Sabbath School lessons are part of a global study initiative undertaken by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2025, we will explore the theme “Joshua” This week’s lesson, titled “The Enemy Within” covers the period from November 1 - November 07. Join Pastor Mark Finley for a brief preview of what to expect in this week’s study.

<p>Sabbath School lessons are part of a global study initiative undertaken by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2025, we will explore the theme “Joshua” This week’s lesson, titled “The Enemy Within” covers the period from November 1 - November 07. Join Pastor Mark Finley for a brief preview of what to expect in this week’s study.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

Mark Finley

01 Recipe for Success

02 Surprised by Grace

03 Memorials of Grace

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

05 God Fights for You

06 The Enemy Within


Welcome back to another Sabbath School lesson. This is lesson number 6, The Enemy Within. As we study these lessons, some of the lessons enable us to walk on the mountaintop and we see the great victories of Israel. Other of the lessons are a little more sobering. As I went through this lesson, I thought to myself, this is a little more sobering lesson.

It really touched me deeply within, as the title of the lesson says, The Enemy Within. And I think you can look at the title in 2 ways. First, there is an enemy within all of our own hearts. As Jeremiah 17 verse 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? As Isaiah says in chapter 64 verse 6, he says, all my righteousness is as filthy rags.

So when we look at ourself, there is that enemy within, that's that fallen human nature, that only through Christ and by his grace and through his mercy and through his love can we be the kind of people we wanna be. Jesus' death on the cross pardons us from the past, his life in heaven, his intercession in heaven provides for us the power of Calvary, the power of love to transform our lives through the Holy Spirit. So there's that idea, the enemy within. Then also there's the idea that within the camp of Israel, there was Achan, that enemy within, and how the influence of some right within Israel had defiled Israel. So this becomes a very powerful, poignant lesson.

So let's pray and then we'll dive right into it. Father in heaven, we thank you for the reality of the fact that although we are fallen human beings, that Christ forgives us, he grants to us mercy, he grants to us strength and power. We're thankful that there are new starts with Jesus. We're also thankful that you sanctify your people as a church, and that 1 day your church will appear without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, according to Ephesians. Now Lord, as we study this lesson, help us to look deeply within our own hearts and to be faithful to you in Christ's name, amen.

The enemy within. The memory verse is from Jeremiah 17, verse 10, English Standard Version. I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. God is a heart searcher. He searches our hearts.

And I know in my life, there are blind spots, there are things that I may not see, and I want God to search my heart to reveal that only there is love and commitment and dedication to him there. In this lesson, we look at the fact that in Joshua chapter 7, that's our study for this week, it says, this is lesson, Sabbath afternoon lesson, first paragraph, While the obedience to the stipulations of the covenant secured victory, disregarding the terms of the covenant brought defeat, Israel's military success depended on not on their numbers, their battle strategy, or their clever tactics, but on the presence of the divine warrior with them. It is not true in our lives. Our success in the Christian life, our victories over temptation, our defeat when we defeat the evil 1, not because of how strong we are, but because of how strong Jesus is. Our victories come not because of our wisdom, but because of his strength.

Our victories come not because of the fact that we are mighty, but because he is mighty. When Israel breached the covenant, they lost the power of God to resist the enemy. In Sunday's lessons titled, The Breach of the Covenant, and the question is, what were the 2 major causes of Israel's defeat by the inhabitants of Ai. Now remember Israel had just conquered Jericho. It was a mighty defeat.

Jericho was a greatly fortified city. Ai was a very small city and it would be easy for the Israelites with their 30, 000 men or their armies to go up and attack the city of Ai. You'd seem that they would win easily, but they were mightily defeated. And the question is, when you read Joshua 7, what were the major reasons of their defeat? I have listed not 2, but 3.

When you look at Joshua 7, you don't find a command of God in that first battle to go up to this little town of Ai. It says, the children of Israel committed a trespass, chapter 7, verse 1, regarding the accursed things of Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things, so the anger of the Lord burned against them. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Now, so it says Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Doesn't say the Lord told him to go, doesn't say that at all, says Joshua sent these men.

So that's, I think the first mistake is rather than Joshua seeking God, rather than Joshua praying, Joshua just ran out to do his thing to take the city of Ai. The second issue, I think, is overconfidence. They felt they were totally, absolutely confident that they were going to take that city. They felt confident that they could overthrow it. They had just won this mighty battle of Jericho, why couldn't they overthrow this city of Ai?

The third thing was Achan's sin. There was sin in the camp. Achan had gone in, taken a Babylonish garment, stolen things from the tent that he shouldn't have taken. And as the result of that, God condemned Israel by not allowing them to win the battle, and many were slain. Here's what the scripture says.

It says that they had this mighty army and about 3, 000 men went up. They had a mighty army of over 30, 000 of course, but only 3, 000 went up. So about 3, 000 men went up there before the people. But they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down 36 men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent.

Verse 6, Joshua 7, Joshua tore his clothes, fell to the earth, his face before the ark of the Lord until evening before both he and the elders of Israel, they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all? To deliver us to the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Verse 8, 0 Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? So here you have for the Canaanites, verse 9, and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, surround us, cut off our name from the earth, Then what will you do for your great name?

So Joshua is concerned about 2 things He's concerned that they have disobeyed the command of God Broken the covenant of the Lord Ran out on their own strength supposedly were mightily defeated. He's concerned that the enemy will come, destroy the Israelites, destroy Joshua's people, but also they will defile the name of God. He's concerned about the name of God. And so The defeat of Israel here was an incredibly serious thing. The defeat came because of the sin of Achan.

Joshua calls all of Israel, and as they come, you see it in Joshua 7, verse 16 to 19, and it really reveals the fairness of God, because Joshua begins to go through every 1 of the tribes. And it's a kind of a lengthy procedure here. Joshua 7, verse 16, it says, so Joshua rose early in the morning, brought Israel by their tribes, in the tribe of Judah was taken. He brought the clan of Judah. He took the family of the Zadites.

He brought the family of the Zadites man by man and Zabbi was taken. So he brings them 1 at a time. He quizzes them and he's trying to give Achan time to come forth in confession, in repentance. And so he's meticulously going over to show that God's judgment is fair. You know In the final judgment, God goes over name by name, not simply to reveal our sins, but to reveal that he is just, he is fair.

In the final judgment that we call the pre-advent judgment or the investigative judgment. In that final judgment, God reveals that he has been just and fair, that he's been righteous, that he's done everything he could to save every human being. Here, God wants to save all of Israel. And so, we look at the second paragraph under Monday's lesson. The solution to the predicament follows the opposite direction to how it entered and plagued Israel.

Corporate guilt is eliminated and narrowed down from Israel to 1 tribe. From tribe to family, from family to household, from household to individuals. Besides revealing the offender, the investigative process also has cleared the innocent. This was an equally important aspect of the meticulous judicial procedure where God himself acts as an unseen witness to the unseen acts of Achan. So, 1 at a time, God's judgment reveals he's fair.

He clears the innocent, but he condemns the guilty. We go to Tuesday's lesson, fateful choices. What does Joshua actually ask Achan to do? You'll find it in Joshua 7 verse 19 to 21. Joshua 7 19 to 21.

So Joshua said to Achan, my son, I beg you give glory to the Lord, your God of Israel, make confession to him and tell me what you've done. Do not hide it from me. Achan answers Joshua and says, indeed I've sinned against the Lord of Israel, and this is what I've done. I saw the spoils of beautiful Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels. I coveted them and took them.

They are hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent with silver under it So Joshua sends messages they get messengers. They get the things that he's stolen out of the tent was this a genuine repentance on the part of Akin absolutely not As Joshua was going through tribe by tribe, the tribe of Judah, as he was going through every household of Judah, as he was going through every family of Judah, as he was going through every person of Judah, to declare their guilt or innocence, showing their innocence. Achan could have stepped forth and said, Joshua, you don't need to do this. This was me, Joshua. I am the guilty 1.

I am the 1 that did it. But Joshua waited patiently. And then he questions Achan. And he says to Achan there, in this verse 19, Joshua says to Achan, my son I beg you give glory to God and make confession. In other words, he draws the confession out from Achan.

We notice it in the second paragraph, Tuesday's lesson. Unfortunately, the biblical text gives no indication that Achan showed any sign of real repentance. He hoped until the end to remain hidden. His defiant attitude qualified him to be regarded as a high-handed offender, for whom there was no atonement according to the law of Moses. Why no atonement?

Because there was no genuine, authentic confession repentance. What does this say to us? It says to us practically, In God's final judgment, our destinies will be fixed. God is appealing to us now to confess our sin, to repent of our sin, to make the necessary changes in our lives so that when his final judgment comes, Jesus can say, this man, this woman, is 1 of mine. My blood covers their sins.

My righteousness stands in the place of their failures. There is not a man, not a woman, not a child that'll come to Jesus and not be forgiven. There's not a man, not a woman, or a child who comes with an honest, repentant heart, confessing their sins, that won't be cleansed of the guilt of that sin. Jesus says, 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we do the confessing, God will do the forgiving because for us there is a door of hope.

Look at Hosea chapter 2 verse 15. The Bible is a book of hope. In our darkest moments, when guilt riddles our souls, when condemnation troubles our hearts, Hosea chapter 2 verse 15, the Bible says, I will give her her vineyards from there and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. In the midst of your trouble, Achor means troubles, in the midst of your troubles, in the midst of your difficulties, in the midst of your challenges, God says, I'll give you the Valley of Acre as a door of hope.

What does this story tell us, Wednesday's lesson, about how God can transform our most abysmal failures into opportunities. In Joshua chapter 8, verse 1 to 29, Israel has failed in chapter 7. Israel's been terribly defeated. Israel did not seek God. Israel tried to battle Ai with their own strength.

Israel had sin in the camp. And God said to Israel, God puts it this way. He says there's a door of hope in this valley of trouble, this valley of difficulty. God instructs them in Joshua chapter 8 verse 1, Then the Lord said to Joshua, Don't be afraid or dismayed. Take all the people of war with you.

Arise, go up to Ai. See, I've given you into hand the king of Ai, his people, his city. And you shall do to Ai, verse 2, and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves, lay an ambush for the city. Now, Joshua goes not with 3, 000 men.

Now he goes with that army of 30, 000. So Joshua arose and all the people of war to go up against Ai and Joshua chose 30, 000 mighty men of valor and he sent them away by night. So he commands them, some go around the back of the city, some go on the front of the city, trap that city, surround that city. And as he does, they scream out, the inhabitants of Ai think the battle's coming from the front, they're attacked from the front, the back, there's a terrible defeat. Now God says you take the booty of that land.

What was once a defeat becomes a mighty victory. Here is the incredible good news. Have you been defeated in your life? Have you faced challenges in your life? Has the enemy whipped you, pierced you, defeated you?

My brother, my sister, God wants to pick you up, dust you off, put you on the path of victory again. Israel was defeated, but they listened to God and God gave them instructions, they followed those instructions and there was a great victory for the cause of God. What does it say in the book of Micah? When I fall I shall rise. When we fall, we can rise again.

Thursday's lesson, a witness to God's power. As we learned, God had given the pagan nations an opportunity to know him, to turn from their evil ways. They refused. They ultimately faced judgment. But look, I want to look at Joshua 7, verse 6 to 9.

Here is an important principle. Joshua 7, verse 6 to 9. The principle is this. God was leading Israel to be victorious over Ai so that God's name would not be defiled and he would be given glory. Joshua said, Alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over to Jordan at all?

To deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Oh, that we had been content and dwelt on the other side of Jordan. Oh Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back on its enemies. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do to your great name?" Joshua's concern was the glory of God.

When we dishonor God, when we fail, God leads us to repentance and confession to glorify his name look what does Joshua do with Israel verse 13 he says go sanctify get up sanctify the people say sanctify yourselves for tomorrow because thus says the Lord God of Israel. There's an accursed thing in your midst. Sanctify yourselves. So before the great victory could take place over the enemy, before the great victory could take place over AI, before that defeat could be atoned for for victory, Israel had to sanctify themselves, to come together, to seek God, to ask God to send his Spirit to purify their hearts. So today, God says to his church, he says to you and me individually, not to point our fingers at others, not to be condemnatory of others, but God says, sanctify your hearts.

Sanctify your hearts. Let the spirit of God come in, cleanse you from sin, from wrong. Let the Spirit of God deliver you from evil. Let the Spirit of God break down every idol in your heart. The takeaway from our Sabbath school lesson today is this, In our own strength, in our own confidence, we are defeated.

But through Jesus Christ, we can be victorious. When we've fallen, we can rise again. As God, through his spirit, by our choice, sanctifies our hearts. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we pray you'd sanctify our hearts.

We can't sanctify ourself, but by your grace and by your power you can sanctify us. So Lord, help us never be overconfident that we can overtake the enemy. We can't. Only he can overtake us when we fail to have confidence in you. Only the enemy can overtake us when we trust in our own strength and not your strength.

So we come today trusting your power, trusting your strength, to be victorious over the powers of evil. In Christ's name, Amen. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more. If you would like to know more about Audioverse, or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org.

Back to Menu

Series

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

06 The Enemy Within

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01 Recipe for Success

27m

02 Surprised by Grace

25m

03 Memorials of Grace

24m

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

25m

05 God Fights for You

25m

06 The Enemy Within

22m

Sound Doctrine