Joshua 7:2-3
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.”
Tag: Decisions Based Upon Self-worth Fail
The nation of Israel has just come off a great victory over Jericho. The walls of Jericho came tumbling down, without the nation of Israel lifting a finger. They had plundered the city and killed the inhabitants, all because God fought for them. How soon and how quickly pride can come upon us. Filled with the feelings of victory and self-worth, those sent out to spy out the next city, Ai, are filled with feelings of grandeur and arrogance. They don’t pursue God and His wisdom in this decision. Like the foolish spice Moses sent out, these spies, too, failed to consider the character and the plan of God. Joshua, regretfully, listened to their counsel and Ai defeated Israel. Thirty-six men died. The reason would be later discovered that Achan had taken gold and silver from Jericho and hidden it in his tent. Had Joshua sought the Lord in his decision making (instead of trusting in the arrogant wisdom of the spies), men’s lives would have been spared. This is a great example of “group-think” or of a “mob-mentality.” Leadership is supposed to pursue God’s Wisdom. Instead, the decision was made out of a feeing of self-worth: “Since WE did so well at Jericho, WE will do very well at Ai!” Decisions made out of our past accomplishments do not give God praise or opportunity to warn us about new details or deeper plans or flawed thinking. We ought to pursue every decision in the mind of Christ for Him to shape our thinking based upon the wisdom we get from His Word.
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