SESSION 4 MOVE BEYOND FAILURE The Point Leaders learn from their failures and move on. The Bible Meets Life The man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time didn t make the varsity team when he first tried out; yet Michael Jordan didn t let that stop him. But what about when failure is more than just a missed basket or an error in judgment? What about when we fail spiritually? The failures we see in the Bible pictures of sin against God teach us more than just to be strong or get back on our feet when we fall. We can t simply correct those kinds of failures; only God can remove our sin. In the Book of Joshua, God calls us to confront our sin, deal with it, and move forward. The Passage Joshua 7:13-15,19-21,25-26; 8:1 40 SESSION 4
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Joshua 7:13-15,19-21,25-26; 8:1 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you. 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel. 13 Then Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me. 20 And Achan answered Joshua, Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath. 19 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 them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 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 Achor. 25 The Setting The people of Israel experienced a remarkable and glorious victory over Jericho in their first battle for the promised land. As exhilarating and reassuring as that first victory was, their next encounter was just as deflating and disconcerting. Sin in the camp of Israel in the form of disobedience at Jericho led to a humiliating defeat at Ai. And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 1 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 41
ENGAGE (15 MINUTES) GET INTO THE STUDY ENGAGE: Begin the session with one or more of the Engage Options on the next page. (This is optional. If you d rather skip the Engage Options, just begin with the first discussion question.) SAY: Being people who influence others doesn t mean we never make mistakes. From time to time we will all have to confront failure. And when we do, God forgives and calls us to learn from our mistakes and move forward. Once we ve faced our failure, God plans to use us again. DISCUSS: Ask students the question, When have you regretted not following the instructions? GUIDE: Call attention to The Point. Explain that this is the key idea to keep in mind throughout the session. 5 Leader Pack: Use the Leaders Learn from Failure poster to help foster discussion about the session s Point. THE POINT ITEM Leaders learn from their failures and move on. READ: Read and summarize The Bible Meets Life for your group. The man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time didn t make the varsity team when he first tried out; yet Michael Jordan didn t let this setback stop him from playing the game. He has said, I ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan didn t let failure stop him. He let failure push him forward. But what about when failure is more than just a missed basket or an error in judgment? What about when we fail spiritually? The failures we see in the Bible pictures of sin against God teach us more than just to be strong or get back on our feet when we fall. We can t simply correct those kinds of failures; only God can remove our sin. In the Book of Joshua, God calls us to confront our sin, deal with it, and move forward. Sin and failure do not have the final say. PRAY: Transition into the session by praying that students would see the importance of facing their failures so they can learn from them and move on. THE POINT. 42 SESSION 4
Engage Options YY Lead with Action Pass around or display the following items: a light bulb, a small vacuum cleaner, a basketball. Ask if anyone can guess what those items have in common. Say, All of these items represent people who refused to stop at failure. Thomas Edison tried 10,000 times before he successfully invented the light bulb. The inventors of the Dyson bagless vacuum had 5,126 attempts before success. NBA Superstar Michael Jordan didn t make his high school team at first and missed more than 9,000 shots in his career. Failure is often just a stepping stone to success. When we fail, it is how we react and move forward that determines how successful we will be. With our confidence and trust in Christ, we don t have to let failure define us. OPTION: Have students share their funniest fail of all time and talk about how they came back from it. YY Lead with Atmosphere Post the following John F. Kennedy quote in a place where the whole group can see: Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Say, Failure is a part of life. If we ever want to achieve goals or dreams, we must risk failure. The good news is that failure doesn t have to define us. If we find our true identity in Christ, we are free to fail and free to move beyond our shortcomings. YY Lead with Media Search the Internet for a video titled, EPIC FAIL!!!!! PREACHER DOES BACK FLIP IN CHURCH to start a discussion about how we fail to get it right sometimes. Say, It can be easy to let failure get us down or even stop us. But our true character is revealed in how we respond to failure. For all of us, failure is inevitable at some point. Because God is for us and with us, failure doesn t have to be our destiny. OPTION: Set up one chair facing the opposite direction of all the other chairs in your room and make sure someone sits there. Begin teaching and use this to illustrate how one person s actions can distract/affect an entire group. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 43
IMPART (10 MINUTES) STUDY THE BIBLE The Point: Leaders learn from their failures and move on. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you. 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel. 13 JOSHUA 7:13-15 44 SESSION 4 JOSHUA 7:13-15 DISCUSS: Lead students to discuss the question, What happens when we ignore sin and act as if it never happened? GUIDE: Help students understand that if we expect God to guide us, we have to be willing to face our sin and failure. Once Jericho was conquered, Joshua set the people s sights on the town of Ai. The men Joshua sent to scout the area reported that Ai would be an easy conquest because of its size (see 7:3). So Joshua confidently sent some soldiers to conquer the city. To everyone s surprise, they were sent running. Joshua and the other leaders were so devastated they questioned God s plan. The Lord showed Joshua the source of Israel s military failure was one man s sinful rebellion. One man had taken certain items from Jericho when the city was destroyed. God had made it clear that those things were to be destroyed or dedicated to the Lord and placed in the Lord s treasury. Everything that belonged to the people of Jericho represented the sin of the land sin that God didn t want for His people. God s desire was to protect His people from the things that would lead their hearts away from devotion and dependence on Him. SAY: To get to the bottom of the rebellion, the people had to face their sin. Their sin was intentional sin. God warned His people that He would not go with them any further in their journey unless they dealt with this sin (see 7:12). READ: Ask a volunteer to read the following: How do we identify sin and failure? For Joshua, God exposed what was hidden. We can follow Joshua s example and ask God to do the same for us. Ask Him to bring to light your sins, to awaken you to those things that have lulled you to sleep, and to turn your heart from anything that has steered you away from God.
Commentary JOSHUA 7:13-15 Joshua 7:4-12 recounts the story of Israel s defeat at Ai. Though only 36 Israelite soldiers were killed, the most negative consequences were that the Israelites hearts melted and became like water (7:5) and that the Lord withdrew from them until the sin was removed from their camp (see vv. 10-12). The only bright part of the entire Ai episode occurred when Joshua and the elders of Israel sought the Lord s guidance in the wake of the failure (see vv. 6-9). [Verse 13] What did God prescribe to rectify the situation? First, He instructed Joshua to consecrate the people, telling them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow. The Hebrew verb rendered consecrate means to set apart, typically for service to God. The same word, qadesh, can be translated to make holy. Second, God instructed Joshua to proclaim a prophetic word, marked by the introductory formula, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The formula marked the subsequent statement as a direct word from God and therefore projected a sense of authority. The prophetic word consisted of two elements: the specific identification of the sin and the promise of continued failure until the sin was removed. The Lord identified Israel s sin as having things that are set apart among you. Literally, they had cherem (things set apart for destruction) in their midst. The Israelites could not be set apart for God s service so long as items set apart for destruction were in the camp. The second element, the promise of continued failure, was given in terms of not being able to stand against your enemies. The recent defeat at Ai underscored the reality of this element. [Verse 14] Third, God instructed Joshua to have all Israelites present themselves tribe by tribe. The nation of Israel was comprised of twelve tribes. The tribes in turn were comprised of numerous clans, and each clan was comprised of several families. Thus, God instructed Joshua to go through a winnowing process whereby first the tribe, then the clan, then the family, and finally the man or family member guilty of violating the ban would be discovered. The process would have taken a long time long enough for the guilty party to repent! [Verse 15] Fourth, God informed Joshua, The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has. The punishment was intentionally austere and complete. The goal of the punishment was to eradicate completely the infection of sin from the camp of Israel. Ironically, the very things Achan thought would bless him resulted in his losing everything. TIP: Help your students understand that the first step of obedience prepares they to take the next step of obedience. The defeat at Ai drove Joshua and the elders of Israel to fall to the ground with dust on their heads as a sign of contrition and humility as they sought the Lord s guidance (v. 6). Today, godly leaders can humble themselves also in order to identify the reason for failure in any given situation. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 45
IMPART (10 MINUTES) STUDY THE BIBLE The Point: Leaders learn from their failures and move on. Then Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me. 20 And Achan answered Joshua, Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath. 19 JOSHUA 7:19-21 JOSHUA 7:19-21 SAY: God revealed who was responsible for stealing and deceiving others by going tribe by tribe, clan by clan, and family by family. Why didn t God just immediately identify Achan as the one who had sinned? Perhaps because this was more than one man s sin. Only one man took the items, but the sin affected all the Israelites. God wanted each person to examine his or her heart. DISCUSS: Lead students to discuss the question, How does unconfessed sin affect our relationship with God and others? Achan did not step forward voluntarily, but through God s process of elimination, he had no choice but to admit his guilt. Joshua confronted him directly, giving him the opportunity to respond and confess what he had done. Unfortunately, Achan only confessed when he was forced to. There is no evidence of genuine remorse. An unrepentant person: YY Is concerned only about the consequences of sin. YY Is more general and less specific when confessing sin. YY Is sorry he or she got caught. In contrast, a repentant person: YY Is sad over the root of his or her sin. YY Acknowledges specifics when admitting sin. YY Is genuinely sorry for his or her sin and turns away from it. DO: Direct students to complete the Action Point, Beneath the Surface. Beneath the Surface Sin is sneaky. It has an ability to numb our hearts from its presence. The more we sin, the more we grow numb to its sting. Take a moment and reflect on your life. What sins do you pass by everyday as if they weren t there. Write out these sins and ask God for His forgiveness. 46 SESSION 4
Commentary JOSHUA 7:19-21 [Verse 19] Once Achan had been identified as the reason for Israel s failure, Joshua confronted him directly. Joshua knew the only way Israel would succeed in taking possession of the land was to remove the sin from the camp. This removal necessitated that Achan admit and confess his sin. Thus, Joshua commanded Achan to give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel and make a confession to Him. The term confession renders the Hebrew todah, which means thanksgiving or praise. The intent was for Achan to do what he had failed to do at Jericho. Rather than giving honor (kabod) and thanksgiving (todah) to God for delivering Jericho into Israel s hands, Achan had used the occasion to honor himself, and thus failed to thank God at all. TIP: Have a conversation with your students about the sins that tend to trip them up. Joshua also commanded Achan, Tell me what you have done. Don t hide anything from me. This purging was an integral part of giving glory and praise to the Lord. The only way Joshua could remove Achan s sin from the camp and secure God s favor was to require him to give glory and praise to the Lord by telling all he had done without hiding anything. By addressing Achan as my son, Joshua had asserted his authority as leader of God s people over the wayward man. [Verse 20] Achan responded by acknowledging his wrongdoing. The sentence structure emphasizes the strong personal aspect of sin. The statement, I have sinned against the Lord, emphasized the I in the literal Hebrew I, indeed I, have sinned. Achan fully admitted his wickedness. Sin, however, is never just a personal issue. When a person sins, many relationships are affected. [Verse 21] Achan s fourfold confession represents four key aspects of the journey into sin and rebellion against the Lord. First, he saw among the spoils the very things God had banned Israel from taking: a beautiful cloak from Babylon, 200 silver shekels, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. People cannot always control what might come into their view, but Achan didn t stop with looking. He ventured into the second key aspect of the journey into sin when he coveted the items the Lord had forbidden. The verb covet carries the idea of finding pleasure in something. Rather than finding pleasure in obeying God and living in His presence, Achan allowed things insignificant to eternity to capture his heart. Third, his strong internal desire resulted in a sinful act as he took the banned items. Knowing his sin had been discovered, Achan revealed the fourth aspect of his journey into sin. He had concealed the contraband in the ground inside his tent. These four aspects apply to all types of temptations. Once people see something (see) and feel they must have it (covet), they acquire it by any means necessary (take). As with all sin, human nature leads people to cover up their wrongdoing, just as Achan did (conceal). BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 47
IMPART (10 MINUTES) STUDY THE BIBLE The Point: Leaders learn from their failures and move on. 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 them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 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 Achor. 25 And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 1 JOSHUA 7:25-26; 8:1 48 SESSION 4 JOSHUA 7:25-26; 8:1 DISCUSS: Lead students to discuss the question, What lessons can we learn from the way Joshua confronted failure? READ: Ask for a volunteer to read the following: The story does not end well for Achan and his family, but sin is a serious thing. We must depend on God to reveal our sin, and we can trust that He will forgive us when we genuinely repent. GUIDE: Help students understand that it s never too late and God s grace never runs out. They can start today turning their failures over to God, accepting His gift of forgiveness, and positioning themselves to be used again by Him. You may fail over and over, but in Christ you will always find the grace to begin again. Don t let your past sin and failure define your character. Go to God with your sin, turn from it, accept His forgiveness, and get back to doing what He wants you to do. Live in the forgiveness and grace of God and lead others to do the same. DISCUSS: Lead students to discuss the question, Why must sin always be dealt with thoroughly?
Commentary JOSHUA 7:25-26; 8:1 [Verses 25-26] Having confiscated the banned items (see vv. 22-23), Joshua had Achan, his family, and all his possessions taken to the Valley of Achor. The exact location of the valley is unknown, but the name Achor derives from the verb meaning to trouble. Joshua asked Achan, Why have you troubled us? Achan had brought great trouble on Israel through his disobedience in the matter of taking the banned items from Jericho. Why was Achan s family included in the judgment? Possibly because they were somehow complicit in his sin. Alternatively, the Lord might have wanted to demonstrate how Achan s sin cost him everything, including his family. In any case, the Lord returned to Achan the trouble he had brought on Israel. Thus, the theological summary is provided by Joshua s statement, Today the Lord will trouble you! The actual judgment took the form of the people stoning Achan and his family, burning their bodies, and then throwing stones on them. As they had done to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan (4:1-9), the people raised over Achan s corpse a large pile of rocks. The rocks memorialized Achan s fate and served as a stark reminder of the high cost of sin. The result of removing the sin from the camp was that the Lord turned from His burning anger. Sin angers God. When the source of the anger is removed, the anger vanishes. Because Joshua and the people obeyed the Lord by removing sin from the camp, they positioned themselves once again in God s favor. [Verse 8:1] The phrase the Lord said to Joshua occurs 12 times in the Book of Joshua (see 1:1; 3:7; 4:1,15; 5:2,9; 6:2; 7:10; 8:1,18; 10:8; 11:6), always at key junctures of the story. The phrase serves as a literary marker showing the inevitable triumph of God s plan over every obstacle, including flooded rivers, enemy armies, and disobedient people. TIP: Don t hesitate to emphasize the seriousness of sin as well as the consequences. God renewed His call for Joshua to not be afraid or discouraged. Achan s disobedience was a temporary setback, not a permanent derailment of God s plan. He instructed Joshua to take the whole military force and attack Ai a second time. However, the victory was won before the army even marched away from their homes the Lord had handed over to Joshua the king of Ai, his people, city, and land. God did not expect Joshua and the Israelites to wallow in defeat. They needed to confront and turn from their disobedience before He could use them again. The great news is God will also use us again for His purposes after we turn away from our sins. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 49
IMPACT (10 MINUTES) APPLY IT TIP: Your students may have some messy sins in their lives and just need someone to listen. Be that person who gives them the opportunity, time and time again, to share their lives with you. ASK: What steps will you take to confront sin and move forward with God? READ: Ask for a volunteer to read aloud a few ways students can take what they have learned and Apply It. YY Practice personal confession. Examine your heart daily for places you ve fallen short in attitude and/or action. As you identify things, confess them to God. And remember, grace not shame is found in Christ. YY Confess in community. Find a person who will allow you to share openly about the sin and struggles in your life. Perhaps you could do the same for him or her. Meet regularly with this person for support and encouragement. YY Confront in love. As you see sin and failure in those you lead, lovingly talk to them about it. Godly leadership means we help others come closer to Jesus, not further away. GUIDE: Lead students to consider which of the three suggested responses to the Bible study most closely applies to them and their current circumstances. ASK: Which of these responses do you personally need to focus on most as you live this session out? Allow time for responses. WRAP UP PRAY: Close in prayer, asking God to help students see that they are not failures in His eyes but that they can choose to learn from their failures and move on. ASK: Ask students about last week s Live It Out options. Discuss any responses and encourage students as they choose to apply the Bible to their lives. GUIDE: Encourage students to complete one or both of the Live It Out activities for the week. Let them know you will discuss them the next time you meet. For free online training on how to lead a group visit MinistryGrid.com/web/BibleStudiesForLife 50 SESSION 4
LEADER LIVE IT OUT To find the One Conversation for all ages, visit www.biblestudiesforlife.com. Before the session, challenge yourself to grow with your students through this Live It Out. No More Shame 2 Corinthians 5:17 Notes: Leaders learn from their failures, and they do not let their failures determine their future. However, failure isn t an easy thing to embrace, especially when we ve fallen short before God. Take a moment to write down areas where you feel you ve failed God. Once you ve made your list, spend time asking God for forgiveness and strength to overcome these failures. Then grab a black marker and mark through every failure you listed, because this is what Jesus has done for you. YY Where I ve fallen short: ONE CONVERSATION Scripture: Joshua 7:13-15,19-21,25-26; 8:1 Topic: Learn from Failure Use these discussion starters to help foster a spiritual conversation with your family. THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: The man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time didn t make the varsity team when he first tried out; yet Michael Jordan didn t let that stop him. But what about when failure is more than just a missed basket or an error in judgment? What about when we fail spiritually? The failures we see in the Bible pictures of sin against God teach us more than just to be strong or get back on our feet when we fall. We can t simply correct those kinds of failures; only God can remove our sin. In the Book of Joshua, God calls us to confront our sin, deal with it, and move forward. STUDENTS THE POINT: Leaders learn from their failures and move on. What is one lesson Jesus has taught you through failure? In what ways can failure make you a better leader? Discuss the following quote: The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. 1 Ralph Waldo Emerson 1. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes, BrainyQuote [cited 18 November 2015]. Available from the Internet: https://www.brainyquote.com. LIVE IT OUT: Your student has been encouraged to do one or both Live It Out activities in the Personal Study Guide. Here are some suggested ways to help your student: If he or she plans to complete No More Shame: Evaluate your own life. Are you a model for your student of what learning from failure looks like? Spend some time praying together, asking for forgiveness and strength to overcome your failures. If he or she plans to do The Finish Line: Talk about who your student wants to be when he or she graduates high school. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 51