Sabbath School Summary

BY ELDER DR MASIMBA MAVAZA

The Enemy Within

Lesson 6

Memory Text: “ ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds’ ” (Jeremiah 17:10, ESV).

Introduction

Joshua 7 is the first instance where, through a tragic experience, the people of Israel learned the far-reaching consequences of the covenant and its deep meaning. While obedience to the stipulations of the covenant secured victory, disregarding the terms of the covenant brought defeat.

Israel’s military success depended not on their numbers, battle strategy, or clever tactics but on the presence of the Divine Warrior with them.

During the appropriation of the Promised Land, the Israelites had to learn the difficult lesson that their most dangerous enemy was not outside their camp but within their own rank and file.

The greatest challenge that stood before them was neither the fortified walls of the Canaanite cities nor their advanced military technology but the obstinate will of individuals within their own camp to ignore the instructions of the Lord.

Waiting for our heavenly inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4, Col. 3:24), we face similar challenges. While we are on the border of the Promised Land, our faithfulness is tested, and we can be victorious only through surrender to Jesus Christ.

SABBATH: We have more to fear from within than from without”.

While keeping the covenant attracted God’s blessings for Israel, disobeying the terms of the covenant brought defeat.

God was the one who gave Israel victory & not her military, battle strategy/clever tactics.

Israel’s greatest danger wasn’t the huge walls of the Canaanite cities or their high military tech.

Israel’s threat was within her own ranks.

We’ll face similar threats in our walk to heaven.

Totally, surrender to God (1 Pet. 1:4, Col. 3:24).Breach of the CovenantSUNDAY: Joshua 7 shows that there is no hiding from God.

A sin done in secret shall be revealed.

One man’s sin caused God’s anger to be on Israel (Josh. 7:11).

God’s covenant with Israel was both at the individual & corporate levels.

The sin of one/some could incur guilt upon all.

The people were also overconfident in taking AI.

God was the one who won the battle of Jericho for Israel & He directed Israel not to take a devoted thing.

But Achan sinned; took from the devoted things; stole; deceived; hid the items (Josh. 7:1, 11-13).

The Sin of Achan

MONDAY: God is Love. But He does not excuse sin.

Through His justice & grace, He set out a policy for the sinner to be uncovered.

The stepwise search helped to reveal the innocent & guilty. It gave time for the guilty & accomplices to repent (Josh. 7:16-19, Num. 16:23-33, 26:11).

Israel’s sin was narrowed to one individual. God is the Searcher of hearts (Ps. 139:1-16, 2 Chron. 16:9, 1 Sam. 16:7, Jer. 17:10, Prov. 5:21).

Joshua’s call to Achan “My son” points to Jesus, who was never rude but denied sin (DA, p. 353).

Fateful Choices

TUESDAY: Achan acknowledged his sin, but it was too late. He didn’t own up to his sin during the search until He was found out.

He hoped to go undetected. Joshua asked him to give glory to God (Ps. 26:7, Isa.. 51:3, Jer. 17:26) & confess (Ezra 10:11).

By the Mosaic law, there wasn’t room for atonement for Achan (Num. 15:27-31).

Achan’s words recall the Fall of Adam & Eve, who took what was “desirable” (Josh. 7:21, Gen. 3:6).

While Rahab took spies & hid them, Achan took forbidden items & hid them (Josh. 2:1-13).

The Door of Hope

WEDNESDAY: As soon as sin was out of the camp of Israel, God’s grace entered the camp.

He assured Joshua of victory over Ai. Yahweh (God) used Israel’s earlier defeat as a tactical weapon.

He turned the Valley of Achor (trouble in Hebrew) into a door of hope.

God led Israel to victory; 30,000 Israelites went into the empty city & set it on fire as commanded (Josh. 8:1-29; Hos. 2:15).

Joshua’s weapon was a sickle, which was a symbol of sovereignty.

He acted like Moses (Exod. 14:16, 17:11-13).

A Witness to God’s PowerTHURSDAY: God chose Israel to diffuse His light to the whole world. He sought to make Israel a great nation.

Then all would come to know the God of Israel.

The defeat at Ai made Joshua utter words that is reminiscent of the words of the Israelites in times of hardship; “…You have brought us out… to kill this whole assembly…”; “…you have brought this people…to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites…” (Josh. 7:6-9; Exod. 16:3).

Joshua worried the defeat would defame God’s name (Num. 14:16, Deut. 9:28).

Further Thought

FRIDAY: The deadly sin of Achan had its root in covetousness, a common sin lightly regarded.

Achan finally accepted his sin, but it was too late. He saw the armies of Israel return from Ai defeated, but he didn’t confess his sin.

He saw Joshua & the elders of Israel bowed to the earth in grief, but he did not confess.

He kept silent until the finger of God pointed him out. His case shows the vast difference between admitting facts & genuinely confessing sins known only to oneself and God.

—Ellen G. White, “The Fall of Jericho,” pp. 493-498, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Keywords

DA- The Desire of AgesAchan & Adam & Eve

-The words of Achan in Joshua 7:21 are reminiscent of the fall of Adam and Eve.

Eve saw (ra’ah) that the tree was desirable (kḥamad) and finally took (laqakḥ) from its fruit (Gen. 3:6).

In his confession, Achan admits that he saw (ra’ah) in the plunder a beautiful mantle of Shinar, 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold.

He then coveted (kḥamad) and took (laqakḥ) them.

Just as in the case of Adam and Eve, the choice of Achan reveals that the sin of covetousness is the sin of unbelief.

It suspects God of not wanting the best for His creatures and of hiding some exquisite pleasures from them, which belong to the realm of divinity only.

Joshua’s Weapon

– By stretching out the sickle sword until the full victory is won, Joshua is shown to have fully assumed the leadership role Moses exercised at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod. 14:16) and in the war against the Amalekites (Exod. 17:11-13), where Joshua personally led the combat.

God’s Purposes for Israel- Like Rahab, who learn about Israel’s God by the power of His people’s conquests, many people in pagan nations had the opportunity to accept the God of Israel, such as through Israel’s conquest.

Joshua was worried that the defeat at Ai would make the nations deem Israel’s God weak and ineffective (see Num. 14:16, Deut. 9:28), which could embolden Canaanite resistance.

To “give glory to God,” Achan was supposed to give glory to God by admitting what he had done. The term used here (todah) can refer to thanksgiving (Ps. 26:7, Isa.. 51:3, Jer. 17:26), but also to the confession of sin (Ezra 10:11).

Discussion Questions

📌 Discuss the implications of the tenth commandment (Exod. 20:17) in a world dominated by advertisements and consumerism. How can we practically distinguish between a want and a need, and why is that distinction important?

📌 Read Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:4-19. Why is it significant that Daniel, in confessing Israel’s sins, kept on saying “we” did all these bad things, even though we have no record of Daniel himself ever doing evil?

📌 Think about the question at the end of Thursday’s study.

Why was the Israelites’ obedience to all the “statutes and judgments” so important to their witness? How does this same principle apply to our church today?

That is, how much more effective would our witness be if we actually followed all that we have been given by God?For November 1-7.

Happy Sabbath!