We've all rationalized it. Just this once. No one will know. It's not that big of a deal. A little deception on your taxes, a betrayal, a compromise no one sees.
But hidden sin has a way of refusing to stay hidden. and when it surfaces, the fallout can be devastating. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl dives into an ancient story with shocking modern relevance. One man's secret choice brought an entire nation to its knees. we'll discover why that nagging absence of peace won't go away.
and how confession, however difficult, is always less painful than exposure. I want to speak on a rather serious subject for the next few minutes. It has to do with sin. I've never been one to categorize sin into too many. Compartments because sin is sin.
It always grieves the heart of God, it always takes its toll on us. Occasionally, as we shall learn in this particular study, it takes a toll on others as well. But sin is simply missing the mark. It is acting disobediently. It can even occur in one's thought life.
In the realm of the unknown to other people, but nevertheless, it takes its toll. My Bible is open right now to 1 John chapter 1, verses 5 through 9, which Like few other passages of scripture, sort of Put sin in a series of categories that help us get a handle on it. Let me read these verses of 1 John 1:5 through 9, and then let me make a few opening comments before we get specific about what I have on my mind today. And this is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light. and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, We lie. and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, As he himself is in the light, we have fellowship. With one another. And the blood of Jesus, his Son.
cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving. ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous. to forgive us Our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And then the final tenth verse, if we say that we have not sinned, We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. In those several verses, three begin with the words, if we say. And they all represent things that we Have said Verse 6. If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, We lie.
Verse 8. If we say we have no sin, We deceive ourselves and the truth isn't in us. And verse 10, if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. And his word isn't in us. The thought is denying the truth that he's revealed.
All three are very strong charges. And as I said, all three have happened. Technically, all three are of a personal nature. These are things we say to ourselves. Oh, we may on occasion say those things to someone else who is a very close friend, but usually this is self-talk.
We Or walking in the darkness, and we rationalize by telling us we're really walking in the light. When we do that, we, verse 6, Lie. We don't practice the truth. If we say we have no sin at all, we live under delusion. It's self-deception.
We're deceiving ourselves. And if we claim we have not even sinned, We have so rationalized our way around the wrong We say he is a liar. which is even worse.
Now, there are times when our sin is committed But it impacts other lives, and that makes it all the more complicated. That's what I have on my mind. for this particular study. In fact, I want to talk about a man whose sin brought calamity to many people. And as we shall see, it brought defeat to an entire nation.
But before we look at that, Let me say a couple of things here. I remember as a little boy, hearing my mother say, about a particular church that was going through a dreadful time. I'm I was too little to even remember the particulars, I just remember a phrase she used. she said to my dad one Sunday evening, Earl? She said, I think there's sin in the camp.
I think there's sin in the camp. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what camp she had in mind. I didn't know the reference she had. It was several years ago.
Uh I heard that phrase again. as it was said of a particular ministry. that had gone belly up.
Someone said to me The problem with that ministry is that there has been sin in the camp. Far too long. I knew nothing of the ministry. I just had known of the tragedy of its failure.
Some of the pastoral staff from our church and a couple of our interns took a trip recently, and part of our journey included a church that. For a number of years, it was a strong lighthouse. It was a beacon of hope. And it was a pace-setting ministry in every sense of the word. It had grown in numbers, which is beside the fact it was blessed of God.
That's what is important. And over the past several months, it's now been better than a year. In fact, several years there was a decline. in impact. There was a decline in morale.
there was a loss of some of the pastoral staff. There was discontentment, there was disunity. And while visiting this particular church on our journey, we heard the whole story. And the problem was that there had been sin. in the camp.
The person in leadership had said, to himself. Uh I'm not walking in the darkness. I'm walking in the light. when all the while he was walking in darkness. And he lied.
And Instead of facing the truth and claiming the forgiveness of verse 9, agreeing with God that it is sin and claiming from God Through confession and repentance, that there is forgiveness. He continued to walk in darkness. Resulting in enormous Um consequences. That are still taking a toll on that particular ministry. Sin in the camp.
Turn from 1 John in the New Testament back to the foundation for that statement of sin in the camp, Joshua chapter 12. Yeah. It won't take us a long time to hear this story, but I hope it is long enough for you not to ever forget it. Because it is possible to relive Changing the details to relive the events of Joshua chapter 7, even today. It is possible that someone hearing these words right now.
is a part of a declining ministry. in some realm You may be the one who entertains. A walk in darkness. And you have refused to Face it. Or you may know one who is in darkness and telling himself or herself that.
That person is in the light. and they're living self-deceived lives. I hope you will see the impact that can have. on a body of people.
Now, understand when we turn to Joshua 7, we have just in the nation Israel been through the greatest victory since we walked through the Red Sea. We have witnessed the falling of the walls around Jericho. It's a miracle. If you look up in chapter 6, verse 15. And following, you'll read about it.
It came about on the seventh day that they rose early. At the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times, only on that day they marched around the city. Seven times. All the other days they had only marched around it once.
Now this day they marched seven times. Came about at the seventh time when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. Verse 20.
So the people shouted. And priests blew the trumpets, and it came about when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout. And then we read the wall fell down flat. I like the way it reads. It just didn't fall, it fell down flat.
The stones didn't even remain on top of each other.
So that they could simply step over the result of the debris and march right into the city and conquer it. If you look at the land of Canaan and you study the invasion of Jericho, you see that it was the wedge. for winning the whole a r uh a finger of land called Canaan. It was the decisive victory. It was the turning point in conquering the land of Canaan.
And they just walked into the city. And they took over. Incredible victory. The walls fell down flat. Verse 21, they utterly destroyed.
Everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. It was over, and they must have rejoiced. These days are absolutely glorious days. Look at the first word of chapter 7. But But That is an ominous word.
That one negative particle sets the stage for a chapter of defeat. in the lives of the Hebrews. And this is the story. That we want to think about for the next few minutes. In newspaper fashion, we read the whole story in one verse.
In one opening paragraph, and then the details are given in verses 2 through 26. But here's the story in a nutshell: verse 1. But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, The son of Zerah. From the tribe of Judah, took some of the things.
Under the ban. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
Now, keep that in mind. We'll come back to the matter of something being under the ban in a moment, but get the feeling. Of the events of verses two through five, so that you can appreciate the sudden shock of defeat. Verse 2. This is after the battle at Jericho.
This is after the walls fell down flat. They came to the next little city, which was nothing compared to Jericho. Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Which is near Beth Avon, east of Bethel, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land.
So the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and they said to him, Don't let all the people go up, only about two or three thousand men. need to go up to AI. Don't make all the people toil up there, for they are few. It's no big thing.
Don't. A lot of people are weary from the battle. They have been through a lot in this whole Jericho campaign. We don't need more than two, maybe 3,000 troops. It's sort of a random figure.
Two or three thousand would be plenty. This is nothing. It's like, you know, Notre Dame playing Southmate Elementary. That's no problem at all. It's like Pop Warner teams playing the Cowboys of 89.
Any Pop Warner team could beat the Cowboys of 89. You can't imagine how hard it is for me to say that, but you know it's true. It's just 2,000 or 3,000 people. We've got it. We've beat Jericho.
We can beat AI. There's nothing to it. Just send a few men up there.
So J Joshua did it. About 3,000 men from the people went up from there. But they fled. from the men of AI. And to make it worse, the men of Ai struck down about 36.
of the finest warriors of the Hebrews. 36 men died in the battle, and to make it worse, they were shot in the back. Because they were running out of the city, they were retreating. Israel was on a retreat. Israel doesn't retreat.
Israel attacks. Not now. Not in this battle. Yeah. It's unbelievable.
They pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent.
So the hearts of the people melted and became as water. That always happens when a body of people goes through a time of defeat. The heart of the people melt. It's called demoralization. There's a demoralization that comes over you.
You've been in companies where the morale is low. The feeling is defeat. You've been on teams that haven't won and the morale is at the bottom. That's the way it was in Israel. But what is so amazing is it's such a contrast with what they had at Jericho.
Seven times around, in the last days, seven times in that one day, and the walls fell down flat, and they took the huge city of Jericho. And here's this little pit squeak city of AI. and they run for their lives. When that kind of thing happens Spiritually speaking, as it happens today, we need to perk up our ears. There's a reason for such illogic.
Joshua Confounded by the defeat, we read in verse 6, tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening. He's serious. He and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads. Can you. Picture that.
I mean, it is It is disillusioning, it is defeating. And Joshua's prayer is recorded. Alas, O Lord God. Why didst thou ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan, oh Lord.
What can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
Now Joshua's not worried about his image, he's worried about God's name. I mean, the word is out, Lord, that the Israelites are invading.
Now, wait till they hear that Ai ran us out of town. The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what wilt thou do for thy great name? I love that kind of reasoning. Lord, I'm not worried about what I'm going to say regarding Joshua's.
A battle. This isn't Joshua's battle. This is your battle. And we went up in good faith to win this battle, and we've been. turned and defeated.
What am I going to say? Your name is at stake. The man at the top, Joshua. The commander-in-chief pours out his heart before the Lord because he has come upon a mystery. humanly inexplicable, unexplainable, totally illogical.
By the way, it's a good time to draw a lesson from it. When we in leadership, experience a time of mysterious defeat. It's time to put the brakes on and wait on the Lord. And find out why. I've gone through periods in my own life where Um Out of the blue, there were back-to-back defeats that didn't make sense.
And we had planned so carefully, and we had prayed through those times in preparation, and we came upon an AI situation. And uh backed away and to my amazement We uncovered sin in the camp. And if you have ever had a colleague that you thought was loyal And found out later that there was disloyalty, then you know the disillusionment of that. You know the horror that comes over you, the disbelief. And Joshua is before the Lord saying, Oh.
What in the world has occurred? It doesn't make sense. The Lord answers him in 10 to 15 in no uncertain terms. Rise up, Joshua. Why is it you've fallen on your face?
Israel has sinned. Israel has sinned. They have transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. They have even taken some of the things under the ban, have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they've put them among their own things.
It's not that they took them and tossed them aside. They're hiding those things. You've got sin in the camp. Very serious charge. The sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.
They turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. Rise up, he says again. Set your people apart. Set them apart tomorrow.
For thus the Lord the God of Israel has said: These are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.
Well, we've read it enough. here. that this under the ban is critical. I deliberately left out a few verses from the reading of chapter 6 of Joshua. I want to go back there.
Because even before the walls fell around Jericho, God had warned him of doing something regarding this ban. Look at verse 17. Of chapter six, back to Jericho. The city shall be under the ban. It And all that is in it.
Belongs to to the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But as for you, Meaning, Joshua, you and your troops. Only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them. And take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.
But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord. It means set apart to Him. They shall go into the treasury of the Lord. That's the warning. Everything living was to have been put to death.
Everything valuable was to have been taken and put in the treasury of the Lord. No soldier was to help himself to any of the spoils of victory. All of it was set apart to the Lord. It's the same thing as receiving an offering in a church. The pastor at 10:30 on Sunday night doesn't go back to the treasury and take out the part he wants.
and then turns the rest over to the deposit for the bank. All that is received is set apart to the Lord. All of it is to be protected and guarded and maintained for God's glory and for God's work. He doesn't have the privilege of slipping his hand into the treasury and taking what he wishes. It's the same thing in a battle at Jericho.
So right here, though Joshua had done nothing wrong, In fact, only one soldier in the whole Of the army of Israel had done something wrong, but the entire nation had suffered defeat. That's what it means when we refer to sin being in the camp. There was defeat by association. J. Sidlow Baxter in his Great.
Books on a survey of the whole Bible writes this: the electric wire of fellowship. between God and Israel had been cut. And the current of power, therefore, ceased to flow. That's the way it is. That's the way it is when there is sin in the camp.
This is a good time to return to Joshua 7 again and to put ourselves in the sandals of the man who is in charge. It's one of the most confusing parts of all the experience of leadership. It's that something doesn't make sense. and you can't understand why. You can't put together the the uh results of that which has occurred comparing it to the preparation.
Having endured horrible times like that, as many of us have. We can only recall the uh The difficulties. of trying to work through it. I call it madness. Madness.
Later, when years have passed and you're able to look back on those events, a lot of the things are clear. Hindsight, you know, it's the old story, it has 20-20 vision. You look back and you see it clearly. But at the time, you are pulling your hair out. wondering what occurred because it was done in secret.
Some Bible characters rise above others as quiet heroes. Others, like Aiken, teach us painful lessons about keeping secrets. Juxmundahl titled today's message Aiken, the man whose sin brought calamity. Hold your place right here because there's much more to Aiken's story that Chuck wants to show us. Insight for Living has chosen to feature this teaching series because it introduces us to lesser-known Bible characters whose stories can teach us profound lessons about life.
Some are heroes, others, like Achin, are casualties of their own making. Chuck has a remarkable ability to resurrect these forgotten lives from a verse or two of scripture. Suddenly, you're not reading about ancient history. You're sitting across from someone who knows what it's like to doubt, to be overlooked, and to navigate the struggles we still face today. Fascinating stories of forgotten lives brings these encounters to life.
And whether you're starting your morning with one of these stories, or your small group is hungry for something deeper than surface-level discussion. The Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook will guide you. You can purchase a copy today at insight.org/slash offer. Or ask for it and the other resources related to this study when you call us at 800-772-8888. You may not realize this, but for more than 45 years, Insight for Living has never been funded by advertisers, corporate sponsors, or money from a denomination.
From day one, this ministry has stood or fallen on one thing alone. the generosity of listeners like you who value what they hear. And among those supporters, none are more vital than our monthly companions. Men and women who believe that Chuck's Bible teaching matters enough to support it each month. If Chuck's teaching has helped you navigate a difficult season or understand scripture in a whole new way, We invite you to become a monthly companion.
Your dependable support is what allows us to keep this Bible teaching coming. day after day, year after year. Call 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/slash monthly companion. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl tells the story about one man's secret sin and the devastating consequences.
Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Achan, the man whose sin brought calamity, was copyrighted in 1990, 1992, 2006, 2012, and 2024. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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