When you are defeated in spiritual battle there is always a reason. In the story of the battle of Ai recorded in the Bible, Israel was soundly defeated. There were four reasons for their failure which are common in the defeats we experience. The first is:
(1) Violating the principles of God results in defeat.
God told Israel not to take any of the spoils from the battle at Jericho. They were to be dedicated to the Lord as they were the "first-fruits" of battle in Canaan:
Joshua 6:18, 19 "And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord."
On any other occasion Israel was allowed to keep the spoils of war, but in this first battle at Jericho the spoils were to be dedicated to the Lord. Sometimes, what was okay previously or may be accepted as tradition is wrong. There is no need to seek counseling or prayer for guidance about something that God explicitly has forbidden. If God says it is wrong, it is wrong.
Joshua 7:1 shares how, despite the warning by God, a man named Achan took the "accursed thing.” Achan's temptation followed the same pattern as that of Eve in Genesis chapter 3. He "saw, desired, and took” what had been forbidden. When he finally admitted his sin he said:
Joshua 7:21 "When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it."
Sin always begins in the mind. The attitude of sin precedes the act. Achan thought, "Who will see? Who will know?" He saw only the immediate pleasure these things would bring and not the terrible long-term effects of his actions. If Achan had looked with eyes of faith instead of eyes of lust, he would have seen these items as accursed. Instead, he viewed them with only his natural senses.
Your spiritual enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. These work together to tempt you by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If you look on temptation with eyes of faith instead of eyes of lust, you will see that which is forbidden as an accursed thing. Ask yourself-is there any accursed thing hidden in the tent of my life?
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