To obey is better than...

“The stories of Jericho and Ai indicate the need to obey YHWH through the covenant. It is this, rather than military tactics, that grants Israel success. If Israel obeys YHWH then impregnable walls and obstacles will fall (Jericho) and Israel will not have to worry about her enemies. But if Israel disobeys, then the simplest battle in which a ruin is attacked (Ai) will be lost. Israel does not have to worry about how to possess the land or how to ‘dispose’ of her enemies, for YHWH will take care of this. Rather, Israel must worry about obeying YHWH, an obedience that will lead to blessing and rest. The stories of Rahab and Achan, refracted through the battles at Jericho and Ai, demonstrate the significance of Josh 5:13-15. YHWH is not ‘for’ ethnic Israel on her own ‘national’ terms, something rather unexpected in view of ideas of the favour and the election of Israel, rather, YHWH is ‘for’ those who confess his power and glory, who ‘do חסד [hesed]’ and obey him, made concrete in obedience to the covenant.”—Reading Joshua as Christian Scripture, p. 153

<idle musing>
And it is still true today. God is not “for” the U.S.; he never was. He is “for” those who do חסד. More conferences and laws and petitions and protests and hand-wringing aren't doing חסד.

The early church lived in a far more amoral society than the U.S., but we have no record of them being concerned about who was the emperor, or local ruler, or the rampant immorality of society. No, they simply went about loving their neighbor and living a life that drew attention to God and his love for people. They didn't downplay sin, but they didn't expect non-Christians to act any differently than they were. When Paul went to Corinth, he didn't try to close the brothels or shut down the pagan sacrifices; he preached Jesus as crucified and risen from the dead! And, just as important, he preached a gospel of transformation. Christians were transformed by the power of God, not by “trying to live a moral life” under their own power.

New Testament Christianity is uncomfortable; it demands that you live dead to self. That doesn't preach well in a suburban church. It doesn't fill the offering plates; it doesn't pay the mortgage. I don't see Paul or Peter being concerned about that, though!
</idle musing>