The Time Joshua Tried to Throw God Under the Bus, Joshua 7:6-9

 

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

Everything was going so great, they were winning, river parting, walls falling. They were the nation, the rest of the world feared. One nation, under God, indivisible, bold and courageous.

Yet, here they are, trembling, groveling in the dirt; after just one confrontation with Ai, a little place, a fraction of their size. (We looked at this in detail last week).

This, dropping to the dirt, was the customary sign of mourning back in the day…and today, wherever kids, aren’t getting their way.

Notice the timing.

Now they’re before the ark of the Lord. Now they’re on their face. Now they’re calling out to God.

After.

The.

Fact.

You know, after the marriage goes south. The money runs out. The body fails. The soul is sad and weary. After everything goes sideways.

The nation is in trouble.

Now, of course, there’s nothing wrong with calling out to God, when in trouble. We should. But if we’d do it before we got in trouble—we’d see a lot less trouble.

God couldn’t paint a clearer picture.

Joshua 5:14 Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

Joshua 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

Notice, in those two scriptures, Joshua was on his face before the Lord. The first, was before a battle, the other, after. One was proactive, the other reactive. One was the thrill of victory, the other, the agony of defeat.

Which do you prefer?

I had an ol’ cowboy friend from Oklahoma, who defined being proactive, perfectly. Picture Festus from Gunsmoke. After spitting a long stream of tobacco juice, he’d say, “It’s fixin’ yer fence fer the cows git out.”

Or, if you prefer, you might recall, the preparational-phrase we coined last week: Promise Land Protocol: You’re not prepared, until you’re preprayered.

Either way you say it, when we, or Joshua and crew, keep God in the forefront of our thoughts, we avoid being in places we shouldn’t; places where angels fear to tread.  Had they sought God, first, the whole Ai debacle, could’ve been avoided.

 

 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 

After groveling all day in the dirt, Joshua finally points a finger at God and says, “This is all Your fault! Why’d You do this—to destroy us? Never should’ve followed You in the first place. Should’ve just settled...”

Joshua isn’t the only one to have that unreasonable reaction.

Remember the disciples, in the boat, in the storm? Jesus is sleeping. They’re freaking. The boat is sinking. “Don’t You care, we’re all gonna drown!” (Mark 4:35-41).

We do it too.

Never should’ve got my hopes up. Why’d I believe for better? I tried the God thing, it didn't work. Wish I hadn’t even tried…

Joshua should’ve known better. 

That kind of talk is what got his parents, his kin, his whole nation, sentenced to a forty-year death march. Numbers14:2-19.

Back then, Joshua, tore his clothes, just like this time. Only different. Back then he was sticking up for God, telling folks to trust in Him. This time, alas, he blames Him.

How quickly we point at God for every bad thing. The insurance industry has a foolish phrase for unexplainable catastrophes, “acts of God.”  Such ignorant, folly.

How soon we forget God’s goodness.

They forgot and it didn’t turn out so great. It turned out, just like President Ronald Reagan said it would:

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be one nation gone under.

Remember, last week we saw Achan robbing from God. Joshua still doesn’t have a clue.

Let’s face it. We don’t know everything. We can’t see the big picture. Really, we don’t know much of anything.

But there’s one thing we can know, for sure and certain, even in the storm—especially in the storm. Even when things go sideways—especially, when things go sideways. We can save ourselves a lot of worry, and fury, (and have a few less gray hairs and wrinkles) if we settle in our soul, that God is good, all the time. No matter how bad it gets; God cannot tempt, or be tempted with evil. If there’s bad, or someone to blame; it isn’t God.

Promise Land Protocol: It’s Never God’s Fault. Ever.

We must Intentionally keep God in the forefront of our thoughts.

We are, in His.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. 

Joshua must've forgot.

Look again, closer, at Joshua’s response to the Lord, the two times he was bowed to the ground before Him.

Joshua 5:14, outside Jericho, before Jesus, before the battle, Joshua humbly, proactively, asks: What does my Lord say?

Joshua 7:6, after the battle, after the defeat, he accuses God. Why have You done this!

As if that wasn’t enough, Joshua continues his “throw God under the bus” diatribe.

8 O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

Finally, after Joshua vents his fears, and spews his irrational irritations, he dumps it all in God’s lap. There, take that, now whaddya gonna do about it?

Joshua’s complaint/prayer is a combination of whining like parents, interceding like Moses. Numbers 14:2-19.

His parent’s generation, whined against Moses, against God.

We should’ve stayed in Egypt. God’s not able to deliver. Now we’ll be killed

God heard and told Moses: Get out the way, I’m going to blow them away. Numbers 14:11-12.

Moses interceded. OK, but if You wipe them out, the other nations will say You weren’t strong enough to deliver. So, please, pardon their iniquity according to the greatness of Your mercy. Numbers 14:13-19.

God listened to Moses. Fine, but they’re going to wander in the wilderness until every last one drops dead…except Joshua and Celeb.

So, Joshua, should’ve known not to repeat the very same things that got his parent’s generation sentenced to a forty-year wilderness wandering death march.

But…

Walking in fear and flesh clouds the mind, sends rational thinking to the wind.

God understands, has mercy and desires honesty in the inward parts. Psalm 51:6.  

So, it’s perfectly okay, to tell Him exactly what we’re feeling—He already knows anyway.

He listens for our broken hallelujahs, our pitiful prayers, more than perfect, polished, pious ones.

God hears, cares and answers.

His answer to Joshua, is a big reveal. In just five verses God explains exactly what happened and why; and how they need to fix it. Joshua 7:10-15.

Lord willing, we’ll listen in and examine, His answer, next time we visit.

Let's pray.

Lord, we need You. There's a lot of distractions and deceptions, that try to trick us into thinking You're to blame. Please help us know You more intimately, see You more clearly, so we can rest assured, that You are never the cause of the problem, but always the Cure. We love You, forever. Amen.