God had doomed Jericho to destruction, and was also in the process of teaching His children not only how to war, but even more importantly how to obey.
Josh 6:17-19
17 “Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 “And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 “But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.”
Pretty clear instructions. The city was toast, the harlot Rahab, a woman of faith, was to be rescued (with her family) because of her faith in God. The plunder was specified by God as not going into the hands of the children of Israel.
Josh 7:1-26
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for 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 the children of Israel.
One guy blew it, succumbing to temptation. God obviously knew immediately. As did Achan. Likely, no one else knew, surely no one outside of this one family. And meanwhile God determines to do nothing quite yet, and 36 men suffer…
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.”
4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Joshua freaks. It made no sense for them to fail in conquering little Ai, after having totaled Jericho.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the 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 the Jordan!
8 “O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies?
9 “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
The Divine Response doesn’t sound very comforting (of course Joshua might have approached the Throne with a little more respect and discretion, rather than accusing the Lord of failure, and trying to goad God with a vision of name-disgrace down the road):
10 So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
11 “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
12 “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
Pretty straightforward. Get the sin out of the camp, publically.
13 “Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”
14 ‘In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come according to families; and the family which the LORD takes shall come by households; and the household which the LORD takes shall come man by man.
15 ‘Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing 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 a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ “
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken.
18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
Achan comes clean.
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
21 “When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.
23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.
Wow. But that is OT, you might say. True. And we’re not instructed to be stoning one another anymore, thank God. But ask Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) about Old and New Testaments, and what has not changed. The call to holiness.
What did Paul tell us, in Corinthians:
1 Cor 10:8-12
8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;
9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;
10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Oh my. Here goes God again, being God, so that we might learn Who He is and what is expects of His people, not only REGARDLESS of position, but in fact BECAUSE of position.
Psalm 99 recounts how God deals with (v8) His anointed leadership (v6):
Ps 99:6-9
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; they kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O LORD our God; you were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
1 Tim 5:20-21
20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.
21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.
Be holy for I am holy (Lev 11:44, and in case we need that confirmed as NT applicable – 1 Peter 1:16).
Be holy. That is such a safe place. And there is grace to succeed. Lord help us all.
Follow
thank you! “there goes God being God again” love your teachings!!!
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 NIV)
I had just read that 1 Corinthians verse the other day and was pondering Paul’s prophetic unction to include God’s “difficult” dealings with the children of Israel as he instructed the Corinthians about their unholy ways. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever and we should take heed lest we fall as well. Blessings to you!