Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Confront Sin | The Life of Joshua | Joshua 7:10-26

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. One of our favorite things to do is invite on our friends to be guest hosts for 10-minute Bible talks and share about their favorite verses. So here you go. If I ask you right now, what is something you're hiding from God? Would that make you uncomfortable? I'll be honest.

Starting point is 00:00:31 I don't like that question. I've heard it used by people who wanted to kind of scare their listeners into loving and trusting in God because he's all-knowing in a scary way. But I think as we get to know and fall in love with the true God of the Bible, we might see this question differently. What if his all-knowing of us made us feel even more loved and more accepted by him? This is where we sometimes wrestle with the stories of the Old Testament. From Adam and Eve, we see sin exposed and punished, like how they were banished from the garden. And if we stop there, we want to hide like they did, because exposed.

Starting point is 00:01:02 is painful. But remember what happened next for Adam and Eve? Right after the first sin, we witnessed the first sacrifice. God provided animal skins to cover them from their nakedness. That sacrifice is the beginning of the beautiful story of God's love that unfolds throughout the entire Bible. As we actively sin, we encounter a solution that has been part of God's plan since the beginning, a sacrifice that covers us in our time of greatest need. For Adam and Eve, it was just an animal. But the blood of that animal pointed to the blood of Jesus that covers us today. This means that exposure is good. It's part of God's loving and gracious plan to make us more like him.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Every time our sin is exposed, an opportunity exists to have hearts more purified by him and more deeply in love with him. Just like today, heart purity was a big deal to God in Joshua's time. It always has been. It was important for the Israelites to grow of their understanding of God's holiness, and it was necessary for them to depend on his instruction wholeheartedly, to win their battles and take over the territory. God didn't make exceptions for sin, and he didn't look over it.

Starting point is 00:02:07 You might remember, before the Battle of Jericho, Joshua commanded the people to consecrate everything they found, all the gold and silver, to the Lord's temple, and take nothing for themselves. The Lord had given them victory and specific instructions to follow. Immediately after that, though, we read in Joshua 7 that a man named Aiken didn't listen, or he didn't obey. He actually took some of the devoted things, and so the Lord's anger was burning against the people of Israel.

Starting point is 00:02:36 However, as readers, we now know something that Joshua doesn't. He's still moving forward, assuming the hearts of the people are pure and ready for the next battle. So Joshua is surprised and confused when he sends just a few men into AI, assuming an easy victory. And they come running back down the hill and retreat because they lost men and ground instead of getting the territory. So out of despair, Joshua falls on his face before the Lord. We'll pick up in Joshua 7.10. The Lord said to Joshua, stand up. What are you doing down in your face?

Starting point is 00:03:09 Israel has sinned. They've violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They've taken some of the devoted things. They've stolen. They've lied. And they've put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. So now, Joshua is also clued into something very important to God.

Starting point is 00:03:26 The purity of one man's heart. Joshua doesn't know who yet, but he knows that the disobedience of one person has caused a ripple effect of discouragement and loss for the entire nation. So Joshua hears the Lord and he gets up and he goes to the people to address this problem. And he tells them to consecrate themselves. For the next day, they will be called tribe by tribe, family by family, and person by person, until the Lord reveals who is stolen and hidden the plunder from Jericho. Can you imagine? I mean, not only is there the anxiety.

Starting point is 00:03:58 of having the sin hidden away and buried somewhere, but now Aiken knows that he's about to be exposed and condemned. The punishment for stealing at this time was death by fire. Can you imagine how it felt to be the one God is talking about? Maybe you can. Maybe I can. I think we can all relate to that feeling of, what have I done? What am I doing?

Starting point is 00:04:18 What if I'm exposed? Who am I hurting? And when that happens, when the Lord brings awareness through His Holy Spirit and warns us about our sin, we get to decide what we're going to do about it. Joshua 716. Early the next morning, Joshua had Israel come forward, tribe by tribe, and Judah was chosen. The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zara Heights were chosen. He had the clan of the Zahites come forward by families, and Zemri was chosen. Then Joshua had his family come forward, man by man, and Aiken.

Starting point is 00:04:49 Son of Karmie, the son of Zemri, the son of Zara, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. And Aiken replied, it's true. I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. This is what I've done. When I saw the plunder, a beautiful robe from Babylonia and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I covered them and took them.

Starting point is 00:05:09 They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath. My friend used to drive a minivan, and one day when we finished running and walked over to her bumper to prop up our heels so we could stretch out our calves, we saw her daughter's name carved into the back, Tailgate.

Starting point is 00:05:24 Now before when the van was dirty and dusty it had been unnoticeable, but with a car wash and the morning sun, there it was. Not just a little drawing, but the whole name. The truth was undeniable. Aiken is named and confronted and exposed. And at this point, he's probably filled with both the relief of having nothing left to hide and yet knowing the punishment still lies ahead. He thought it was hidden in his tent, but no. God saw and knew the Aiken's heart was. unclean. So what can we learn from Aiken? Why does God tell us this story in his true word? Well, I think we want to be people who confront our sin, even though the next steps after that might be really hard. 1.1. 8 through 9. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and purify us from

Starting point is 00:06:19 unrighteousness. Sin is real. And as it becomes real to us, it demands our needs. for the gospel. And while the next steps may be really hard and messy, they ultimately lead to something better. Righteousness through Jesus Christ. No sin goes unpunished, but when we turn to Jesus, he takes the punishment on our behalf out of love and acceptance. I love what Tim Keller says. The gospel is this. We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe. Yet at the same time, we're more loved and accepted by Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. When we truly come before Jesus with their sin, I think we'll actually feel more loved by him instead of less. I think that he meets us with more love and more compassion when we need him.

Starting point is 00:07:04 Our mind's going to tell us he'll turn away, but he never will. Dane Ortland illustrates the way God responds to us through Jesus like this. The sins of those who belong to God open the floodgates of his heart of compassion for us. The damn breaks. It's not our loveliness that wins his love. It is our unloveliness. Yes, this is counterintuitive because it's not the way the world interacts with us, but it is true about God. When we get to the point where we're at the very end of ourselves, we're at the place where we're able to experience the greatest depths of his love.

Starting point is 00:07:39 You've probably heard, perfect people aren't real and real people aren't perfect. So let's be the real people who admit we carved our name in the minivan, and we need someone to help us fix it. Let's let our friends and family be captivated by a God who is, willing to meet us and forgive us. Let's let the world fall in love with the Savior who helps us reject our patterns and desires to sin. Just as sin has the potential to hurt a lot of people, so can acknowledging sin and our need for Jesus point a lot of people to the goodness of God. Maybe you need a mentor. Maybe you need a counselor. Maybe you just need a friend to help you. That doesn't mean you're discounting the work of Jesus on your behalf. It means you're trusting

Starting point is 00:08:18 in the resources he's provided. Here's the truth. Because of Jesus, confronting sin is safe. Confronting sin is helpful. Confronting sin is intelligent, forward thinking, restorative. Let's be people who are bold enough to confront our own sin and humble enough to encourage others to confront theirs. We've got a battle ahead. Let's do what God wants so we can be ready. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper,

Starting point is 00:09:06 check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Confront Sin | The Life of Joshua | Joshua 7:10-26

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