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Joshua 7:7 – Praying through the Bible #65 – A Prayer of Who’s to Blame
Tongue in cheek, Bill Cosby said parents of only one child are not real parents because when something gets broken they always know who to blame, with no “he did it” or “she did it” confusion. In Family Circus, make-believe gremlins are responsible when the kids don’t want to accept responsibility: “Not Me” “Ida Know” and “Nobody” get plenty of blame. Just kid stuff, right? The problem is we adults don’t always grow up! The even bigger problem is we adults know who to blame. God!
In Joshua 7, after the Israelites walked all over, or at least all round, Jericho; after watching God give them the victory with nothing more than marching, trumpets and shouting (6.16); Israel is confidently ready for the next battle. No more excuses or self-doubt; no more, “But they are giants, and we are grasshoppers in their sight.” Whether in wisdom or arrogance, only 3000 men were deemed necessary to defeat small Ai (7.3-4). Israel is embarrassed in defeat. Consider it David and Goliath in reverse, but this time Israel is Goliath. The grasshopper wins.
What happened? Turns out, the size of the fighting force was inconsequential. All of Israel’s human might would not have won the day. Unknown to Joshua, Achan had broken the ban on Jericho and took God’s victory booty as his own (7.1). But what we are concerned about here is not Achan’s sin, but Joshua’s prayer, especially the first part: “Oh, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!” (7.7).
While not put quite so bluntly, Joshua’s initial reaction is, “It’s your fault, God.” Joshua claims life would have been better had they never entered the Promised Land. So obviously the problem is…God and His blessings? Such is a common, all too common, thought process among God’s people. When things turn bad, life get’s ugly, pain and suffering becomes great, and consequences are coming, we are quick to blame God.
Instead we should look at Satan as the culprit; and look at ourselves. The problem was not God, but sin. “Israel has sinned….This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies” (7.11-12) is the truth God says. Sin is in the camp. God turns away from Israel, and even turns a certain word and verdict against them. What was under the ban and set apart for destruction, Israel was not allowed to take. Now instead of Jericho and its goods being set apart for destruction (6.17,18; 7.1,11), Israel is (7.12).
The problem is, when there are problems, we really don’t know who to blame. “Not Me” “Ida Know” and “Nobody” are still running around, because we refuse to grow up.
Prayer Challenge: In prayer take responsibility for the decisions we make, and don’t be quick to blame God.
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