The people suffered defeat at Ai because of the sin of one man. Now the Lord speaks to Joshua and assures him of victory. The sin of one man brought them death, but the presence of one (The LORD) will bring certain victory.
Gideon wins the war against the Midianites, righteously refuses to be king and judges Israel for forty years. Yet in making the ephod, he sets Israel up for their next plunge into idolatry and rebellion.
When God’s people get away from the Lord, they begin to give Him the leftovers. Their service to God becomes a weariness to them.
Moses is dead. Joshua must accept the fact and take his role as leader of the Israelites.
Perhaps the most prevalent sin of the Christian today is that of complaining. It is in our nature. How many things have we murmured or complained about today and we were not even conscious of it? In our heart we have strategically placed complaining as one of the smaller sins or perhaps not even sin at all. God, however, has a different outlook on the matter and we would do well to adopt God’s viewpoint versus our own. God tells us in His word “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content”, and in another place He says “and be ye thankful”. Complaining is not so. As such we ought to learn what the scriptures say about complaining and take heed to its warnings.
