April 13, 2010; Joshua 7:16-9:2, Luke 16:1-18, Psalms 82:1-8, Proverbs 13:2-3

Reflections on Joshua 7:16-9:2

Atonement From Troubles Associated With Guilt Joshua 7:16-26

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"

Job 31:2-8 "For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? Does he not see my ways and count my every step? "If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit - let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless - if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted."

Many historical concerns can be brought up from this story!  Many theological debates and controversies.  Needless to say, it can inspire man to judge his fellowman or to search inwardly!  My focus will be on these spiritual ramifications and I must side with the argument to search inwardly as the rest of scripture points in that direction.  If we were to be condemned for our sins, I would be guilty daily.  I cannot make the claims of Job or the Psalmist before God that there are no wicked ways in me, as I cannot escape them, and my guess is that you can't either.  And yet, I cannot act as your tormentor or judge as I stand with you as a brother.

Achan certainly took a fair amount of loot from Ai! "I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,  two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them" (verse 21) Many scholars and Rabbi's have attempted to justify the stoning of Achan as they attempt to imagine a much greater sin!  If Achan is so guilty, what about me?  Is one sin greater than another?

One thing the Bible did not say about Achan or his family - nor any individual human being devoted to destruction in all of scripture is that they went to the eternal fires of Hell.  There is much that says we are guilty of the fires of Hell - and those passages necessarily condemn each and every one of us! - but nowhere does scripture say that any individual human being devoted to destruction was sent to the eternal fires of Hell.    Therefore, the message has to be more about the individuals who were left on earth.  For each of them that day who had also coveted and taken devoted things - and each of us today that stands guilty before God, we must state the obvious; "There, but for the grace of God go I!"

Achan was chosen to be the scapegoat.  Not surprisingly, the trouble centered upon the tribe of Judah, yet there Achan's relation to the Messianic line ends as Christ came through Zerah's brother Perez.  As God had devoted Achan for destruction, He was asked to give glory to the truth of God by confessing his guilt.  And yet, following his confession, he was condemned to die and the community stoned him to death.  Anyone familiar with the teachings of scripture regarding repentance and forgiveness will look at this story and realize this story does not fit as we seek the love of God and Love for our fellowman.  In fact, we must struggle with the entire Old Testament era as man continues to stand in judgment on man and condemns one another to die.  Although it doesn't seem to fit, men still act like this with one another today. 

I cannot help but look at a story like the stoning of Achan and imagine it represents the call to righteousness and purity within.  Here was an entire nation out of all the earth set apart for God.  Salvation has come and it has begun to refine the body in righteousness and purity.  Just as Christ came and exorcised the demons out of the individuals in His day, so the purity and righteousness represented by Israel exorcised trouble and sin from within their midst.  They set out to cleanse an entire region of humanity, eventually culminating in the restoration of Creation itself.  Individually, our guilt motivates us to separate that part of our body most apparently sinful in our mind before God.  We separate it; We remove it; We ask for forgiveness and healing; And we move on.  When we stumble or feel that separation from God again, we go through the process again.  We have received forgiveness, not through Achan, but through Jesus Christ.  Sin causes separation and guilt.  Forgiveness has been granted! Confession and penance leads to healing, renewed strength, and physical and spiritual vitality.

I do not believe we are meant to judge Achan or the children of Israel.  Regardless of its historical fact or ramifications, the story is is "God-breathed (inspired) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16).  If we imagine ourselves as the people stoning Achan, we must confess our own sins requesting the forgiveness of God.  If we imagine that he did not receive forgiveness from God the moment he requested it, we must again request forgiveness from God for judging our fellowman. Perhaps the best application for the passage again is to apply Achan's guilt to our own lives as we also must see ourselves as brothers with the Canaanites in need of God's grace and mercy.

Nehemiah 1:6b-11a "I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 'Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'
     'They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name.'"

John 8:3-11 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
     But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
     At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'
     'No one, sir," she said.
     'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'


Isaiah 65:10-12 "Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek me. But as for you who forsake the Lord and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."

Hosea 2:13b-16 "'she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,'
declares the Lord. 'Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 'In that day,' declares the Lord, 'you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'"

I suspect the fate of Achan following his confession was not unlike the fate of the sinner on the Cross who confessed his sin to Jesus; "Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'
(Luke 23:43)

Acts of Faith and Purification Joshua 8

http://bibleatlas.org/full/jericho.htm Bible atlas of Jericho, Bethel, and Ai
http://maps.google.com/?q=31.91697812,35.26122639%20(Ai)&t=k&z=8 Zoom in to see considered site of Ai with general topography today.

Perhaps we saw a situation in Joshua 7 where God used their overconfidence to remind them once again that He was in control.  They had gone up against Ai with 3000 men following the decimatation of Jericho and met with defeat.  They had reconsecrated the community to the Lord offering penance for sin through the scapegoat sacrifice of one of their own.  Then with confidence, God redirected their efforts towards Ai, but with much more planning and a lot more men. 

This time, after devoting the first of their produce to the Lord through the defeat of Jericho, and thus consecrating themselves through submission and confession, they were allowed to keep the plunder of goods and livestock.

This location was mentioned in Genesis 12:8 "From there he (Abram) went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord."

Jacob also had a dream in this area as recorded in Genesis 28.  His action following the dream is recorded in Genesis 28:16-22; "When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.' He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.' Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel,  though the city used to be called Luz.
     Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.'"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTX5lcxRIwg

The plan of Joshua, following the will of God, succeeded and the men of Ai and Bethel were defeated.  Moses had predicted this would happen in Deuteronomy 20:4 "For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

The apostle John confirmed this in I John 5:3-4 "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."  It is good to remember that our battle lines have been redefined to be spiritual in nature according to Ephesians 6:12.  Lest anyone imagine that verse to mean against our human rulers, check all the verses requiring us to honor our leaders of which I have commented upon at length.

We did not escape a sign of crucifiction before leaving the battle of Ai.  The King was hung on a tree until evening, and then given proper burial according to the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).  The lives of these people had also been devoted to the Lord as a part of the cleansing of the Holy Land.  They represented the refuse of sin and their conquered land resembled gehena, the refuse heap within the city of Jerusalem.  The final scene over their mortal dead bodies was the hanging corpse of thier King.  We do not know the fate of their souls, we can only guess.  They too were flesh and blood as we are today, created in the image of our Creator, and fallen with the rest of humanity.  Dust returned to dust.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/biblemaps/10 This map shows a bit different settings for Bethel and Ai, but shows a similar separation between those cities and Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim to the North. 

The people fulfilled the requirements given by Moses in Deuteronomy 27-30 in Joshua 8:30-35.  Certainly the law which was written on the stone tablets of the Ark were also included.  They were certainly reminded of the blessings and the curses, the judgments, the repentance, and the forgiveness.  They were reminded of the scattering and the gathering and were reminded of the Love God has for His children.  They heard of the importance of acting as one body and caring for the widow, the orphan, the alien, and those devoted to service in the Lord's house.  Perhaps they read Deuteronomy 19:18 "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord," but failed to understand this to mean the 'scope of humanity', as many of us today.

Therefore, the nations of the land rose up against them, and refused to honor their God as even they would struggle to do.  Love for their fellowman outside of their culture and understanding apparently did not fit into their consideration of His law of Love for flesh and blood.  Yet that was how it was suppose to be as God was intent on His purification of all of humanity through the destruction of all those powers that keep us all from His Kingdom of Peace.

Reflections on Luke 16:1-18

Luke 16:15 He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God."

Proverbs 21:2-4 "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!"

I am not sure why, but I have sensed this teaching of Luke has been the most difficult for well educated capitalists.  That confuses me when discounts in marketing are such an advantageous tool!  In a tough economy, slashing interest rates or discounting loans motivates the consumer to avoid bankruptcy and pay their bills, thereby securing that 'oh so important' credit rating!

We use and abuse one another financially as we are all caught up in the invasion of the money machine.  Money and finances have become the bane of our existence.  Individuals, families, cities, counties, states, nations, the world stand on the brink of collapse and the failure to survive because the stability of our lives, the almighty dollar has been worshiped and abused.  What better place to lose God, or to find Him?  What better test of our souls when it comes to Loving our fellowman?

When I was a child, I was taught to pray "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."  These words made no sense in our capitalist society, so we have attempted to change them to trespasses, or sin!  And yet, what more obvious symbolism between one another could we have regarding forgiveness and hardness of heart and love than in our financial obligations to one another.  This I can feel and touch!  If the world would forgive one another of their debts - as was prescribed biblically every 7 years and every 50th year, there would be a jubilee!  There would be a peace!  There would be contentment.  We would have a chance to start again and our financial crutch and security would wane in comparison with our faith.  The trouble is we don't have the faith and trust to submit to such a teaching, and it torments us to imagine we could become one with each other.  We need our pedistals, come hell or high water!

As a small businessman and a father of struggling children, I consider this one of the most blatant and obvious representations of the Kingdom of God to an urban industrialized capitalistic society there is, and yet it is generally discarded as foolishness and dishonest.  Too often, those same mockers are the ones who question the validity that we can tell our fellowman that their sins are forgiven! 

So, here is what I believe the teaching is:  As children of God, we are His managers of His Kingdom on Earth.  According to verse 16, the teachings of righteousness and purity found in the law and the prophets was witnessed until John.  Today, the good news of salvation is that God has forgiven your sin!  It doesn't matter how much you owe.  If you can understand His Love by my cutting your debt in half - Why not? There is no debt you owe anyway!  He has everything he needs, and the amount of your sin is inconsequencial.  How better to express the love of the Father than to forgive sins?  Plus, if I don't cancel your debt, he'll hold mine against me!  As His manager, I intend to do unto others as I would like Him to do unto me!  I just hope I'm right that He loves us that much!

The Bible says He does, and I believe it.

Money is the pit!  It will grab you and hold you and never let you go.  You will spend your life serving it and you will lose time with God.  Don't join into the justification of greed and oppulence that has come to govern our societies and manipulate the poor.  Our world and life views will continue to consume us if we do not forgive one another of our debts.  That's the plain and simple truth.

According to Luke 16:16, the good news has been being preached since Jesus ministry and everyone is trying to push their way into it.  That started with the Pauline Churches and the Jerusalem church not to mention the stalwart Jewish faiths and the Ebionites; Then the Catholic's and Orthodoxies made their mark and Muhammad had his say; Amongst others, we saw the rise of the Lutheran's and the Calvinists; more recently Mormons, Jehovah's witness, Baptists, and so many more!  Everyone wants to define Christ and condemn their fellowman! 

Paul would roll over in his grave if he saw our confusion today!  He was already irritated by our diversity in I Corinthians 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."  Yet, how can we be of one mind and thought?  How can we love one another and be at peace?  First we must agree to disagree.  Second we must avoid condemnation of one another as individuals.  Third, we must see evil for what it is and discipline the offender.  Hate crimes, the shedding of blood, and abuse of persons must be against our laws as they have always been.  Show honor and respect; Don't kill; Don't destroy your fellowman through false testimony; Forgive!  Honor Familial bonds.  Those might be good places to start!

Reflections on Psalm 82:1-8

John 10:30-38 "'I and the Father are one.'
     Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?'
     'We are not stoning you for any of these,' replied the Jews, 'but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.'
     Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came - and the Scripture cannot be broken - what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.'"

If John has quoted Jesus correctly, he has interpreted "gods" in Psalm 82:6 to represent us!  We are the sons of the Most High!  We are the great assembly!  It is to us He poses His question of verse 2 "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?"

A similar scene is displayed through Isaiah 3:13-15a " The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.  The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: 'It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.  What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?'"

Hosea 4:1b-4a continues: "the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:
     'There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.  There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
     Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
     But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another,'"

Jeremiah 22:15-17 "'Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord.
     'But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion."

Exodus 22:21-24a "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword;

Proverbs 21:12-13 "The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. (see also Job 29:12-17)

Romans 16:19-20a "Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."

Ephesians 4:22-27 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

     Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 'In your anger do not sin' [Psalm 4:4]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

Ezekiel 31:10-14 "this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because it towered on high, lifting its top above the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I handed it over to the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. All the birds of the air settled on the fallen tree, and all the beasts of the field were among its branches.  Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit."

Revelation 19:1-4 "After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.' And again they shouted: 'Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.'
     The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: 'Amen, Hallelujah!'"

Reflections on Proverbs 13:2-3


Sometimes the best commentaries have already been written!  David, Peter, and James spoke well regarding the power of words! 

Peter quoted Psalm 34:12-16a in I Peter 3:10-12 "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

James also spoke eloquently regarding the tongue in James 3:2-10 "We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
     When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
     All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

What more should be said?

Until Tomorrow;

Rick