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the First Defeat and Its Cause
Jos 7:1-15
Israel was taught that victory is possible only where there are exact obedience and sincere consecration. We cannot cope with our foes, unless we live in unclouded fellowship with God. See 2Ch 15:2. Our spiritual allies in the heavenly places cannot co-operate while evil is harbored. Canaan was a gift to faith, and a strong spiritual life was peremptory. The gold and silver of Jericho were consecrated to God, so that Achan committed sacrilege as well as theft.
Ai (see Gen 12:8; Gen 13:3) lay two miles north of Jericho, and was a comparatively small place; but without God the smallest opposition is too great for us. Joshua seemed more concerned for the disgrace brought on the divine name than for the disaster to his men. Let us always look at our failures from God’s side! We must not lie too long in the dust of despair, but arise to detect and put away the hidden cause of our defeat, Hos 5:15; Hos 6:1-2.