Beginning with Joshua 6 we find the Children of Israel handily defeating the heavily fortified city of Jericho by God’s miraculous destruction of the city’s wall–a monumental blessing in the eyes of the people. Following this they came to the tiny village of Ai. After defeating mighty Jericho, this battle would be easy. Ai defeated the Israelites, killing a number of them. How did this happen? Was not God surely with them? Had He not blessed and kept them for the previous 40 years? It is true that Israel had been blessed by God. But there was sin in the camp in the person of Achan, whose greed and disobedience had caused God to curse His people with a humiliating defeat. The greatly blessed but secret sinner was later identified, stoned, burned and his corpse covered with stones. God may bless for many years while sin runs rampant within the individual or organization. All the while they “… treasure (store) up wrath … against (for) the day of wrath” (Rom. 2:5).

God tells us that the sins of some people are laid bare, revealed by His curses on their present lives. The  sins of others will remain hidden until Judgment Day (1 Tim. 5:24). Those in the latter group go through life without a hitch, everything falling into place for them though they live for Satan. In many cases they openly flaunt their sins for all the world to see. Many are uber-successful in a variety of economic and professional venues. Fame and fortune seems to overtake them; their homes cost in the millions; their cars are beyond the hope of most people. Others have globe-encircling ministries where miracles flow and church growth is continuous. They are hailed as God’s messengers of the highest order by other leaders and laity alike. By choosing to believe and minister the words of man rather than His Words, they make themselves God’s enemies. Having built their spiritual house (lives) on a foundation of sand, the house (heathen religion) they and their followers have built will fall, and “great will be the fall of it” (Mat. 7:24-27). Their fall will be public and horrifying because they falsely claimed to represent God.

In 1 Samuel 13 we find King Saul leading Israel to victory after victory. God’s blessings were obviously falling on His people. But behind Saul’s obedient facade lay a spirit of rebellion. Ignoring Samuel’s command following a military victory, Saul disobeyed God by offering a sacrifice that only Samuel could rightly offer. In spite of a life filled with blessings, Israel’s first human king suffered an horrendous end. This greatly blessed man was killed on the field of battle along with his two sons. Their bodies were then nailed to a city wall, his family stripped of its kingly inheritance.

Another greatly blessed man was Eli, God’s high priest. For many years he seemed to be living a charmed life, continually leading Israel to spiritual, social, economic and military success. But there was a problem. Over the years he had failed to reign in his evil sons who were also priests. After many years God’s blessings suddenly ended, bringing about unheard-of tragedy into Eli’s life in the form of defeat at the hands of the Philistines, the loss of the Ark of the Testimony, the deaths of his two sons, and his own death–all on the same day (1 Samuel).

In 2 Samuel we find the story of David, King of Israel–“a man after God’s own heart.” Once ensconced as king over a united Israel, David could do no wrong. His kingship was golden. Success followed success–the nation prospered in every respect. But David had a problem which was brought out by his relationship with another man’s wife. Adultery was followed by deception, which was followed by the murder of an innocent man–yet nothing happened. Success continued to follow success. David undoubtedly began to believe that God was pleased with his actions–God was seeing things David’s way. Then the prophet Nathan arrived, pointed a finger at David and pronounced his doom. David’s sins cost not only himself, but  also the nation of Israel. As the old song goes: “You can run on for a long time, but be sure, God almighty is going to cut you down.” Some seem to get away with sinning their entire lives. However, as God tells us, they will one day feel His wrath (1 Tim. 5:24). To be continued. L.J.