Achan

I love to read the end of Deuteronomy and the beginning of the book of Joshua. This is the time when Moses has finally brought the children of Israel to the edge of the land that God promised them. Moses has been told that he will not enter into the land, so he needs a successor and Joshua is named that successor. This is also the time in Scripture when God stops appearing physically to man. At the end of Deuteronomy, we are told that God would not appear to Joshua in the same manner he appeared to Moses. Moses had many face to face meetings with God. How awesome and scary all at the same time! Moses dies at the end of Deuteronomy. I think it's interesting that God actually takes time to point out to us that Moses was neither weak nor blind - he was fully well when he died, and yet God allowed him to die. Even in his last speech to the children of Israel, the Scriptures tell us that Moses addressed his mother and father. God's timing is God's timing - Moses had to die before the children of Israel entered the promised land.

Now enters Joshua. The first part of Joshua is all good. The spies are sent in; they meet Rahab who hides them; they promise salvation to Rahab and her family; they conquer the city of Jericho. Ahh. Then we move to Ai. A small little town, basically. They send in very few men to fight the battle and lose miserably. This is in Joshua 7. I remember hearing the story of Ai and Achan over and over again as a little girl in Sunday School and then as a teenager in the teen department. This is a familiar story to me. Achan stole some of the goods from Jericho and basically the children of Israel lost the battle of Ai because of Achan. Moral of the story - obey what God tells you to do or there will be consequences. That's how I have always read this story. Until today. God showed me something a little different.

In verse 6 of Joshua 7, Joshua is on his face crying out to God for the defeat that he experienced in Ai. He is crying out to God - "Why did you bring us here? Why couldn't we stay on the other side of the Jordan river where it was safe?". God tells Joshua to get up, stop crying, and basically, "it's your own fault because there is sin in your camp". God tells Joshua to consecrate the people. Basically, the children of Israel brought the consequences of defeat on themselves and cried out to God for deliverance. The answer was simple - consecrate yourselves and all will be well.

Isn't that how we are? I know I am. Sometimes I suffer consequences because of my actions that have been disobedient to the direct and/or indirect commands of God. Consequences of sin are never easy to bear - they are consequences. Sometimes I forget that I have disobeyed God (conveniently forget, I am sure) and am confused for a moment about why I'm experiencing bad consequences. It's so easy for me to blame God for the consequences. I know that I've done this in the past. I cry out to God asking Him why He is doing what He is doing. The truth of the matter is that God is telling me the same thing He told Joshua - "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? You has sinned violated my covenant". The answer is to consecrate myself, get rid of the sin, and the battles will be mine to win again. Verse 13 of Joshua 7 - "You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it". God actually told Joshua that until the sin in the camp had been removed, the children of Israel would not be able to stand against their enemies. Sometimes I don't get it on the first try. Sometimes I don't get it on my first defeat in battle - sometimes it takes a defeat of 3 or 4 battles before I realize that there is something not quite right. That's when God loudly says to me "consecrate yourself, get rid of the sin and you will again start winning battles".

In our walks as Christians, it's so hard to remember that while God is sovereign, loving and merciful, He also commands us to do certain things. When we disobey, there are consequences that we bring on ourselves. His will is that we defeat our enemies. His will and way is that I defeat the enemies in battle. I can't do this, though, without consecration to Him; without taking out the things in my life that He has told me to get rid of. It's so hard to obey that part. I want to win the battles, but sometimes I'm unwilling, as His child, to completely obey what He says. The problem is that I can't cry about consequences until I again consecrate myself back to Him.

I have heard the story of Achan 100 plus times....I can even remember hearing about it with the felt boards (remember those??). I have never thought about it this way, though. It's so practical, so real, and so applicable to me in this day - right here, right now. Consecrate myself, get rid of the stuff in my life that God says I should never have taken in the first place, or I won't defeat the enemies. I'll lose my battles until I do. So easy and yet so hard to actually put into practice on a daily basis.