Chapter 7 lays open the
principles of God's government, or His ways in the midst
of His people who are in conflict. Victory leads to
negligence. The work is thought easy. After a
manifestation of God's power there is a kind of
confidence which in reality is only self-confidence, for
it neglects God. What proves this is that God is not
consulted. Ai was but a small city. Two or three thousand
men could easily take it. They went up and viewed the
country, but God was forgotten. The consequence of this
will be seen. If they had taken counsel of Jehovah,
either He would have given no answer on account of the
accursed thing, or He would have made its presence known.
But they did not seek His counsel; they went forward, and
they were defeated. The people of God surrounded by the
enemy, have lost their strength, and flee before the
least city in the land. What Will they do now? This is
more than they know. Engaged in battle, and unable to
conquer, what can they do there, where victory alone is
their safety? "The hearts of the people melted and
became as water." Joshua cries unto Jehovah, for in
such a case even he who has the Spirit is taken by
surprise, not having acted according to the Spirit. He
must fall on his face before Jehovah, for their condition
is not normal, not according to the Spirit who is the
only guide and wisdom of His people. Joshua however
recalls the power by which God had brought the people
over Jordan, and contrasts it with their present
condition, so evidently inconsistent with it. "Wherefore
hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to
deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?
Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other
side Jordan, O Lord! what shall I say?"
Fear, and the
reasonings of unbelief
This was a perturbed state
of mind, the effect of a mixture of unbelief with the
remembrance of the wonders which the power of God had
wrought. Joshua loves the people, and he sets before God
the glory of His name; yet with a timorous wish that they
had remained on the other side of Jordan (and what to do
there? for unbelief ever reasons badly), away from the
conflict which led to such disasters—a wish that
betrayed the unbelief which disturbed his heart.
"Israel hath
sinned"
Such is the state of a
believer's soul in the conflict which the Holy Ghost
brings him into, when the state of his soul does not
inwardly correspond with the presence of the Holy Ghost
who is our only strength for conflict. There is no escape.
The position in which the saints find themselves is one
which absolutely requires strength; yet the very nature
of God prevents His bestowing it. We lament, we recognise
His power, we dread the enemy. We talk of God's glory:
but we are thinking of our own fears and our own
condition. Yet the thing was very simple. "Israel
hath sinned." Man, even when spiritual, looks at
results (because he is in close contact with them), even
while owning the power of God, and the connection between
Him and His people. But God looks at the cause, and also
at what He is Himself. It is true that He is love, but He
cannot sacrifice the very principles of His being, nor
deny Himself in those relationships which are founded
upon what He is. His glory is indeed connected through
grace with the well-being of His people. But He will
vindicate His glory, and even bless His people in the end,
without compromising these principles. Faith must count
on the sure result of His faithfulness, but bring the
heart (submitting to God's ways) into accordance with
those principles.
It would not be
maintaining His glory in the midst of His people if He
tolerated amongst them anything contrary to His essential
character, and made use of His power to maintain them in
a condition which would deny His nature. The relationship
would be broken, and God Himself compromised—a thing
absolutely impossible. They had sin amongst them, and the
strength of God is no longer with them; for God cannot
identify Himself with sin.
Achan's sin
discovered
And let us remember that
there was sin also in the neglect which went forward
without seeking counsel from God. Joshua's cry did not at
once bring deliverance, but, first of all, discovery of
the sin, with respect to which God is very precise and
exact. When the government of His people is in question,
He searches into everything, and takes cognisance of the
smallest details (see ver. 11).
Further, God not only said,
"therefore Israel could not stand,"
but "Thou canst not stand." Their
weakness would continue. Sorrowful change! Before it was
"No man shall be able to stand before thee."
Now they could not stand themselves. Where there is not
holiness, God allows the weakness of His people to be
practically seen; for there is no strength but in Him,
and He will not go out with them where holiness is
wanting, nor thus sanction and encourage sin. Only, let
us remark here, that God does not always withdraw His
blessing at once from those who are unfaithful. He
frequently chastens them on one hand, and blesses them on
the other. He deals patiently, He instructs them, in His
grace; He does not bless them on the side where the evil
is, but He acts with admirable tenderness and perfect
knowledge, taking the trouble, so to say, of following
the soul in detail according to its condition and for its
good; for He is full of grace. How often He thus waits
for the repentance of His people! Alas! how often He
waits for it in vain. But we have here the great
principle on which He acts (as in the case of Jericho,
that of His power exercised on behalf of His people),
proving that all is of God.
Corporate sin and
its Remedy
Another important
principle is here set before us. The people of God are
viewed corporately, as to the effects of sin amongst them.
God is in their midst. sin is committed there. He is
there. But since there is only one God there, and the
people are one, if God is displeased and cannot act, the
whole people suffer in consequence, for they have no
other strength but God. The only remedy is to put away
the accursed thing.
We find the same thing at
Corinth, modified according to the principles of grace.
The wicked person must be put away. If not, they are all
identified with the sin until they have put it away, and
have thus "approved themselves to be clear." In
doing so, they take God's part against the sin, and the
relationship between God and the body reassumes its
normal state. Nevertheless all this cannot fail to
produce certain painful effects. If the accursed thing is
there, although God may have been glorified in the
manifestation of the perfection of His ways—of His
jealousy of sin, and perfect knowledge of all that
happens (for Achan's confession justifies God, and the
people have not a word to say), still, though the sin is
no longer concealed, discipline must be carried out. The
confession of Achan (whose sin had been brought to light,
through the obedience of the people, or of Joshua, to the
Lord's directions) does but ratify, in the eyes of all,
the just judgment.
The object of
Christian discipline
But it is well to remember
here that christian discipline has always the recovery of
the soul for its object. Even if the offender should be
delivered unto Satan, it is for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord—a most forcible reason for exercising this
discipline, according to the measure of our spiritual
power; for we cannot go beyond that. At the least we
might always humble ourselves before God, in order that
the evil may be removed. To be indifferent to the
presence of evil in the church is to be guilty of high
treason against God; it is taking advantage of His love
to deny his holiness, despising and dishonouring Him
before all. God acts in love in the church; but He acts
with holiness and for the maintenance of holiness:
otherwise it would not be the love of God which acted; it
would not be seeking the prosperity of souls.
The Valley of
Achor, "a door of hope" in grace
It is interesting to see
that this valley of Achor, the witness and the memorial
of the first sin committed by Israel after they had
entered the land, is given them "for a door of hope"
(Hosea 2:15), when the sovereign grace of God is in
action. It is always thus. Fear sin, but do not fear the
bitterness of its discovery, nor that of its chastisement:
for at this point God resumes the course of blessing.
Blessed be His gracious name for it! Alas! Shinar (Babylon)
and money soon begin to affect the ways of the people of
God. They find these things amongst their enemies, and
the carnal heart covets them. Observe also that, if there
is faithfulness and obedience, God never fails to
manifest and take away that which hinders the blessing of
His people. Let us follow the history of the people's
restoration to God's favour.
Joshua 7 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Chapter 7 lays open the principles of God's government, or His ways in the midst of His people who are in conflict. Victory leads to negligence. The work is thought easy. After a manifestation of God's power there is a kind of confidence which in reality is only self-confidence, for it neglects God. What proves this is that God is not consulted. Ai was but a small city. Two or three thousand men could easily take it. They went up and viewed the country, but God was forgotten. The consequence of this will be seen. If they had taken counsel of Jehovah, either He would have given no answer on account of the accursed thing, or He would have made its presence known. But they did not seek His counsel; they went forward, and they were defeated. The people of God surrounded by the enemy, have lost their strength, and flee before the least city in the land. What Will they do now? This is more than they know. Engaged in battle, and unable to conquer, what can they do there, where victory alone is their safety? "The hearts of the people melted and became as water." Joshua cries unto Jehovah, for in such a case even he who has the Spirit is taken by surprise, not having acted according to the Spirit. He must fall on his face before Jehovah, for their condition is not normal, not according to the Spirit who is the only guide and wisdom of His people. Joshua however recalls the power by which God had brought the people over Jordan, and contrasts it with their present condition, so evidently inconsistent with it. "Wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan, O Lord! what shall I say?"
Fear, and the reasonings of unbelief
This was a perturbed state of mind, the effect of a mixture of unbelief with the remembrance of the wonders which the power of God had wrought. Joshua loves the people, and he sets before God the glory of His name; yet with a timorous wish that they had remained on the other side of Jordan (and what to do there? for unbelief ever reasons badly), away from the conflict which led to such disasters—a wish that betrayed the unbelief which disturbed his heart.
"Israel hath sinned"
Such is the state of a believer's soul in the conflict which the Holy Ghost brings him into, when the state of his soul does not inwardly correspond with the presence of the Holy Ghost who is our only strength for conflict. There is no escape. The position in which the saints find themselves is one which absolutely requires strength; yet the very nature of God prevents His bestowing it. We lament, we recognise His power, we dread the enemy. We talk of God's glory: but we are thinking of our own fears and our own condition. Yet the thing was very simple. "Israel hath sinned." Man, even when spiritual, looks at results (because he is in close contact with them), even while owning the power of God, and the connection between Him and His people. But God looks at the cause, and also at what He is Himself. It is true that He is love, but He cannot sacrifice the very principles of His being, nor deny Himself in those relationships which are founded upon what He is. His glory is indeed connected through grace with the well-being of His people. But He will vindicate His glory, and even bless His people in the end, without compromising these principles. Faith must count on the sure result of His faithfulness, but bring the heart (submitting to God's ways) into accordance with those principles.
It would not be maintaining His glory in the midst of His people if He tolerated amongst them anything contrary to His essential character, and made use of His power to maintain them in a condition which would deny His nature. The relationship would be broken, and God Himself compromised—a thing absolutely impossible. They had sin amongst them, and the strength of God is no longer with them; for God cannot identify Himself with sin.
Achan's sin discovered
And let us remember that there was sin also in the neglect which went forward without seeking counsel from God. Joshua's cry did not at once bring deliverance, but, first of all, discovery of the sin, with respect to which God is very precise and exact. When the government of His people is in question, He searches into everything, and takes cognisance of the smallest details (see ver. 11).
Further, God not only said, "therefore Israel could not stand," but "Thou canst not stand." Their weakness would continue. Sorrowful change! Before it was "No man shall be able to stand before thee." Now they could not stand themselves. Where there is not holiness, God allows the weakness of His people to be practically seen; for there is no strength but in Him, and He will not go out with them where holiness is wanting, nor thus sanction and encourage sin. Only, let us remark here, that God does not always withdraw His blessing at once from those who are unfaithful. He frequently chastens them on one hand, and blesses them on the other. He deals patiently, He instructs them, in His grace; He does not bless them on the side where the evil is, but He acts with admirable tenderness and perfect knowledge, taking the trouble, so to say, of following the soul in detail according to its condition and for its good; for He is full of grace. How often He thus waits for the repentance of His people! Alas! how often He waits for it in vain. But we have here the great principle on which He acts (as in the case of Jericho, that of His power exercised on behalf of His people), proving that all is of God.
Corporate sin and its Remedy
Another important principle is here set before us. The people of God are viewed corporately, as to the effects of sin amongst them. God is in their midst. sin is committed there. He is there. But since there is only one God there, and the people are one, if God is displeased and cannot act, the whole people suffer in consequence, for they have no other strength but God. The only remedy is to put away the accursed thing.
We find the same thing at Corinth, modified according to the principles of grace. The wicked person must be put away. If not, they are all identified with the sin until they have put it away, and have thus "approved themselves to be clear." In doing so, they take God's part against the sin, and the relationship between God and the body reassumes its normal state. Nevertheless all this cannot fail to produce certain painful effects. If the accursed thing is there, although God may have been glorified in the manifestation of the perfection of His ways—of His jealousy of sin, and perfect knowledge of all that happens (for Achan's confession justifies God, and the people have not a word to say), still, though the sin is no longer concealed, discipline must be carried out. The confession of Achan (whose sin had been brought to light, through the obedience of the people, or of Joshua, to the Lord's directions) does but ratify, in the eyes of all, the just judgment.
The object of Christian discipline
But it is well to remember here that christian discipline has always the recovery of the soul for its object. Even if the offender should be delivered unto Satan, it is for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord—a most forcible reason for exercising this discipline, according to the measure of our spiritual power; for we cannot go beyond that. At the least we might always humble ourselves before God, in order that the evil may be removed. To be indifferent to the presence of evil in the church is to be guilty of high treason against God; it is taking advantage of His love to deny his holiness, despising and dishonouring Him before all. God acts in love in the church; but He acts with holiness and for the maintenance of holiness: otherwise it would not be the love of God which acted; it would not be seeking the prosperity of souls.
The Valley of Achor, "a door of hope" in grace
It is interesting to see that this valley of Achor, the witness and the memorial of the first sin committed by Israel after they had entered the land, is given them "for a door of hope" (Hosea 2:15), when the sovereign grace of God is in action. It is always thus. Fear sin, but do not fear the bitterness of its discovery, nor that of its chastisement: for at this point God resumes the course of blessing. Blessed be His gracious name for it! Alas! Shinar (Babylon) and money soon begin to affect the ways of the people of God. They find these things amongst their enemies, and the carnal heart covets them. Observe also that, if there is faithfulness and obedience, God never fails to manifest and take away that which hinders the blessing of His people. Let us follow the history of the people's restoration to God's favour.