Last week, we read about the conquest of Jericho. I tried to raise all sorts of weird, unpleasant questions, because I think the story raises these questions.
Why did Yahweh mark off Jericho as dedicated to himself?
Why were the Israelites supposed to kherem the city-- devote every single person, and every single thing, to Yahweh for destruction (with just a few exceptions)?
I promise I'll try to explain this before this series is done. But I don't want to rabbit trail down this, and lose our sense of the book as a whole. The idea of kherem is going to come up again in Joshua, and I think it'll be easier to explain there.
But when I was trying to mess with you, and get you to see how weird the conquest of Jericho is, I actually missed the main point of the story. I was so pleased to have made a decision about kherem, and so happy at messing with you to push you in the same direction (if I'm honest), that I didn't take the last verse seriously--the one where AJ explained what we were supposed to learn from the story.
So let's start by rereading the last part of Joshua 6, starting in verse 16:
(16) And then, at the seventh time, the priests blew on the horns,
and Joshua said to the people,
"Shout! because Yahweh has given to you the city,
(17) and the city shall be kherem-- it, and all that is in it-- to Yahweh.
Only, Rahab the prostitute shall live-- she, and all who are with her in the house--
because she hid the messengers whom we sent."
(18) while, only, you, keep (yourselves) from the kherem,
lest you are devoting to destruction (khereming),
and you take from the kherem,
and you make the camp of Israel for a kherem,
and you bring trouble on it,
(19) while all the silver and gold, and all the copper/bronze vessels, and iron, holy/consecrated, it is to Yahweh.
To the treasury of Yahweh it shall go,
(6:20) And the people shouted,
And they blew on the horns,
And then, as soon as the people heard the sound of the horn, the people shouted a great shout,
and the wall fell under it,
and the people went up to the city, each man straight ahead,
and they captured the city,
(21) and they kheremed all that [was] in the city,
both from men up to women, from youth up to old, and up to ox and donkey by the mouth of the sword,
(22) while to the two men spying/exploring the land Joshua said,
"Go to the house of the woman-- the prostitute--
and bring her out from there-- the woman and all who belong to her-- just as you swore to her,"
(23) and the youths-- the ones spying/exploring-- went,
and they brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all who belonged to her,
while all of her clan they brought out,
and they put/set them outside the camp of Israel,
(6:24) while the city they burned with fire, and all that was in it.
Only, the silver and the gold and the copper/bronze vessels and the iron they gave (to the) treasury of the house of Yahweh,
(25) while Rahab the prostitute and the house of her father and all who belonged to her Joshua caused to live,
and she lived in the midst of Israel up to this day
because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to explore Jericho,
(26) And Joshua swore at that time, saying,
"Cursed is the man before Yahweh
who rises and rebuilds this city-- Jericho.
By his first born he shall lay its foundation,
while by his youngest, he shall set up its gates,"
(27) And Yahweh was with Joshua,
And his fame/news was in all the land.
When we focus on verse 27, and let AJ (Author of Joshua) tell us what we should focus on, we are supposed to hear this story as teaching two things:
(1) Yahweh was with Joshua.
When we read this, we are supposed to find ourselves remembering the promises God made to Joshua at the start of the book. Joshua 1:4-9:
(4) From the wilderness and this Lebanon, and up to the Great River-- the Euphrates River-- all the land of the Hittites and up to the Great Sea, toward the setting of the sun shall be your territory.
(5) No man shall stand before you all the days of your life.
Just as I was with Moses, [so] I shall be with you.
I shall not fail/abandon you,
and I shall not forsake/reject you.
(6) Be strong,
and be brave,
because you shall give as an inheritance to this people the land
that I swore to their fathers to give to them.
(7) Only, be strong and be very brave to keep to do according to all the instruction
that Moses my servant commanded.
Don't turn from it to the right, or to the left, in order that you may be successful in everywhere that you walk.
(8) The book of this instruction must not depart from your mouth,
and you shall mutter over it day and night
in order that you will keep to do everything written in it,
because then you will make your road a success,
and then you will prosper.
(9) Have I not commanded you, "Be strong, and be brave"?
May you not be afraid,
and may you not be shattered/terrified,
because with you, Yahweh your God [is], in everywhere that you walk.
The way covenants work, is that both sides have obligations. Yahweh promises Joshua: (1) The entire land will be yours; (2) No man will stand against you as long as you live; (3) I will be with you; (4) I will not abandon you; (5) I will not reject you.
But in verse 7, Yahweh adds a qualification. "Only, your job, Joshua, is to be brave, and obey my word." It is then that you will prosper.
So what we saw in the conquest of Jericho, is a picture of how this relationship between Yahweh, Joshua, and Israel should look. Yahweh wants to keep his promises. He has a plan for Joshua, and Israel. He wants to bless them. He wants to be with them. He wants to give them victory. Only, they have to obey.
And all of that, is exactly how Jericho played out. We see Joshua obeying. And we see Yahweh being faithful to his promises, and giving Joshua and his people victory.
Verse 27 continues in the second line: "And his fame/news was in all the land."
The result of this conquest, was that his fame/news was in all the land. Whose fame? News about who?
I think we are supposed to read "his," and say, it's ambiguous. News about Joshua, and news about Yahweh, has spread throughout the entire land. More and more people, are hearing more and more things about Joshua and his God Yahweh. God's name is becoming great.
So we were supposed to step back, and the end of chapter 6, and see the story of Jericho as teaching two things.
(1) If you obey, God will fight with you, and for you. You will be successful.
(2) if you obey, God's name will become great among the nations.
This brings us to chapter 7, which opens on an ugly note, that flips everything upside down:
(1) and the sons of Israel unfaithfully committed unfaithfulness
concerning the kherem,
and Achan the son of Carmi the son of Zavdi the son of Zerak of the tribe of Judah took from the kherem,
and the nose of Yahweh became hot/angry against the sons of Israel,
This verse is a terrible shock. Joshua had just warned the people that if they took from the kherem, they would make the camp of Israel into kherem, and bring trouble down on all the people. But AJ gave us the impression, last week (in 6:24 in particular), that Israel faithfully carried out Yahweh's (and Joshua's) commands.
So my question is this: why did AJ deliberately wait to tell us about Achan until chapter 7?
I think AJ wanted us to hear Joshua 6 as an example of how the covenant between Yahweh and Israel was supposed to look. It's an example of how Yahweh wants to act for his people--and how he will act for them, when they are faithful. At this point, we've gotten so used to seeing how this covenant is supposed to look that we have taken it for granted. Over and over, AJ has emphasized Israel's perfect obedience. And over and over, Yahweh has done wonders for them. But now.... Now what?
Chapter 7 is going to be the opposite picture. We read 7:1, and we gasp in horror. What a terrible thing to do.
There are three parties listed in verse 1. This is easy to miss, but it's important. This story is about three main parties: the sons of Israel, Achan, and Yahweh.
(1) First, AJ tells us that the sons of Israel sinned a sin concerning the kherem.
(2) Second, AJ tells us that Achan the son Carmi the son of Zavdi the son of Zerakh of the tribe of Judah sinned.
(3) Third, AJ tells us, up front, what Yahweh's reaction to this is. Yahweh is furious. Who is Yahweh angry with?
Our natural reaction in reading this is to assume that the problem here is Achan. Achan sinned. But from AJ's perspective--and from Yahweh's-- the bigger issue here is that all of Israel has sinned. Israel has a corporate responsibility to be faithful. The covenant isn't between Yahweh and each individual Israelite. The covenant is with the people as a whole. And the people as a whole have sinned.
When we watch TV, or movies, and something bad is about to happen, the lighting tends to get dark. The director may add some freaky music softly in the background, and we find the hairs of our neck rising up. We get edgy, we get ready to jump. And that's just a TV show.
Here, in real life, AJ tells us two things together: Israel has sinned--specifically, Achan. And Yahweh is furious with Israel. And we all cringe. What will Yahweh do? We keep reading, waiting for the other shoe to drop. We read, feeling edgy.
Verse 2-3:
(7:2) and Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,
which [is] near Beth-Aven, east of Bethel,
and he said to them, saying,
"Go up and explore/spy out the land,"
and the men went up,
and they explored/spied out Ai,
(3) and they returned to Joshua,
and they said to him,
"May not all the people go up.
About two or three thousand men , may they go up,
and may they strike Ai.
May you not make weary there all the people,
because few, they are."
Let's pause here for a minute. Ai is nothing like Jericho. It's a small settlement. There's hardly anyone there, so there's no point to send everyone. Two or three thousand people is plenty.
Some people try to view the spies' report as an act of arrogance. But let's take this at face value. Joshua commands men to go out as spies, and he does well to do so. Yahweh being with Joshua in everything, and everywhere, doesn't excuse poor planning or poor leadership. And the spies, obeying Joshua's words (Joshua 1:16-17), successfully explore the land, come back, and make their report. What we are supposed to hear, is that Ai is no big deal. This is the focus here. This is where the emphasis in the Hebrew falls ("about 2-3,000; "few"). Ai is a town that's easy pickings. The spies aren't wrong.
Joshua isn't sinning here. He's doing nothing wrong. Achan is the problem. Israel is the problem. Not Joshua.
Verse 4-5:
(4) and they went up from the people to there about three thousand men,
and they fled before the men of Ai,
(5) and the men of Ai struck from them about 36 men,
and they pursued them up to the gate, up to the Shebarim/rock quarry (?),
and they struck them on the slope,
and the heart of the people melted,
and it was as waters,
Joshua responds to the spies' report wisely. The spies said two or three thousand should be enough. So Joshua sends three thousand. But the attack is a total disaster. The Israelites fled from the battle, and they were chased all the way to the Shebarim-- wherever that is.
This was a crushing defeat. But even worse than the defeat was what it did to the people. Their hearts melted, and they become like waters. That's not good. That's what was supposed to happen to the people Israel was attacking (2:11; 5:1-2).
This brings us to the response of Joshua and the elders in verse 6:
(6) and Joshua tore his clothes,
and he fell on his face toward the ground before the ark of Yahweh until evening-- he, and the elders of Israel,
And they caused to bring up dust on their head,
(7) and Joshua said,
"Ah, Lord Yahweh! Why did you actually bring this people across the Jordan?
To give us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us?,
And if only we had been content,
and we had dwelled on the other side of the Jordan.
(8) Please, my Lord. What can/should I say after Israel turned the neck before his enemies,
(9) and the Canaanites and all the dwellers of the land will hear,
and (then) they will surround/encircle us,
and (then) they will cut off our name from the land,
and what will you do for your great name?" ,
Why? Why, Lord Yahweh, would you do this to us? Why would you show your mighty power in bringing us across the Jordan, in order to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? Why?
Joshua says, this whole thing has been a total mistake. It's too late now, but if only we'd been content with what we had, and stayed on the other side of the Jordan.
We've all had times in life where we've done something, and thought, "If only." We made a terrible decision, and we pay dearly for it. But we've never had anything like this.
In verse 8, Joshua doesn't even know what to say. Israel's doomed. Everyone in the land will hear, and what happens next is inevitable. We will be surrounded (just as they'd surrounded Jericho), and our name will be cut off from the land, and... look at how he finishes in verse 9: "And what will you do for your great name?" Israel's name, and Yahweh's great name, are tied together. When Israel's name is wiped out, what will you do next, Yahweh? Start over?
The confusing thing, from Joshua's perspective, is that if this is all so obvious to him, why can't Yahweh see what's going to happen next? Does Yahweh no longer care about his great name? Does he not want his name to be honored on earth, as it is in heaven?
Verse 10-15:
(7:10) and Yahweh said to Joshua,
"Rise!
Why are you falling on your face?
(11) Sinned, Israel has,
and also they have crossed over my covenant,
that I commanded them,
and also they took from the kherem,
and also they have stolen,
and also they have deceived,
and also they have put among their possessions,
(12) and (then) the sons of Israel were not able to stand before their enemies.
The neck they turned before their enemies
because they have become for kherem.
I will be with you no more,
if you don't destroy the kherem from your midst.
(13) Rise!
Make the people holy/dedicated,
and you shall say,
"Make yourselves holy/dedicated for tomorrow,
because thus said Yahweh the God of Israel:
Kherem is in your midst, Israel.
You won't be able to stand before your enemies
until you remove the kherem from your midst,'
(7:14) And you shall present yourselves in the morning according to your tribes,
And then, the tribe that Yahweh takes shall draw near according to the clan,
while the clan that Yahweh takes shall draw near according to the house/family,
while the house/family that Yahweh takes shall draw near according to each male,
(15) and then, the one taken with the kherem shall be burned with fire--he, and all that belongs to him --
because he has crossed over the covenant of Yahweh,
and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel."
Yahweh lets Joshua finish praying, and then he unloads on him. This doesn't mean Joshua prayed wrongly, or did anything wrong. Joshua prayed exactly how he should've prayed, based on what he knew. You can pray almost anything to God, as long as it's TO GOD, and he is fine with it (just don't curse him). He can handle you. He will hear you out. And if your prayer request is something that should bring honor to God's name, make sure to tell him that as well. God cares about his reputation. Joshua did everything right.
But what Joshua doesn't know is that someone took from the kherem. Kherem is now in the midst of Israel. And first Joshua, and now Yahweh, have said that taking from the kherem will make the camp itself a kherem.
Whatever was wrong with Jericho--whatever is so serious-- can't be allowed to remain in the camp.
Because until it's wiped out, that's all that Yahweh can see. It's like a stain on a shirt-- all you can see is the stain. And God will wipe them out, like He wiped out Jericho.
Let's reread verse 12, where Yahweh says this:
"I will be with you no more, if you don't destroy the kherem from your midst."
This is how covenants with Yahweh work. Do you want Yahweh in your midst? Do you want his help, his protection, and his blessings? Or do you want the kherem?--the silver, the gold, the fancy clothing?
There are no scarier words in the entire Bible than this: "I will be with you no more." I would do anything, to avoid hearing those words. What will Joshua do?
Verse 16-19:
(16) And Joshua rose early in the morning,
and he brought near Israel according to its tribes,
and the tribe of Judah was taken,
(17) and he brought near the clans of Judah,
and he took the clan of Zerahites,
and he brought near the clan of the Zerahites according to each male,
and Zabdi was taken,
(7:18) and he brought near his house/family according to each male,
and Achan was taken-- the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah--,
and Joshua said to Achan,
"My son, give glory, please, to Yahweh, the God of Israel,
and give to him confession,
and tell me, please, what you have done.
May you not hide from me,"
Let's pause here. I'm not sure how exactly the lots work. But I imagine it's something like dice, that Yahweh makes sure flips to the correct side. So Yahweh relentlessly gets closer and closer to Achan, until the moment it's just him left. You can't hide your sins from God. He knows exactly which of you have secret sins. He knows what you've done. You can fool everyone--but not God.
Joshua then asks Achan, as kindly as he possibly can, to admit to what he's done. Achan needs to tell the truth, giving glory to God (see John 9:24), and confess his sin.
There is no real choice here for any of them. They need Yahweh to be with them. Please, Achan, give Yahweh glory, and confess, and tell the truth.
Verse 20:
(20) And Achan answered Joshua,
and he said,
"Truly, I have sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel,
and this I did:
I saw among the spoil a robe of Shinar--one of beauty--
and two hundred shekels of silver,
and one bar of gold--50 shekels its weight--
and I desired them,
and I took them,
And LOOK! Hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent,
with the silver under it,"
(22) And Joshua sent messengers,
and they ran to the tent,
and LOOK! Hidden in his tent,
with the silver under it,
(23) And they took them from the midle of the tent,
and they brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel,
and they scattered them out before Yahweh,
(7:24) And Joshua took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the robe, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his donkey, and his flock, and his tent, and all that belonged to him--and all Israel with him--
And they brought them up to the Valley of Trouble (Achor),
(25) And Joshua said,
"Why have you brought trouble on us?
May Yahweh bring trouble on you this day,"
And all of Israel stoned him with stones,
and they burned them with fire,
and they stoned them with stones,
(26) and they raised over him great/large heap of stones until this day,
And Yahweh turned from the burning of his anger/nose.
Thus, he called the name of that place, "The Valley of Trouble," up to this day.
AJ began chapter 7 by telling us three things: (1) Israel sinned, (2) Achan sinned, and (3) Yahweh was angry.
AJ concludes this story by saying Achan admitted to his sin, the Israelites responded by stoning him and his family, burning him and his family, and then stoning them a second time, making a huge pile of rocks over them.
It was then, that Yahweh turned from the burning of his anger.
A brutal story.
A bad to go.
What does this story do to you?
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(I found myself with way more applications than normal this week. I ended up using #1 and #2.)
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Application #1: God can be angry with you.
Maybe the most damaging thing that a Christian can hear, is that God will always love you. That you can live however you want, and nothing can separate you from Christ's love (Romans 8:28-39)-- including sin (Romans 8:13).
Our natural tendency, as Christians, is to take every promise in the Bible, and claim it for ourselves. We tell ourselves that God has plans for us, to prosper us and not to harm us, plans for a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).
We tell ourselves, that we need to be strong and brave, because God is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:8-9).
We tell ourselves, that God is Love.
But when we claim the big verses, and focus on God's love, we aren't always careful to remember the bigger context. We hear these verses, in ways that God never intended.
And when we come to scary verses, that talk about God's anger, or about God not being with his people, what do we do with them?
They don't fit the way we want to view ourselves, and God, and sin.
When we read about Jericho, we praise God, who fights with us, and for us. We find ourselves wanting to grab a sword.
But when we read about Achan, what do we think?
What does it do to us?
Most of the time, I think we just keep reading. Eventually, if read the Bible long enough, we will find some positive, encouraging word.
We don't let Achan bother us. We try to not to think about it too long.
But this story is like a giant neon sign. It's a warning to us.
God can be angry with his people. Here, He gets angry because Achan chooses friendship with the world over friendship with God (James 4:4-6). He sets his eyes on earthly things, instead of God things (Philippians 3:19-20).
And God will have nothing to do with people who live this way. People who live this way get destroyed (Philippians 3:19).
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(Cut this out for time reasons?)
If you find yourselves passing over the tough passages, and struggling to accept them, the best passage to help you is probably 1 Corinthians 10.
10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[a] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown[b] in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand FELL in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ[c] to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he FALL. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel:[d] are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Paul says, the Israelites were just like us. They had the same baptism. They ate the same spiritual food and drink. To look at the Israelites, is to see ourselves. And God was angry with them. He killed thousands of them, because they provoked him to jealousy. He will not tolerate idolatry. He will not tolerate partnering with demons. So if you think you are standing firm in your sin, if you think you won't fall when God comes for you, you need to consider Israel's history. God isn't going to put up with your sin forever. And God is stronger than you. You won't win, if He becomes your enemy.
To see Israel, is to see ourselves.
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So God, absolutely, can become angry with you. It's not his preference. It's not his natural state. But God can become angry, with you.
If you are living in unrepentant sin, if you are living as friends with the world, you should not assume that God is with you and that God is pleased with you. You are making yourself his enemy. And the fact that you are still standing here today, and not under a pile of rocks, burned to death, is not a sign that God doesn't care about your wickedness. It's a sign that God is slow to anger, that he is patient, and that he's given you time to repent (Jonah 4:1-3). Today is the day to do so. Today, if you hear his voice, renew your covenant commitment to him.
And I don't say any of this in condemnation, or judgment. I say this, as a kindness to you. I say this, as someone who wishes I'd been taught these things myself, before I got sucked into some nasty sins along the way.
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Application #2: Maybe the worst thing God can do, is nothing.
I've talked a lot about God's anger, but let me add a wrinkle to it.
God is angry with Israel, right? And we read all of chapter 7 with this sinking feeling in our stomach. We read this, terrified about what God will do.
It wasn't until I got right to the very end of my study, thinking about God's anger, and what He did, that I found myself asking a question:
What does God actually do to Israel in this chapter? Where is He? What does He do?
The short answer is, He does nothing. Israel goes out to battle, and God stays home. He doesn't go with them. He doesn't fight for them.
The only thing that God actually does in this chapter, is give Israel what they need to repent. He gives them time, and He gives them knowledge. He points them to Achan.
Maybe, the worst thing that God can do to his people on earth, is nothing.
Usually, when your spouse is mad at you, you deserve it. Right? I do. And your spouse's anger is painful. It's hard living with someone when they're mad at you. It's painful watching married couples argue, and fight.
But anger is better than apathy. And it's better than simply being ignored.
When your spouse reaches the point where they just give up on you, or they wash their hands of you, what can you do? It's far worse to be ignored, or abandoned.
Life can be really hard. But without God, it's impossible.
What I want most in life, is for God to be with me. I want his fellowship. I want his friendship. I want God to fight with me, and for me.
When I fall into sin, or drift away, I can tell that my relationship with God is off. I can feel when God is a million miles away. His absence hits me far harder than his anger.
At some point in my life, I resolved: I will not go through life like that again. I will be like Joshua. When I sin, I will repent. I will live in obedience to God.
I don't want God to be angry with me. I don't want God to abandon me. And I know, at the end of the day, that God's preference is not to do those things. God is faithful. He will call me back to himself. He will give me what I need, in order to repent. His preference, is to be with us, and fight for us, and fight with us.
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Application #3: It's better for us if we judge ourselves, than if it's left to God.
(1) This is our job.
(2) It's better to judge ourselves, than be judged by God.
(3) We have a corporate responsibility.
Yahweh gave Israel the opportunity to deal with this themselves. He gave them time to repent, and the information they needed to repent. But he left it to them.
We tend to think each of us stands, or falls, as individuals before Christ. We struggle to understand how our responsibility as a body works.
If we have been made aware of unrepentant sin in our midst, we have an obligation to address it (1 Cor 5). We do this humbly, gently, knowing that all of us are vulnerable to sin (Gal. 6). But when God relates to us, he doesn't relate to us only as individuals. He relates to us as a whole (1 Corinthians 11:30-32).
If there is sin among us, it's better if we deal with it, than if we wait for God's possible judgment on us as a whole.
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Application #4: God sees our hidden sins.
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