seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Joshua 7:13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”
14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”
This is from the easy English commentary.
God must punish sin! God told Joshua how he would punish this sin. He would punish the person who had taken some of the valuable things. The Israelites must kill the person who had taken some of the valuable things. God would show them who the person was.
IMHO [In my humble opinion]... a few things to consider here.
1. They saw first hand what God is capable of. The manna was still falling from the sky until they crossed the Jordan to enter the promised land. They forded the Jordan River on a dry path because God stopped the flow of water upstream for them, then released the flow after they were safely across.
2. They were all told not to take valuable things for themselves. God told them they could gather the silver and gold to fill the coffers. He specifically told them not to take those shiny little things. He's already admitted to be a jealous God and He's already shown that He's capable of showing His anger. Numbers 16:23-35 shows that those people knew exactly how bad things could get when someone made God angry.
Numbers 16:31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
3. Thirty-Six men had died in battle. That made God look bad. It left 36 families without a man in charge. It left a lot of widows and orphans. The Israelite society was not a good place for widows and orphans.
So.... IMHO.... this guy Achan, was putting himself way above everyone around him. He knew that God was in charge. He knew that he had no right to take something that did not belong to him. He knew there would be consequences. No doubt he looked all around before stowing that little shiny object away safely. No doubt when he got back from battle, he got off on his own and pulled out that little shiny object and admired it in solitude. No doubt he never figured that God would find out..... no doubt he never figured that God would be so upset about a little shiny object.
