March 5th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

My Brother's Keeper

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Opening Prayer

Lord, I am grateful for the potential and privileges of this day. May I make wise use of each hour.

Read Joshua 7:10-26

[10] The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? [11] Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. [12] That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. [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!'” [16] Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. [17] The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. [18] Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen. [19] Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.” [20] Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: [21] When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” [22] So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. [23] They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the LORD. [24] Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. [25] Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. [26] Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“Every uncorrected error and unrepented sin is, in its own right, a fountain of fresh error and fresh sin flowing on to the end of time” (C. S. Lewis).

Think Further

Still ignorant of the reason for Israel’s catastrophic defeat, Joshua asks all the wrong questions. Rather than seeking the true cause of the defeat, he questions God’s wisdom and power in bringing Israel into the land. Joshua thought that God’s good name depended on their success rather than vice-versa. God now turns the tables on Joshua by questioning him. God reveals the cause of Israel’s defeat and challenges Joshua to stop whining and show some leadership. What follows may challenge our presuppositions, also. 

We live in an individualistic culture where “my” takes preference over “our.” We may want to question the fairness of one man’s covetousness leading to the downfall of the whole community. We may have to learn that much of modern Western individualism does not fit in with God’s plan for family and society. God did not say, “One man has sinned.” He said, “Israel has sinned.” Yet in the end it was Achan and his family (who were probably complicit) who had to pay the penalty before Israel’s progress would be restored.

For the good of society and for our own personal well-being, there is a delicate but important balance we need to find. How we live affects our family and the wider society for good or ill, now and even for generations to come (Exod. 20:4-6). That is the significance of the second commandment, which can rightly say that God punishes the children for the sin of the parents because this is how he has created society. Yet all too easily, people wrongly used this as a false excuse by blaming their own failures on a failing society. “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jer. 31:29,30).

Apply

Pray this prayer: “Search me, 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” (Psa. 139:23,24).

Closing prayer

Lord, it is so easy to sit comfortably with sin. May I agree with You about it and release it to Your forgiving grace.

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