Exposed to be Restored | Joshua 7:16-26 | Pastor Haron Kaisa

Well, good evening family. How you guys doing tonight? Everybody good?

Give me your thumbs up if you're doing good. God

is good, Life is good. Amen. Amen. Well, we're so

glad that you're here for our fresh Start service. Before

we begin, I had someone approach me Sunday service and

they donated five Joshua Journal books. So if you don't

have one, the first five to come up here can

get one. So you can just run up here and

grab it. The first five go ahead. These a lot

of people. Okay, two, don't worry, we'll have some more

next week. Okay, sorry, Well, we're continuing our series in

the Book of Joshua. We are in chapter seven. We

have a lot of chapters to go, but we're kind

of midway into the year. It's the month of May.

But before we begin, I definitely want to just give

a big shout out to Pastor Adam and Pastor Ashley

their vision and leadership. Can we just give them a

round of applause? Were just what they're doing in the

life of this church. They're taking us to the next

thirty forty fifty years. Before before we begin, I want

to just say a quick pray and would jump right

into the text. Sound good. Let's pray, Father God, thank

you for who you are. I pray that you would

challenge us with your word. I pray that you would

reveal yourself with your word. I pray that you would

sanctify us with your word. May these words not just

be words, but may it lead to change. In Jesus's name,

we pray in God's people say amen and Amen. I

don't know about you, but have you ever been in

a place where everything seems to be falling into place perfectly,

but then suddenly it falls apart, like a promotion that

slips away, or maybe a relationship that you thought was

unbreakable now is falling apart. Or maybe a dream you've

had and now it's vanished. Or maybe you were strong

at one point, you were healthy, but one diagnosis changed everything,

and it leads you at a moment in space and

you start asking God, what just happened? I thought I

was moving forward? What just happened? How did I end

up here? That's exactly where Israel finds itself in chapter

seven of Joshua. They just conquered Jericho in the miraculous fashion.

The walls come crumbling down with the sound of a trumpet.

They just won. Victory was theirs, and the promised land

is in hindsight. They can almost reach the promised land.

But then came the Battle of I. Everyone say I.

Thirty six men died, and now hope gives way to confusion,

and now the search begins early in the morning, josh

Yeshua arises. It's interesting to know when you see in

the Book of Joshua, God often talks to his prophets

in the morning because something big is going to happen.

And so the people gather their tents. It's silent knowing

that something hidden has brought this disaster upon them. One

by one, tribes are called forward. This is the part

of the story where the secrets come into light. The

quiet rebellion of one man, Aiken, has now put the

entire nation at risk. What was buried in this tent

will soon be uncovered before everyone. And so that kind

of leaves us with this question for tonight, and I

want to challenge us, is this what happens when what

we hide gets exposed? What happens if the very thing

you've been buried deep, your struggles, your compromises, your secrets,

are the things that are keeping you from moving forward.

Maybe the reason why you're stuck is you haven't confessed

some things. You haven't brought to light some things that

are hidden. As we step into Joshua chapter seven, verse

sixteen and twenty six, we're not just reading about a

man or a moment in history. We're reading about a

truth that is confronting you and me today. And that

truth is this God will bring into light not to

destroy us, but to restore us, not to condemn us,

but to heal us, not to shame us, but to

redeem us. You know, this passage in Joshua chapter seven,

verse sixteen or twenty six is probably one of the

top ten hardest passages to preach on. It's not one

of those passages that's gonna motivate you, give a good

fresh start for Wednesday. It's gonna be one of those

sermons that's gonna challenge you, convict you, help you seek

what's happening inside. But before we move forward, I want

you to think about this, and I want you to

write this down. What might God want to uncover in

your life tonight so that you can finally step into

this promise. What are some things that God needs to

uncover in your life tonight in order for you to

walk in the promise of God, in order for you

to walk into the purpose of God, in order for

you to walk into the plan of God. Let's all

stand for the reading of God's word. We are in

Joshua chapter seven, verse sixteen to twenty six. We're reading

ten verses, and it says here, so Joshua rose early

in the morning, brought Israel near tribe by tribe, But

the tribe of Judah was taken verse seventeen. And he

brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of

the Xeraphytes was taken. And he brought near the klan

of the Zaraites man by man, and Zabdi was taken.

He brought near his household man by man, and Aichin,

the son of Karmai, son of Zabdi, the son of Zarah,

of the trial with Judah, was taken. Then Joshua said

to Aichen, my son, give glory to the God of Israel,

and give praise to him, And tell me now what

you have done. Do not hide from me. And Aichan

answered Joshua, truly I have sinned against the Lord God

of Israel. And this is what I did. When I

saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shannar, two

hundred shekels of silver, a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels.

Then I coveted them and took them. And see they

are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with my

silver underneath Verse twenty two. So Joshua set messengers, and

they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hidden

in this tent, with the silver underneath. And they took

them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua

and to all of the people of Israel. And down

before the Lord, and Joshua and all Israel with him

took Achan, the son of Zarah, and the silver and

the cloak, and the bar of gold, and his sons

and daughters, and his oxen and donkeys and sheep, and

his tent and all that he had. And they brought

them up to the valley of the Core. And Joshua said,

why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings

trouble on you today. And all Israel stoned him with stones.

They burned him with fire and stoned in with stones,

and they raised over him a great heap of stones

that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from

his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of

that place is called the Valley of the Core. You

may be seated. You'll notice in the beginning chapter of

Joshua seven we kind of need to remember this is

kind of a of a break that is purely structural

when you read the Old Testament, when you see all

these chapters, what's happening is there's a flow that's taking place.

It's not chapter six break chapter seven. Well, you notice

here is that you step into the flow of what's happened.

What's happening directly from chapter six, the triumph from victory

in Jericho. Then we jump into chapter seven and notice

what happened in chapter six. There's faith, there's obedience, there's

there's the miraculous sign of God and the glory of God.

But then chapter seven comes and ends it. And so

you see this dramatic change between chapter six and chapter seven.

You go from sorrow, you go from celebration to sorrow,

you go from from good to bad, you go from

hidden sin, broken covenant, and disobedience until now, at at

this point this new generation of Israelites had been faithful,

unlike their previous generation or their parents. They actually followed God.

They heard his call, they followed his leadership. They were

in the land, They were in the will of God,

going to the promised Land. They were walking in victory.

But what we see in chapter seven is very sobering.

Even when you're standing in the promise, even when you

are in the center of God's will, sin is still

possible and brokenness is real. And that's what we see here.

Things can fall apart, not because God changes, but because

you and I change. That's what happens. This chapter shows

us that rebellion is not just an Old Testament thing,

it's actually a human thing. If you read throughout the

Old Testament, you'll notice that it takes place from Genesis

all the way to this point in Joshua. Notice in

Exodus it says Exodus the bitter water at Marrow, Exodus sixteen,

Hunger and the Wilderness seventeen, lack of water, and Referendum

thirty two, the worship of the Golden Calf. You also

see this rebellion in the Book of Numbers Numbers twelve

Mariam and Aaron opposed Moses numbers thirteen. Rebellion after the

Spies report numbers fifteen violation of the Sabbath number sixteen,

the choral rebellion numbers twenty five, idolatry, and a Moraley

with Moab. It goes to show you in me that

it doesn't matter what generation you're from, the Great Generation

gen Xus, Millennials, gen Z, gen Alpha. This is a

sickness that every generation deals with sin. It's not about

a generation failing. It's about a condition that every generation

will face. And that condition is this, we have the

temptation to hide what God wants to bring to light,

and we need to bring it to God. If you're

taking notes, I title tonight's message Exposed to be Restored,

and here's three points I want you guys to write down.

Point number one is this. We'll see the discovery in

verses sixteen to eighteen. We'll see the discussion in verses

nineteen to twenty one, and then we'll see the destruction

in verses twenty two to twenty six. Notice the discovery

in verses sixteen to eighteen. Notice the text verse sixteen.

What does it say, so Joshua rose early in the

morning and brought Israel tribe by tribe. It's very important

to note that what's happening here, what's happening here is

the process is very slow, and this process is very intentional.

Achin had time to step forward, but he didn't. We're

talking about tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family,

man by man. Aichn had every opportunity. I want you

to imagine for a second, thousands of people tribe by tribe,

clan by clan, family by family, man by man, Yet

Achin did not repent. Why so slow to give time

for confession. We're going to park here for just a

second because I think it's important for us to note

that confession is one of the most under emphasized aspects

of Christian discipleship. We talk about salvation, we talk about hope,

we talk about love, we talk about all these things.

But I believe if confession is one of the most

prominent things that would happen in this generation, we will

see more revival. We need to confess more. And there's

a difference between confession and conviction. You see, conviction is eternal.

It's that urge that you know what you're doing is

wrong and yet you still do it. Confession is what

you see here in the text. Confession is not just

saying I'm sorry, it's actually going before God, knowing that

the sin that you've just done before a holy God,

and you're repenting. It's an agreement with God that you

know you did wrong. So acheing here remains silent, no repentance,

no remorse. Here's what Saint Augustine says. Saint Augustine says this,

the confession of evil works is the beginning of good works.

What does he mean there? If we acknowledge our sin

before God, it leads to the beginning of transformation. It

leads to the beginning of restoration. It leads to the

beginning of being redeemed and living that life fully for God.

I believe if we reclaim the power of confession, it

will leads to a pathway of more freedom. If we

confess our sins before God, he is just to forgive us.

Conviction happens eternally. Conviction without confession leads to silence and

eventually leads to a hard heart. We see that in

the story of Pharaoh. Many examples notice how specific and

deliberate this process was. In verse sixteen, all the way

to eighteen. This wasn't just a them draw or a

guessing game. This was very strategic. This was intentional by God.

This was slow, This was narrowing down. God didn't rush

this experience. God didn't rush this exposure. He allowed the

spotlight to move slowly, inch by inch, tried by tribe,

clan by clan, family by family, man by man. He

allowed that to happen. Why did God do it that way?

Why did he just say a can you the one

that's saying come on? Why? Because in every step there

was an opportunity for confession. And so God here you

see that at the tribe level, Achin still didn't step forward.

When Judah was selected, he still didn't raise his hand.

When it narrowed down to the xerophytes, he had another

chance confess. When it came down to his own family.

Sin will affect you and those around you, he remained silent.

And the consequences of that we will see that later.

But of the destruction, I don't know if you see it.

This is a picture of the Gospel. This is divine grace,

God's riches at Christ's expense, that God himself, he who

knew no sin became sin for us, for God demonstrated

his love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. That's the gospel, that God would

die of death that you and I deserve. He's graceful,

he's merciful. This exposure that we see in this story

is a mirror to how God deals with our hidden sins,

sins we've been hiding from God, or sins we sweep

under the rug. We call those respectable sin. I didn't

kill nobody, but you might have flipped them off when

you drove down the freeway. You might have said some

angry words to your wife. Sin is sin. If we

don't respond, the exposure will continue. So God is saying

that agan, it's the mercy of God that gives us

time to repent. Look at Proverbs twenty eight thirteen. It

says this, he who covers his sin will not prosper,

will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them will

have mercy. God's heart is always merciful. Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy. God is a gracious and

merciful father. He gives you a second chance. A third chance,

a fifth chance, a thousand chance, one hundred million chance,

chance after chance after chance. He's not eager to expose

your shame. He's not eager to expose what's been hidden.

He's not eager to expose for the sake of just

doing it. He's eager to expose for the sake of redemption.

But when we cling to the hidden things, we force

Scott's hand. Aiken had a chance. He had many chances.

So we see in this text in verse sixteen or eighteen,

the discovery jump into verse nineteen to twenty one. Will

notice the discussion. Notice the keywords that were highlighted here.

And I want us to look at that in verse

twenty one, if you can put it on the screen,

I want us to see that Aikin's confession here is

not just a glimpse into his own heart. It's actually

a glimpse to our own heart. It's the revelation of

how sin progresses over time. You see, the gateway to

temptation is often seen by four things. I saw, I coveted,

I took, and I hid. I saw I coveted it,

I took, and I hid, I saw I covet it,

I took and I hid. Aikan's response with four verbs

you see here maps out the journey of sin. This

isn't just a confession. It's a blueprint of how sin

can grow, how sin often takes root in our lives.

Notice the first one I saw. That is the entry

point of temptation. Guys know that, right. And the word

saw here in the Hebrew is like if you were

to stand at it, if you were if you're at

a bus stop. You ever been at a bus stop?

You stick your neck out the bus coming right? Hold on,

let me see you. That's the same verb. It's not

just a one time thing. It's you keep looking for

the bus right. One look is fine, Fellas doing this

again and again is not fine. I saw the first

step of ache, and sin was through his eyes, through

his eyes, and in that moment the seed of temptation

was planted. This isn't unique to ache and it's it's

actually a temptation you see throughout scripture. Consider Eve in

Genesis three six. When the woman saw, she saw that

the tree was good for that the tree was good

for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable

for gaining wisdom. She took and ate. Consider David, my man,

just hanging at the rooftop and joined his kingdom, chilling,

and he sees a naked girl taking a shower by

the name of Bathsheba. He saw her that took root,

that look turned into the desire, and that desire let

to action. Even saw the fruit before she reached for it.

David saw Bathsheba before he sent for her. Achin saw

the treasures before he ever reached out to take him.

He saw the cloth, he saw the silver, He saw

the gold, which leads us to our next point. I saw,

but I coveted, But I love. I love what Jesus,

before we go into this, say this is what Jesus

said in Matthew six twenty two. He says, the eye

is a lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,

your whole body will be full of light. But if

your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full

of darkness. In other words, whatever you allow your eyes

to see will grow that temptation. And so don't guard

your heart. Guard them eyes, because them eyes lead to

your heart. What affects your eyes affects your heart. What

affects your heart affects your behavior. And you wonder why

you act. Why you act, It's because you've allowed some

things for you to see. The eyes are the gateway

to the desire that's being stirred in your life. So

you got to protect those eyes. Guard those eyes are coveted.

The desire takes root after seeing the bidden treasure, the

silver of the gold. The shannar Achin didn't just walked away.

He coveted them. I don't want that. You ever go

windows shopping before. Next thing you know, you're in the store.

Next thing you know, you're trying on the shoe. You

got a slice ten and a half. Next you know, no,

we don't all can you can you find another story

that has it right? You start, you start coveting. That

coveting is when your mind starts to rationalize what your

eyes just see, and you want it, and you want

it more and more. It's the moment when we convince

ourselves that we deserve it, we need it. Nobody will know.

I'm here to tell you family. God knows, God sees,

God hears, He's all everywhere, all present, He knows. Well.

Begin as a glance became a desire, and that desire

turned into a plant. So here's a aes sees the gold,

covets the gold. Then it says, I took. That's the

act of sin. It wasn't enough for aching just to see,

just to cove it. He acted on it. He acted

on it. He reached out and took what was forbidden.

This is where sin becomes so so real. It's no

longer just a thought or feeling. It's action now. And

we see here that the progression starts from sight that

leads to desire. Desire leads to action. This is how

sin works. A glance turns into a thought, A thought

turns into a craving. A craving leads to a choice.

I saw, I covet it, I took. Here's the fourth

thing I hid. Here's the attempt to conceal, to hide

what God already knew. This is the final step of

Aiken's confession, was hiding what he had taken. This was

the final act of sin, concealment. It's a process, and

that process is see, cover, take, hide. This is the

same pattern we find throughout scripture. Even in James Chapter one,

verse fourteen to fifteen. It echoes this truth. Write this

down or noted highlighted. It says each person is tempted

when they are drived away by their selfish desires and enticed.

Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin,

and when sin is full grown, gives birth to death.

Not just a spiritual death in the case of this story,

it was a physical death. If the process begins with

the eyes, then the first line of defense should be

be careful what you allow your eyes to see. What

you allow yourself to see, gives you the power to

influence you in a way that you know you shouldn't

be influenced. If you want to change your outcome of

your life, change what you watch, change what you see,

change what you allow your mind to think about. This

is one of my life verses, Job thirty one, verse one,

and he says this, I have made a covenant with

my eyes that I may not sin against you God.

Make that covenant with God. God. I want to make

a covenant tonight to honor, to give you glory, to

walk in a manner worthy. I need to protect my eyes.

We have the discovery, we have the discussion, and here's

the disc instruction those verse twenty two to twenty six.

This is the cost of covering sin and the cost

is always greater. The cost of covering sin is always

greater than the cost of confessing sin. If you look

at verse twenty four and twenty five, it says this,

and Joshua and all Israel with him took aching the

son of the Czar, and the silver and the cloak

and the bar of gold, and they brought him up

to the valley of the Core. And Joshua said, why

did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble

on you today? And all Israel stoning them with stones.

They burned in with fire and stone in with stone.

That's a harsh outcome. When I read that, I'm like, Yo,

why did you have to kill it, kill the animals?

Why did you have to burn what was in his house?

Everything in his house was burned, maybe not stone, but

burned his family, his livestock, his belongings, everything was burned.

Why so serious, God? Because God was establishing the seriousness

of sin early in Israel's history. God, don't play with sin.

You see it in this story. When we read this passage,

it is very clear that the cost of sin is

always greater than the cost of confessing it. So just

confess it. Y'all just say I'm sorry, God, I'm messed up.

There's some things that are that are hiding in my life,

or some struggles, some compromises. I'm gonna just give it

to you, God. I need to stop hiding and give

it to you God. The gravity of sin is highlighted

in the destruction that follows aching, his family, his lifestock,

his tent. They were all taken to this valley called

a core. If you look at the Hebrew, that word

means the valley of trouble, the value of trouble. It's

easy to read this and feel the weight of judgment,

but we got to understand the reason behind it. God

was establishing the seriousness of sin in the camp of Israel.

This was not just a one man's mistake. It was

a message to the whole entire nation that if you're

going to follow God, you gotta follow god ways, God's laws,

God's rules, God's playbook. That sin had consequences that rippled

far beyond his reach. It affected everything, and we see

that sin can contaminate what's around you. Sin affects those

around you. It's like a virus. And here's a sobering truth.

Sin rarely stays contained. You can hide it only as

much as you can. Sooner or later, God will bring

everything to light. He wants to expose you, not to

shame you, but to restore you. And that's the beauty

about this story. God's judgment on Aching and his household

was a declaration that hidden sin brings devastation, not just

for one who commits it, but for all who's connected

to it. And so, if there's anything you're hiding tonight,

your family, any sin, any struggle, any secrets, and he

compromises something buried underneath the surface, shame, guilt, something you

try to keep out of sight. I want you to

hear this. God's not going to expose you to embarrass you.

That's not how God works. Proposes you to redeem you,

and he wants to do that tonight. I love what

Pastor Joe did last week. He said, come to the

altar and pray, and I think you can do that

in your own heart. Between you and God, he brings

to light, not to destroy us, but to deliver us.

Mercy is waiting on the other side of confession, and

what we hide God will eventually reveal. He can't hide

long He's like playing hide and seek. When I play

hide and stek with my daughter, sometimes I see their

feet sticking out. I know where they're at, but I

just choose not to be like, Okay, let me just

keep walking. Where you at, Cailini, where you at alna.

Aikin's choice to conceal what was forbidden led to his destruction.

But I love this because it shows us the Gospel

of God that the valley of Core did not remain

a place of judgment. If you read centuries later in

Hoseiah chapter two, verse fifteen, I'm crying because God is merciful.

I will give her vineyards from there and the valley

of a Core as a door of hope we see

in this story. Think about it for a moment. This

is the very place that was marked by destruction, marked

by judgment, marked by sin. The valley of a Core

was marked by sin, where stones were piled up to

memorialize the disobedience. But God himself promises to turn that

into a door of hope for you and I tonight,

that there is hope for us. That God is still merciful,

that God is still just, that God is still faithful,

that God is still trustworthy, that God is who he

says he is. That in God's economy, the place of

your deepest failure can become the place of your greatest

redemption if you confess your sins to God, from judgment

and destruction to redemption and restoration. That's the story we

read here, Joshua seven exposed to be restored. There's a

lot of restoration and reconciliation. We need to go back

to God. And so I want to invite you to

bring it before God, and this alter can be your

door of hope. That you come before this alter and

say God, I'm sorry for the way of an acting God.

I'm sorry for hiding the sins. God. I'm sorry for

what I did last week or last year, or yes

yesterday or this morning. Whatever is hidden, whatever is weighing

you down tonight, whatever you've been afraid to confess. God

is not waiting to condemn. God is waiting to restore.

God is waiting to restore. Don't let that what you've

been buried bury you. His mercy is deeper still. Amen.

Let's pray Father God. We thank you, we honor you,

we love you in Jesus name. We pray God's people,

say I don't want to leave the space without sharing

the most important news. We talked about hope. There are

three different kinds of hope when you read the Bible.

There's worldly hope, which is a subjective feeling. I hope

I'm not late for work. I hope this light turns

green so I can go to work or whatever. It's subjective,

it's based on circumstance. Then there's this second hope, and

that hope is waiting hope. There it's more objective, there's

an expectation that happens. But then there's a third hope

that I want us all to know about, and that

is called word hope. And that word hope has a name,

and this name is Jesus. Just like we talked about

this hope. The door of hope Jesus is that hope

Jesus is the way truth in life. No one comes

to the Father but through Jesus. And so if you

don't know this, Jesus, if you were to leave this building,

and if you to die, how do you know in

your heart that you will go to heaven or hell?

Do you know in your in your hearts of hearts

that you know for sure that that heaven is your home.

And I mean to tell you that there is a way,

and that way is through Jesus. There's one way to heaven,

but a million ways to hell. And that one way

to heaven is through the door of Hope. And that

and that door has a name, That Hope has a name,

and his name is Jesus. I want to give this

opportunity for those who don't know Jesus for the first time.

The Bible says in Romans verse ten and ninety ten,

it says, if you confess or confessed, if you confess

that Jesus is Lord and turn from your sins, then

you will be saved. Notice it doesn't say if you

go to church. Notice what it doesn't say if you

read your Bible. We've got a lot of professing Christians

that just they know the Word of God, but they

don't know the God of the Word. Know. It's what

doesn't say if you serve, come to church. You're on

an a choir team, on the dream team. It says, if

you confess that Jesus Lord, then you will be saved.

Will my parents go to church? That's your parents faith?

What about you? Do you want to know this Jesus

It takes a confession of faith, but also a turning

away from sin and turning to Jesus. If you do

I know this, Jesus, come out there. I want you

to raise your hand. One, two, three, raise your hand.

See some hands here? Can we just give them a

round a flaw? Some hands here something? Praise God if

you if you raise your hand, the prayer doesn't save you,

but your heart pasture do if if anyone want to

join in that prayer, you can and to buy your head,

close eyes. I want you to repeat after me and say, Lord,

thank you for this opportunity to confess my sin. I

pray that you give me the courage to bring hidden

things to light, to confess what's been concealed, and to

trust in your mercy. May this moment of the valley

of a core becomes a door of hope. May we

lay it down, May we bring it before you, redeem, restore,

renew in Jesus name. Amen? Amen, Can we just give

around applause for those who made a decision to follow Jesus.

Well if you if you want to download this free

resource to pull your phone out or take take a

take a screenshot of that. Go to growth out faith

and you'll get a free resource to take the next

steps to following Jesus. And we highly encourage you to

find community, continue to come to church and build your faith. Amen,

let's all go ahead and dismiss by praying. So Father God,

we just want to say thank you for who you are.

Thank you for being the example that we can follow.

I pray that you've convicted us in the way that

we need to reveal some things. And I pray that

as we go home, may the words not just be words.

May it made this information not come from my left

ear to my right ear, but may it transform me

inside out to live. Or You be with our congregation

this week, give them the boldness, the wisdom, the knowledge,

to strength, the courage, the hope that they can find

in you. In Jesus name, we pray, and God's people say, hey, man,

if you need additional prayers, our prayer team will be

up for you. God blessed. We'll see you guys Sunday

or Saturday