ACHAN'S SIN
10 SO THE LORD SAID TO JOSHUA: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
11 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.
12 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.
13 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.”
14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes . . . .
15 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 7:10-15 (NKJV)
I want to reiterate or repeat the point we have been sharing in some of our teachings. One of the major ways through which God shows His displeasure or annoyance is by withdrawing from whoever He is angry with: I WILL RETURN AGAIN TO MY PLACE TILL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENSE. THEN THEY will SEEK MY FACE; IN THEIR AFFLICTION THEY WILL EARNESTLY SEEK ME" (Hosea 5:15 NKJV).
One man, Achan, took some of the forbidden things and as a result, God withdrew Himself, He did not go out with the Israelite armies and thirty-six people lost their lives—just because of one man's sin.
As a believer, If you received an attack or a calamity struck, you would do well to first of all look for the area you have missed it in your life—go before God to find out about it.
When Israelites army were defeated by a small nation, Ai, they knew something had gone wrong (Joshua 7:5). Joshua had to lie prostrate, fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening; he and the elders of Israel (Joshua 7:6).
Note:
It is not the time to keep fighting the attacker or opposer but the time to go before God in order to know whatever has actually gone wrong. Why did God permit the attack in your life, ministry, business, or home?
When you are attacked, know that God is angry with you. His method of showing His anger or displeasure is by withdrawing the protections or hedges He put around you as a covering.
The pathetic aspect of this method is, about God showing His anger or annoyance, many believers are always oblivion of what is actually happening and the message which God is trying to convey to them through the calamity.
One would notice that Joshua did not plan and prepare for the relaunch of another battle, rather he went before God to lie prostrate, supplicating and pleading, from morning till evening; before God spoke and told him what actually went wrong—what made them lose the battle even with a small nation (Joshua 7:10-12).
Please, before you start engaging whoever stands as an enemy in a battle or warfare, you would do well to find out from God if you had missed it somewhere which has made the opposer find an access into your life.
When you sought God's face, supplicated and pleaded, He would reveal what the cause of the calamity or attack or defeat is actually is.
Another thing I want us to note is, the sin or misdeed of someone in your camp could make God withdraw His presence and could bring a defeat and great disaster on the whole congregation or assembly.
This is where the prayer of a leader over the people under his leadership is very important. Through supplication, you can avert the evil intended to be committed by someone in your camp, or If the offence had been committed, you can through supplication pacify God's anger before any calamity struck.
This and a number of other reasons why a leader should always lift up the people under his leadership before God in prayer—pleading and supplicating for mercy (Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 1:3,4,9).
You will not receive attacks in Jesus' name.
Peace.