Joshua 7:1-15
After Jericho comes Ai, a small city. It seems a simple task to overcome it without troubling all the men of war; three thousand would be sufficient. But what was the outcome? Against all expectation Israel is defeated. Confusion reigns! Now it is the turn of the people’s hearts to melt as those of their enemies had melted a short time before (Joshua 5:1). Joshua, filled with despair, falls on his face and laments. But the LORD commands him to stand up and take in the situation. There is something wrong in the Israelite camp. The cursed thing, or in other words sin, is preventing God from fighting for His people’s cause. What an important lesson for each one of us! Our conscience is like the Israelite camp. A sin we hide, or refuse to confess to men and God, robs us of His fellowship without which a believer is beaten in advance. Even more serious is the matter of the great name of Christ, which we bear (v. 9). That will be dishonoured by our sin. "What wilt thou do unto thy great name?" is an intelligent prayer. He who speaks in this way has learned to place the glory of God before his own interests.