Joshua 6:18-21
"...But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury." When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
The "devoted things" mentioned here refer to all things in Jericho. Except for gold, silver, articles of bronze and iron which shall go to God's treasury, everything has to be destroyed. First, it is because that's the command of God. When God proclaimed the law, He clearly instructed Israelites to have everything that is birth born, that is first fruit, to be sacrificed to Him. That is what we called, 'first fruits'. After Israelites first entered Canaan, this is the first city they conquered. God asked them to sacrifice everything in the city to Him. In other words, God gave Jericho to Israelites, but all things in the city belong to God. Canaan was a place that was full of evil. That's why God gave it to Israelites. They died of their own evil, not because God's lack humanity.
Second, God asked them to rid of everything in the city to keep their hearts and minds, such that people not drawn to the things that are in the city. Is there anything in our lives that has robbed our focus to God? Many things in this world look wonderful on the outside. But they bring emptiness and the death of spirit in the end. Like chewing gums, at first it tastes sweet. However, after a while, it tastes like wax such that we can't wait to get rid of it. Moreover, many things in this world occupy our inner world, so that our hearts wander away from God. Not all these are bad. Many things seems to be full of God's blessing. But even the blessing of God could be an obstacle that separates God from us.
When Israelites departed Egypt, they took possession of Egyptians gold, and silver. They had been poor. But now they were suddenly wealthy. It can be said that this was God's special favor. But unbelievably, when Moses was waiting for God to proclaim His Ten Commandments, Israelites, using the blessing given to them by God, built a gold calf as a false God to substitute Jehovah. The people of God used God's blessing to replace God's place in their hearts - How pitiful that was! Brothers and sisters, what's your circumstance today? Do you have things that are devoted? May God help us get rid of devoted things so that our hearts may please God.
Pray with Pastor Tong
May the spirit of the Lord shine unto us again so we can see whether we have devoted things inside of us. May the precious blood of the Lord cover and cleanse, and help us to be victorious over all the attacks from our enemy Satan. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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