Total Obedience Brings Victory (Joshua)

Moses has died and Joshua and Caleb are preparing the Hebrew nation to enter the Holy Lands. Knowing that battles would ensue, they sought God and got their marching orders. They fully understood that if they trusted and obeyed God, they would experience success. They followed God’s orders, explicitly and the 1^st battle was won without a glitch, but they lost the second battle. God disallowed the win because one of their soldiers had stolen items during the first battle. The loss served a purpose––the people learned how important it is to trust and obey God and to never steal!