{"id":12994,"date":"2020-12-07T21:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T04:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/joshua_7_10-18-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-12-06T17:29:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T00:29:39","slug":"joshua_7_19-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/joshua_7_19-26\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Coveting What Is Not Yours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joshua 7:19-26 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Joshua 7:19-26.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Joshua 7:19 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGive glory to the Lord\u201d was a Jewish way of saying, \u201cTell the truth\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0For another example, see John 9:24.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0May we give glory to God by living lives of integrity.<\/p>\n

Joshua 7:20-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done:
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the\u00a0LORD.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-23:\u00a0\u00a0Achan confesses that while he was soldiering in Jericho, he saw an exotic robe, about 5 pounds of silver, and over a pound of gold (v21).\u00a0\u00a0Though they did not belong to him, and though he was strictly commanded not to take anything for himself from Jericho, Achan coveted those material possessions, took them and hid them in the ground inside his tent (v21).<\/p>\n

Have you ever yearned to have (covet) something or someone that did not belong to you?\u00a0\u00a0You can\u2019t always control seeing things that you find attractive, but\u00a0what can you do to keep yourself from coveting things that don\u2019t belong to you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Remind yourself of the cost of inappropriately getting what you covet.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0In Achan\u2019s case, he could have reminded himself that he was specifically under orders not to take anything from Jericho for himself, and that to disobey these orders would spell death for him and possibly his family. He could remind himself that to take what does not belong to him could impact the entire nation\u2019s ability to succeed in its mission.\u00a0\u00a0For as we learned yesterday, our sin impacts not just us but the team that we are on.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Remind yourself that what you are coveting will not ultimately satisfy you<\/strong>, that the satisfaction you think you will get from having what does not belong to you is a mirage.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Remind yourself that when you seek first God\u2019s kingdom and His righteousness, He will add to you everything that you need<\/strong>\u00a0(Matthew 6:33).\u00a0\u00a0So ask God for help to overcome the temptation to covet, seek to do things His way, and trust that when you do He will add everything you need.<\/p>\n

Joshua 7:24-26 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The\u00a0LORD\u00a0will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-26:\u00a0\u00a0As punishment for Achan\u2019s sin, Achan and his children are taken to a valley and stoned.\u00a0\u00a0The Jews call that place the Valley of \u201cAchor\u201d, which means \u201ctrouble\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s meant to remind us of Joshua\u2019s question to Achan, \u201cWhy have you brought this\u00a0trouble<\/em>\u00a0on us?\u201d (v24).<\/p>\n

You might be wondering, \u201cWhy should Achan\u2019s children die for Achan\u2019s sin?\u00a0\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t Achan be solely responsible? Doesn\u2019t the Bible even say, \u201cChildren are not to be put to death for their parents\u2019 sins? (Deuteronomy 24:16)\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Some scholars posit that perhaps Achan\u2019s children had been accomplices to Achan, that they knew their father had taken what did not belong to him but did not report it to anyone.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not clear if this was the case.\u00a0\u00a0Another theory is that unlike in individualistic Western culture, in ancient Jewish culture (as well as other ancient cultures), the family was considered a whole.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If one person in the family sinned, their whole family was considered to have sinned.\u00a0\u00a0Killing off Achan\u2019s family was probably seen as purging Israel of evil and as recompense for the approximately 36 Israelite soldiers who died because of Achan\u2019s sin (Joshua 7:5),<\/p>\n

In any event, the lesson we can learn here is that intentionally sinning against God has far reaching consequences that will often go beyond what we can foresee.\u00a0\u00a0Left unconfessed, our sin will hurt not just us but the people we love the most.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The cost and consequence of sin is never worth the pleasure we get from it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that whenever I am tempted to covet that which does not belong to me, You give me grace to stand up over that temptation.\u00a0\u00a0May I remember that whatever short-term high sin brings will not truly satisfy me and is never worth the long-term consequences. May I remember that in seeking You first I find everything I need.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Joshua 7:19-26.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Joshua 7:19 (NIV)\u00a0
\n19\u00a0\u00a0Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”<\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGive glory to the Lord\u201d was a Jewish way of saying, \u201cTell the truth\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0For another example, see John 9:24.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0May we give glory to God by living lives of integrity.<\/p>\n

Joshua 7:20-23 (NIV)\u00a0
\n20\u00a0\u00a0Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done:\u00a0
\n21\u00a0\u00a0When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”\u00a0
\n22\u00a0\u00a0So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.\u00a0
\n23\u00a0\u00a0They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the\u00a0LORD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12995,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12994\/revisions\/12995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}