Prayer: Father, we must follow Your rules throughout life. When we deviate from Your rules or try to test them, consequences come. May I choose to be obedient to You. Amen.
Reading: Joshua 6 key: vs. 18
18 But you, just keep yourselves from the things under the ban. Otherwise you would make yourselves accursed by taking of the things under the ban, and so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.
Attention: I recall a time in my elementary school days when we experienced an earthquake while riding the morning school bus. The school bus was stopped picking up a student when the earthquake struck. At first the driver thought something was mechanically acting up with the bus. I remember him saying “whoa” as he tried to apply the brakes to steady the bus, but he soon realized from the actions of the power lines which were whipping and a tethered cow in a grass field paralleling the bus which was bucking. We had just experienced an earthquake (April 29, 1965). We continued the route to the school only to find everyone outdoors, away from the buildings.
You see, I attended an elementary school which was built in 1928. The elementary school was a two-story brick structure which sustained considerable damage to the gymnasium. As a student, I participated in the last graduating class as the school was condemned a couple of years after the earthquake. One of the rules which the principal initiated was no student was to go into the gymnasium. I had a task which daily required me to access the stoves which heated the hot lunches for the students. After having completed my task, I left the gymnasium through an exterior door exit door for recess. Of course, a student spotted me breaking the rules, but my reasoning was, I was permitted to access the gym, so I felt that I could also exit to the outside, rather than go back into the main part of the school to exit. The principal didn’t see it that way and I was disciplined.
I bring up a historical failing I experienced because tomorrow, we will read about a man who didn’t heed the ban of destruction and paid for it with his life. It is a prime example of when Adonai (God) gives us rules to live by, He is serious about our obedience.
The ban of destruction which Joshua relayed to the Hebrew nation was, “All the silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to Adonai, and must go into the treasury of Adonai.” This was a direct order from Adonai. The instructions were simple, “All the silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are holy (set apart) to Adonai, and must go into the treasury of Adonai.”
What are the ramifications of our disobedience? Does God (Adonai) still relegate discipline or punishment today? All these issues are resolved in scripture, whether we want to recognize the rules, His commandments, or not. I encourage you to watch for signs of God’s discipline or punishment throughout scripture, even in the New Testament. Is God the same yesterday, today, and forever?
Action: I choose to take God at His word of instruction.
Yield: I choose to yield to scripture and a literal interpretation of scripture.
Engage: I choose to engage with the Holy Spirit in a lifestyle of obedience.
Relationship: I choose a lifestyle of intimate relationship with Adonai.
Prayer: Father, I choose to listen and obey. Please give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart which is soft towards You. Amen.
Memory Verse: Hebrews 13:8
8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Music Video: Vertical Worship—Yes I Will https://youtu.be/NrTv39-lG4M
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”