I've always thought the story of Achan found in Joshua 7 was rather extreme. I mean, yeah, so the guy was tempted and kept some loot for himself, but really, was it worthy of the stoning of him and his entire family (gasp)! The family part especially always bothered me... I mean, heck... *they* didn't do it! God gently led me down a new trail of understanding as I read over this passage again this morning. He showed me that I was the one with the wrong understanding of fair and that in all truth, what happened was exactly fair. So here are my new thoughts on this passage.
First of all, I had never really noticed before the warning *prior* to the battle of Jericho. Here it is; "Don't take any of the things that are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. If you take them and bring them into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will bring trouble to all of Israel." Josh 6:18
Okay, so as the story goes Achan coveted some of the rich possessions of Jericho, snuck off with them and buried them within his tent. As a result, the Lord removed His favor from Israel and did not fight on their behalf when they went up against the next city of Ai resulting in shamefaced defeat on the part of the Israelites. When Joshua cries out to the Lord asking for explanation, God says; "what did I warn you about taking loot for yourselves?" So the Lord reveals who the guilty party was, and upon Achan's confession, the loot is uncovered, and Achan is stoned together with his family.
Okay, so how is this fair? My humanistic mindset screams out for a second chance, for mercy, for grace. That's what a loving God is all about right? Hmmm. I can't help but convert this God Leads/People Obey philosophy over to a Parent Leads/Child Obeys philosophy. If I as a parent, give my child a warning, and a clear consequence, and my child consciously chooses to disobey my warning, by default, they choose the consequence. Achan had a warning. He had a consequence. His disobedience resulted in the death of many individuals at the battle of Ai. Thus how can I see the meting out of his just punishment as unfair? He chose to disobey, he chose to bring trouble on Israel and himself.
Wow. And I thought God was being unfair? It's me with my humanistic "oh come on, we're only human, cut us some slack, Lord!" mindset that is unfair! Okay, and it goes even deeper than that.
This "we're only human" attitude of mine does nothing less than mock God. How so? God does not require the impossible of us. He empowers us with His presence and Spirit. Thus, my "we're only human" is simply a copout and excuse to not be overly concerned about God's expectations. Wow. What an eye opener! My way of thinking was actually an abuse of God's grace and goodness. Like one of my children saying "Well, I know my parents love me, and don't like to be angry with me, so I'll just go ahead and ____________ and I'm sure they'll forgive me. And yes, God is always ready with forgiveness, as are we as parents. But the formula of forgiveness hinges on repentance and does not veto consequence. As Max Lucado puts it in the margin of my devotional bible "Every broken heart, every unwanted child, every war and tragedy can be traced back to our rebellion against God." Consequences.
Also, about his family. What's with that anyway? I mean, there are passages that teach that the son will not be responsible for his father's sin, right? That each person will be held accountable for his *own* actions. Okay, so what does that tell us? It tells me that his family must not have been punished for *his* sin. Isn't it funny how we assume scripture tells us *everything* about a certain story and then jump to conclusions? But scripture can not contradict scripture, so I am going to make the (what I deem safe) assumption that in some way his family was privvy to his actions, and thus became "accomplices". I mean, not likely that this guy could sneak this stuff off all by himself, get it into his family tent and buried without *someone* in his family being privvy. Or maybe he did but then was too excited to keep the stuff a secret, and gloated over what he had obtained to his family. We can't know, but we also can't make the assumption that his absolutely innocent family was stoned for actions they had no knowledge or part in.
So, who's not being fair? My meditations led me to recognize and extol the justness and perfection of the Almighty. He alone is perfect, but He promises to grow us to perfection through His son Jesus. So let's not shrink back and justify our "humanness", let's take up our armor and recognize that He has raised us up and given us authority to conquer every temptation through Christ's power living in us.
ETA: Following morning now, guess which words jump off the page in the first paragraph of the next chapter as God sends the Israelite army back to Ai? "Only this time, you may take all the wealth and keep it for yourselves." Wow. Which sounds better, the guilty pleasure of treasure looted in disobedience and kept hidden, or the abundant pleasure of treasure given freely from the hand of the Blesser? God is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment