“But the people of Israel broke faith regarding the devoted things, for Achan. . . took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.” Joshua 7:1

Often, our greatest failures come on the heels of our greatest victories. Such was the case for Joshua and the Hebrew people.

Joshua assumed leadership in a dramatic way. He led the Hebrews across the Jordan River like Moses and the Red Sea forty years earlier. He followed God’s orders and miraculously conquered the fortified city of Jericho. Next was a small fortified community of Ai. General opinion was that only a small contingency of soldiers would be needed. However, the Hebrews experience a debilitating defeat.

One especially defeated in Joshua, their leader. He began to doubt God’s plan. He forgot God’s promises. It seems he blamed God for the defeat. Joshua was concerned about the reputation of the people and his leadership. This defeat was more than a physical, it was spiritually and emotionally deflating as well.

God made it clear, the defeat was the fault of Israel. One man of all the Hebrews ignored the orders to take no spoils for himself. Anything taken was to go in the treasury for the Lord.

One might ask, “Why did God hold everyone accountable for the sin of one?” The reason is that the Hebrew people were one in their dedication to be God’s chosen ones. They were to be holy and unique in the world. They were to represent God. Any defilement defiles the entire camp and its reputation to the world.

This concept continues in the New Testament and the church of today. Twice, Paul writes the church in Corinth on this matter. In 1 Corinthians 5:6, Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” Again, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

One reason all of Israel had to deal with the sin is that everyone needed to examine their heart. All of us have the potential to forsake, disappoint, and hurt others by our choices. Everyone needs to live with the awareness that God sees, and others are affected by our sin.

Let us clean up our act and dedicate ourselves to God’s leadership that we may be a contributor to the next victory, not the next defeat.

Dr. John Temple is chaplain of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office. From the Shepherd’s Heart is published Fridays in The Meridian Star.