It’s dangerous to presume on the Lord. He doesn’t like being taken for granted any more than we do.
It doesn’t sound good when a chapter begins with “But.” “But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan…of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel” (Jos 7:1). This is fascinating. As the story is being told in real time, we, the readers, know something that Joshua and a few million others in Israel don’t know—a deep, dark secret. Like a time-bomb waiting to explode, strapped to the underbelly of the Israeli army, they have no idea they’re walking into a trap. It seems Achan (red flag: his name means “trouble”) saw some things in Jericho that he didn’t want to burn. So instead “the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.” There’s a bad exchange! Next stop is Ai, a very strategic place. The Ridge Road traverses the whole land from south to north through the mountain spine. Bethel and Ai stand like sentinels on either side of this crucial route in the center of Canaan, in what became known as the hill country of Samaria. If you control these cities, you effectively cut the country in half. Good objective but bad execution! The Israelites made four serious mistakes. Since they were now war vets (well, they did see Jericho fall), as was true later, “they did not ask counsel of the Lord” (9:14). They also underestimated the enemy: “Do not let all the people go up…for the people of Ai are few” (7:3). Thus, contrary to God’s command, the people were divided. But to top it off, there was unjudged sin in the camp. These are almost always the causes of failure in the Church today. Once again, it will have to be God to the rescue. But when it comes to the devil’s trapline, it’s far better to stay out than get out.