Secret Things Will Be Made Known

Synopsis     Joshua 7:14-23     4/20/2018

Joshua organized the tribes of Israel. He explained a process by which God would show where, within the tribes, was the offense against God – so that it could be removed.

The process involved choosing from amongst the tribal leaders to identify which tribe was harboring the offense. Presumably using the Urim and Thummim, the tribe of Judah was selected. This process went on until Achan was identified as the offender.

Achan confessed to stealing against the ban – meaning he took plunder that had been banned. His story was verified. Messengers were sent who discovered the illegal plunder and the evidence brought before the Lord.

Secret Things Will Be Made Known

There is the knowledge that nothing is hidden from God. And there is the experience that nothing is hidden from God. They are not the same.

You Are the Man

It’s a lofty platitude that I say, “God is all-knowing”. There is nothing He does not know. In fact, a person could go so far as to say that the reason something is knowable is because it is first known by God.

And this is true.

But it is another thing to feel exposed and vulnerable because He knows everything. It’s the sudden realization that nothing of my heart has ever been hidden from God.

In that moment I want to be like Adam – who hid himself from God. Or, I want to be like David, who suppressed the guilt and shame of his sin, persuading himself that his sins did not really matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Sometimes people say that religion – especially the universal tradition – is all about the imposition of guilt and shame. But a little experience suggests that there’s plenty of both stored up in each human heart.

The real question is: am I willing to deal with this openly until my darkness is resolved? Or, will I pretend there is no darkness and live a life ever afraid of the light.

“Against you, you alone have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your eyes” Psalms 51:6