
the capability of their own army, and
(4) they presumed on the
Lord—they took Him for granted.
To fail to take time for the Lord to seek His guidance and strength
will cause us to be insensitive to our sin and therefore oblivious to reality!
The defeat demoralized the people. 7:5, “so the
hearts of the people melted and became as water.”
It caused them to begin to doubt the Lord and wonder if He had made a
mistake, rather than examine their own lives and look for those spiritual
issues that may have caused their defeat.
We are so quick to become discouraged, depressed, and disoriented. We are too often quick to look in every
direction for a reason but to ourselves.
(1) The command to Joshua (vs. 10a)
This state accomplishes nothing, it dishonors God’s person, His
promises and, and neutralizes us for service of the Lord.
This was a pointed call for Joshua to rise up from his state of
despair and futility and inaction to prepare himself for action, this begins with listening to the Lord, to
take up his objectives, and lead the people in God’s will, here their
deliverance.
Application: While
the Lord understands and sympathizes with our circumstances, fears, or
whatever, He nevertheless never condones such a state nor excuses us from
appropriating His grace and moving out in obedience.
His word to us is to get up off our face, don't let the situation overwhelm
us, get our eyes on Him and deal with
the problems in our lives according to the principles and promises of
Scripture.
(2) The
Question: “Why is it that you have
fallen on your face?”
The very nature of this question carries a note of rebuke.
Then, I think this is secondarily a call for Joshua, and for us when
this is applicable, to examine the nature of what we are doing and the
circumstances surrounding our trials when they occur.
The
Cause of Israel’s Failure (vs. 11)
Israel has sinned; they have
violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep.
The Consequences of
They were defeated because of sin in the camp of
In Christ we have the capacity
to live an empowered life for the Lord regardless of what we face, but the ability to do so depends on fellowship and walking in the light (1 John 1:5-9).
Our
minds need renewal through regular input from the Word of God so that we might
exchange our thoughts for God’s. This
develops the N&S of our consciences consistent with His DVPT std's.
We must
captivate, if you will, and control our minds/thought processes by consistently
learning and actively applying God’s principles at all times.