Word of Encouragement (06/08/2023)
And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?" (Josh. 7:7-9)
In the latter part of this lament, Joshua expresses his deep fear of what will happen in the coming days due to Israel’s defeat at Ai: “...the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth.”
Can any of us not see the reasonableness of this fear? But if we do, it is because our fear tends to conjure up the worst possible scenario and believe it to be inevitable. Does it happen the way we feared, though? Rarely. The reason is that the outcome depends largely on how people respond. But people are highly unpredictable and irrational. Think about the stock market and what economists and financial advisers predict. Think about political crises and the predictions of political pundits. So many things are being said about the 2024 presidential election already. Would any of them turn out to be accurate?
More importantly, the future is in God’s hands, even the actions and reactions of people. They may seem unpredictable, but it is only to us; God is in control of all His creatures and all their actions (WSC, #11). We must not presume to know the future, no matter how reasonable our analysis of the situation may be. Certainly, we must not hurl our grievances against God on the basis of our false and faulty prophecies about the future.
It is fascinating that Joshua can complain to God in this way while he is addressing God. He is even concerned that the LORD’s great name may be defiled by the destruction of Israel. But if he were truly mindful of God, could he be worried about Israel’s future in this way? This provides an important lesson for us, doesn’t it? You all know that just because we are praying doesn’t mean that we are really praying. We may call on the name of God and offer our petitions with great urgency, but we may not be thinking about God—who God is and how great He is. If we remember that He is the One who created heaven and earth, can we feel hopeless when we lift our eyes to the hill and mountains no matter how high and treacherous they seem (Ps. 121:1)? Oh, how important it is for us lift our eyes to God and deliberately meditate on who He is before we turn away from the mountains in despair!
We should not be surprised that God rebuked Joshua for his woe-is-me attitude. He told him, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face” (v. 10)? Then, He went on to tell him why Israel was defeated by such an insignificant army: Achan’s sin of stealing what was under the ban. What the Canaanite nations might do when they heard about Israel’s defeat was of no concern to God. Why should He? Even if all of them came together and surrounded Israel, could they cut off Israel as Joshua feared? Of course not! “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Ps. 2:1-4).
God is indeed concerned about His great name. He will not fail to uphold the glory of His name in the end. Let us trust Him, then, to save us to the uttermost since He has bound the glory of His name to our salvation through His covenant with Jesus Christ. Take time to give thanks to the Lord for this glorious truth and cast out all your fears!