“The Power of One Man’s Sin”

Text: Joshua 7: 2-7, 10-12

“The Power of One Man’s Sin” was a powerful, timely message given by Pastor Durham. The text for this lesson came from Joshua 7: 2-7, 10-12. It was a very simple, easy to understand example of how one man caused an entire army to fail. Pastor did an excellent job illustrating how sin has a way of not only corrupting the lives of individuals, but also the people they love and worship with.

To lay the foundation for today’s lesson, Pastor reminded us of the people that were involved in this experience. These people were the Israelites that had finally made it to the Promised Land. Pastor mentioned the previous battles this army had won, looking back over the past 40 years of experiences. There was only one problem. When they finally made it to the Promised Land, there were people already living in it. The Canaanites lived in Jericho, which was surrounded by walls. These walls were meant to keep out enemies. Spies had been sent out to check out Jericho and its people. These spies ended up being taken in by Rahab, the prostitute. In exchange for them hiding out in her attic, she asked the spies for a favor. She asked them to remember her household when they came back for war. She asked them to spare her and her family. The spies agreed and told her to place a scarlet thread in her window so that they would pass over her house. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Bible scholars should be familiar with the Passover, and how the homes with the blood on the doorposts were passed over by the death angel.

To make this story relevant to the Christian, we have a scarlet thread in our windows too. That scarlet thread is the blood of Jesus. If we are in Christ, we are covered by the blood. We are exempt from spiritual death. Our physical bodies will die, but our souls will be with the Lord for all eternity.
The spies went back to Joshua with their report, and God gave Joshua the battle plan. The soldiers were to march around the walls once a day for 6 days, and on the seventh day, they were to march around the walls 7 times. Finally the priests were to give a long, loud blast with their trumpets, and all the soldiers were to give a mighty shout. Then the walls would fall. This is an illustration that shows us that there is power in worship. By these soldiers worshipping God with their shout, things happened in their favor. The same holds true for our church family. If we join together in our worship, things will happen in our favor.

Along with these instructions, God also told the soldiers to watch out for Rahab’s household, and to destroy all of the valuables in Jericho. All the silver and gold of the land was to be dedicated to the Lord. If these instructions weren’t followed, disaster was to fall on Israel. Pastor likened this to the tithe. The tithe belongs to God. Who are we to deny it to Him? If we do, disaster will surely follow. One soldier, Achan, didn’t follow the rules. He took some of the valuables, dug a hole, and buried them. No one knew of his violation. But just like any other sin, it found him out.

To discuss the topic of today’s message, it was now time for the Israelites to go into war again. It was to take place in Ai, a small city with a small army and inadequate weapons. Someone advised Joshua that there was no need to take all of the soldiers to fight such a small army. Pastor Durham mentioned here that in life, it’s usually the small things that defeat us. When looking over your budget, it’s not the big bills that put us in a bind, but it’s the miscellaneous purchases that we make that add up, destroying our finances. If you don’t manage them, they could ruin you.

Joshua’s army lost the battle. Not only did they lose, they had to flee the men of Ai. Joshua fell before God, asking why He had let them be defeated. In verse 10 of the text, God basically told Joshua to get up and shut up! The problem wasn’t God, it was someone in Joshua’s camp. Someone broke the covenant. Because of that on man’s sin, the entire army and Israelite nation was affected.
This lesson teaches that we as a people won’t advance until sin is dealt with. We all have to stand before God. God has our record on high, and all of us have a record with Him. Achan, his family, and his livestock were stoned and burned.

There are three things Pastor brought out to us from this lesson. First, sin is powerful. It was sin that kept them from beating the army of Ai, not the number of soldiers they fought with. Sin makes us powerless. Secondly, the sin of one member will affect the whole body. Achan’s sin affected the entire army. None of us are an island. God sees us as a unit. As a church, we are all a part of the body of Christ. Our individual actions will affect the whole. And thirdly, this was an inside job. The enemy that caused the defeat was in the camp. In today’s churches, destruction often comes from the inside out. We cause ourselves to fail.

Pastor Durham ended this lesson by reminding us that sin has a remedy. The curse has been broken through Jesus and calvary. Because He became sin, we have a right to salvation. In conclusion, to be an effective church, we must take on the corporate mindset and realize that all of our actions affect the destiny of our church success. We are indeed individuals, but we are a part of a much larger body, the body of Christ.

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