Israel has Sinned and Transgressed - Joshua 7:11

In the book of Joshua, we learned concerning Israel how, “the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: …  And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore have you 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, when Israel turns their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what will you do unto your great name?And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get you up; wherefore lie you thus upon your face”, and in chapter seven and verse eleven of the book of Joshua, we learn how Jehovah God said, “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them” where we read, 

Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: 

for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

The verse reads, “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them:” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “Israel has sinned” or “Israel, whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob, has erred, missed the mark, offended and been wrong”, “and they have also transgressed” which means “and they, the people of Israel, have even so and indeed willingly violated” “my covenant” or “my, Jehovah God’s, alliance, pledge, treaty and league” “which I have commanded them” which means “that I, Jehovah God, charged, ordered and ordained for them, the people of Israel”. Jehovah God told Joshua that “Israel”, the entire nation, had been in error and willingly violated the alliance He ordered for them.

 

The verse continues, “for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.” Joshua or the writer added the words, “for they have even taken” which means “because, since and on account that they, the people of Israel, have fetched, seized, lay hold of and acquired” “of the accursed thing” or “pertaining to the devoted, utterly destroyed and cursed objects”, “and have also stolen” which means “and have even so and indeed carried away by stealth and deception”, “and dissembled also” or “even so and indeed lied, dealt falsely and belied”, “and they have put it” which means “and they, the people of Israel, have placed, set, appointed and established it, the accursed thing” “among their own stuff” or “in the midst and middle of their own personal articles, vessels, implements, utensils and belongings”. Jehovah God also told Joshua that the people of Israel lay hold of objects which were devoted and cursed, carried them away by stealth and deception and lied about them as they assembled them in the midst of their own belongings.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover how Jehovah God was involved with the people of “Israel” once again, and this time He exposed their wrongdoing which caused their initial defeat at “Ai”. It is interesting to note that God blamed all of Israel for the fault of one person, but He told the people of “Israel” their entire nation would be affected if they violated His command. (See Joshua 6:17-18) God wanted to help “Israel” and eradicating the trouble was necessary. God knows we have sin and transgressions in our lives as well, and those sins lead to death. (See Romans 3:23; 6:23) He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and He raised Him from the dead after three days so when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and cleanse us from all unrighteousness by His Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth and empowers us to live according to that truth to the glory of His Holy name. (See John 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Next time we learn how, “the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".