Beware of The Accursed Thing. Part [12] 05/31/2026 (Morning thought)

Joshua 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

This account raises very grave questions with global implications for when the narrative is scrutinized, or analyzed, it raises the grim prospect that failure in a war may not be because of equipment or strategy, it might be attributable to an accursed thing or person in the camp. We are just observing the principles in question. Is it possible that one person could do wrong and others suffer as a result, even if they were not aware of the wrong, or did not participate in it.

Is it possible that a nation could actually fail in battle because of some accursed thing, or because some person in question is accursed? Joshua needed to find out the truth in the matter urgently, because, if they have just come off a fresh victory in Jericho, and an army that is much inferior to them is giving them so much trouble, then, as far as Joshua is concerned, he has to get to the bottom of this, to find out what is going on.

Could it be their equipment? It couldn’t be because under God’s leadership in Jericho, their equipment was more than adequate and superior. Could it be their numbers? It could not be because God knows how to win with few or many, as He once did with only three hundred men in Gideon’s day. So, what exactly is the problem? This haunting and complex question would find no answer until, in his desperation and frustration, Joshua asks of God, the all-important question, what’s going on.

Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore have thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

Beware of The Accursed Thing. Part [11] 05/31/2026 (Evening thought)

Joshua 7:4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.

Joshua did not pray first, and the men also under his jurisdiction most likely did not pray too, or else, God would have given them a heads up by alerting them to the fact that a curse was resting upon the land, as He did with Rahab. And because of a lack of prayer, lives were lost, even though they did not participate in Achan’s sin. Their problem was not one of collusion to commit a crime.

Their issue was carelessness and presumption which led them to believe that just because the God of heaven had promised the land of Canaan they did not need to pray and ask Him for guidance. When God makes a promise, and begins to fulfill it in His own time and way, we should never conclude that devils would not try to interfere in some way or the other. In fact, it is a cardinal rule in the spiritual realm that whenever God is about to do great things for His people, the prince of darkness is also usually there, to contest every step of advance.

[2] According to the narrative, failure in a war could potentially be the result of an accursed thing, or an accursed person in the midst. This is a war now, and we should bear in mind that the thirty-six men never ever touched or even came close to the accursed thing, thus, they really did not know, and yet, here they are, being quite adversely affected while some of them have lost their lives in the process.

Joshua 7:5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!