"O, Lord GOD," Joshua said, "why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! O, Lord GODThis phrase begins with a heartfelt cry from Joshua, expressing deep distress and confusion. The Hebrew term used here for "Lord GOD" is "Adonai Yahweh," which emphasizes both the sovereignty and covenantal faithfulness of God. Joshua's use of this title reflects his recognition of God's supreme authority and his personal relationship with Him. In times of crisis, believers are reminded to approach God with reverence and trust, acknowledging His power and promises. why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan
Joshua questions God's purpose in leading the Israelites across the Jordan River. The crossing of the Jordan was a miraculous event, symbolizing a new beginning and the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. However, Joshua's question reveals his struggle to understand God's plan in the face of unexpected defeat. This reflects a common human experience of doubt and questioning during trials, encouraging believers to seek understanding and reassurance in God's greater plan. to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to be destroyed?
The "Amorites" were one of the prominent Canaanite tribes inhabiting the Promised Land. Joshua's fear of being delivered into their hands highlights the perceived threat and the reality of Israel's military setback. Historically, the Amorites were known for their strength and fortified cities. This phrase underscores the tension between God's promises and the present circumstances, reminding believers that God's plans often transcend immediate appearances and challenges. If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
This expression of regret reflects a moment of weakness and longing for the perceived safety of the past. The "other side of the Jordan" refers to the wilderness where the Israelites had wandered for forty years. Joshua's lament echoes the Israelites' earlier complaints during their journey from Egypt, illustrating a recurring theme of doubt and nostalgia for the past. This serves as a cautionary reminder for believers to trust in God's leading, even when the path forward seems uncertain or fraught with difficulty. Persons / Places / Events 1. JoshuaThe leader of Israel after Moses, tasked with leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. In this verse, he is expressing his distress and confusion to God after a defeat. 2. The IsraelitesGod's chosen people, who have just suffered a defeat at Ai due to disobedience within their ranks. 3. The Jordan RiverThe boundary that the Israelites crossed to enter the Promised Land, symbolizing a significant step of faith and obedience. 4. The AmoritesA group of people living in Canaan, representing the enemies of Israel whom they were commanded to conquer. 5. AiThe city where the Israelites faced an unexpected defeat, leading to Joshua's lament. Teaching Points The Reality of Spiritual SetbacksEven after great victories, believers can face unexpected defeats. It's crucial to seek God for understanding and correction. The Importance of ObedienceDisobedience, even by one person, can have consequences for the entire community. This highlights the need for communal holiness and accountability. Questioning God in FaithJoshua's lament shows that it's permissible to bring our doubts and questions to God, but we must do so with a heart open to His correction and guidance. God's Sovereignty and PurposeDespite setbacks, God remains sovereign. Believers are called to trust His overarching plan, even when circumstances are confusing. Learning from Past MistakesReflecting on past failures can lead to growth and renewed commitment to God's commands. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Joshua's response to the defeat at Ai reflect human tendencies when faced with unexpected challenges? 2. In what ways can the account of Ai and Joshua's lament teach us about the consequences of hidden sin within a community? 3. How can we apply Joshua's approach to questioning God in our own times of doubt and confusion? 4. What lessons can we learn from the Israelites' journey about the importance of obedience and trust in God's promises? 5. How can Romans 8 help us understand God's sovereignty in the midst of trials, and how can this perspective change our response to setbacks? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 14The Israelites' crossing of the Red Sea parallels their crossing of the Jordan, both significant acts of God's deliverance. Deuteronomy 1The Israelites' previous reluctance to enter the Promised Land and their desire to return to Egypt mirrors Joshua's lament about staying on the other side of the Jordan. Psalm 44A communal lament where the psalmist questions God about apparent abandonment, similar to Joshua's questioning. Romans 8Assurance of God's purpose and sovereignty, even in times of trial and confusion, offering a New Testament perspective on trust in God's plan. People Achan, Amorites, Canaanites, Carmi, Israelites, Joshua, Zabdi, Zarhites, Zerah, Zerahites, ZimriPlaces Ai, Beth-aven, Bethel, Jericho, Jordan River, Shebarim, Shinar, Valley of AchorTopics Across, Ah, Alas, Amorite, Amorites, Beyond, Bring, Cause, Caused, Content, Deliver, Destroy, Destruction, Dwell, Dwelt, Hands, Hast, Jordan, Joshua, O, Oh, Pass, Perish, Sovereign, Stay, Wherefore, Willing, WishDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 7:7 1205 God, titles of
1235 God, the LORD
5938 sadness Joshua 7:1-7 9210 judgment, God's Joshua 7:1-16 6024 sin, effects of Joshua 7:1-26 6173 guilt, and God
8479 self-examination, examples Joshua 7:7-8 8726 doubters Joshua 7:7-9 8605 prayer, and God's will
8615 prayer, doubts Library Achan's Sin, Israel's Defeat
'But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. 2. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-ei, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. 3. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWhether one Can, Without a Mortal Sin, Deny the Truth which Would Lead to One's Condemnation?
Objection 1: It would seem one can, without a mortal sin, deny the truth which would lead to one's condemnation. For Chrysostom says (Hom. xxxi super Ep. ad Heb.): "I do not say that you should lay bare your guilt publicly, nor accuse yourself before others." Now if the accused were to confess the truth in court, he would lay bare his guilt and be his own accuser. Therefore he is not bound to tell the truth: and so he does not sin mortally if he tell a lie in court. Objection 2: Further, just as …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Contention Over the Man Born Blind.
(Jerusalem.) ^D John IX. 1-41. [Some look upon the events in this and the next section as occurring at the Feast of Tabernacles in October, others think they occurred at the Feast of Dedication in December, deriving their point of time from John x. 22.] ^d 1 And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. [The man probably sought to waken compassion by repeatedly stating this fact to passers-by.] 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Confession of Sin --A Sermon with Seven Texts
The Hardened Sinner. PHARAOH--"I have sinned."--Exodus 9:27. I. The first case I shall bring before you is that of the HARDENED SINNER, who, when under terror, says, "I have sinned." And you will find the text in the book of Exodus, the 9th chap. and 27th verse: "And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." But why this confession from the lips of the haughty tyrant? He was not often wont to …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857 Restraining Prayer: is it Sin?
"Thou restrainest prayer before God."--JOB xv. 4. "What profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?"--JOB xxi. 15. "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."--1 SAM. xii. 23. "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you."--JOSH. vii. 12. Any deep quickening of the spiritual life of the Church will always be accompanied by a deeper sense of sin. This will not begin with theology; that can only give expression to what God works …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession The Practice of Piety in Glorifying God in the Time of Sickness, and when Thou Art Called to Die in the Lord.
As soon as thou perceivest thyself to be visited with any sickness, meditate with thyself: 1. That "misery cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth affliction spring out of the earth." Sickness comes not by hap or chance (as the Philistines supposed that their mice and emrods came, 1 Sam. vi. 9), but from man's wickedness, which, as sparkles, breaketh out. "Man suffereth," saith Jeremiah, "for his sins." "Fools," saith David, "by reason of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Exposition of the Moral Law.
1. The Law was committed to writing, in order that it might teach more fully and perfectly that knowledge, both of God and of ourselves, which the law of nature teaches meagrely and obscurely. Proof of this, from an enumeration of the principal parts of the Moral Law; and also from the dictate of natural law, written on the hearts of all, and, in a manner, effaced by sin. 2. Certain general maxims. 1. From the knowledge of God, furnished by the Law, we learn that God is our Father and Ruler. Righteousness …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Of a Private Fast.
That we may rightly perform a private fast, four things are to be observed:--First, The author; Secondly, The time and occasion; Thirdly, The manner; Fourthly, The ends of private fasting. 1. Of the Author. The first that ordained fasting was God himself in paradise; and it was the first law that God made, in commanding Adam to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit. God would not pronounce nor write his law without fasting (Lev. xxiii), and in his law commands all his people to fast. So does our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Beth-El. Beth-Aven.
Josephus thus describes the land of Benjamin; "The Benjamites' portion of land was from the river Jordan to the sea, in length: in breadth, it was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." Let these last words be marked, "The breadth of the land of Benjamin was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." May we not justly conclude, from these words, that Jerusalem and Beth-el were opposite, as it were, in a right line? But if you look upon the maps, there are some that separate these by a very large tract of land, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Holiness of God
The next attribute is God's holiness. Exod 15:51. Glorious in holiness.' Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of his crown; it is the name by which God is known. Psa 111:1. Holy and reverend is his name.' He is the holy One.' Job 6:60. Seraphims cry, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.' Isa 6:6. His power makes him mighty, his holiness makes him glorious. God's holiness consists in his perfect love of righteousness, and abhorrence of evil. Of purer eyes than …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision F. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. ^C Luke XVI. 19-31. [The parable we are about to study is a direct advance upon the thoughts in the previous section. We may say generally that if the parable of the unjust steward teaches how riches are to be used, this parable sets forth the terrible consequences of a failure to so use them. Each point of the previous discourse is covered in detail, as will be shown by the references in the discussion of the parable.] …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Joshua
The book of Joshua is the natural complement of the Pentateuch. Moses is dead, but the people are on the verge of the promised land, and the story of early Israel would be incomplete, did it not record the conquest of that land and her establishment upon it. The divine purpose moves restlessly on, until it is accomplished; so "after the death of Moses, Jehovah spake to Joshua," i. 1. The book falls naturally into three divisions: (a) the conquest of Canaan (i.-xii.), (b) the settlement of the …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joshua 7:7 NIVJoshua 7:7 NLTJoshua 7:7 ESVJoshua 7:7 NASBJoshua 7:7 KJV
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