Tucked away within the main story line are a few details that may interest you.
Sometimes you read right over a detail, and miss it because the rest of the story is so compelling. This happens to me when I read passages like this. I get caught up in the defeat of the towns, the battle positions and the commands to destroy everything….and I miss smaller cues.
For instance, why did Joshua have to stop and circumcise all the men? Why hadn’t anyone been circumcised the entire time they were in the desert? The command to circumcise was given to Abraham…that’s over 500 years ago. Abraham was told this was a lasting ordinance. It was then given to Moses, and in fact the Lord seemed angry with Moses because his son wasn’t circumcised already. Moses’ wife Zipporah circumcised him and the Lord was satisfied. Exodus 4:24-26. Fast forward to the Exodus and again, we see everyone being circumcised because they hadn’t done it earlier. Now move to today’s reading and we discover that no one is circumcised. Yet again, the nation seems to have dragged it’s feet on remaining obedient. The Lord doesn’t appear to be angry, but He insists on circumcision before they go into battle. Why? what possible difference could that have on the outcome a battle?
Simply this: God has already given the command (years earlier) and the people cannot expect to receive a blessing from God if they aren’t obedient. Therefore, they shouldn’t expect to win in battle if they can’t be obedient to circumcise. And, that’s the story of Achan’s sin as well. They were told destroy everything, and they didn’t. Speaking of Achan, the only things that he kept in the whole town were purple cloth and precious metals. No mention of anyone trying to save one of the children. Everything in Jericho was destroyed, children included. I’m not sure why this had to be, but I can promise you that it broke Gods heart to do it. Everything I know about the Lord tells me that He loves children. For some reason, this couldn’t be avoided, or God would have avoided it. I guess we won’t know until heaven.
The second thing that I sometimes miss is the angel of the Lord standing in the middle of the road. He self identifies as the Commander of the Lord’s Army, which means that God has an army, with a rank structure. I hadn’t thought too much about that, but there is a heavenly army, we hear more about them in the book of Revelation.
It’s what the Angel says that is compelling. When asked if he is a friend or foe, he replies “neither”. Now, think about that for a minute. According to this guy, the human race is not an ally of heaven, there isn’t a special relationship where heaven agrees to come to the defense of anyone in particular on earth. And, heaven isn’t opposed to anyone on earth just because they are human. If you do what God says, you are on HIS side…too often we say (and I am guilty of this) that “God is on our side”. No He’s not. God is on His own side, and you are either with Him or you aren’t. You don’t have a side that identifies with you. You are either with God or you oppose Him. those are the only two sides. I’ll bet the Angel had to stifle a laugh to hear a human asking if he was “on our side”. Ha ha. Seriously.
That helps provide some context to everyday life for me. God has a plan and a purpose, He has a direction that He wants me to go, and place that He wants me to arrive at. In order to arrive there, I need to remain obedient, even when my obedience doesn’t seem related to the outcome. And I need to remember that God isn’t opposed to humans, only to those who don’t do His will, whether human or angelic. God doesn’t hate the people of the Middle East, or the Far East, or the West for that matter. He makes that opinion based on how they respond to His revelation of Himself.
God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. The prophecies fulfilled testify that it’s true. Jesus states it himself, and proves it beyond doubt by rising from the dead and ascending into heaven. There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ is God, and if we want to be on God’s side then we must accept that fact. That implies obedience to everything that Jesus commanded: if you love me, you will obey my commands.
Look it up. So I can say with confidence that Jesus is interested in our obedience, and angered by our disobedience, especially our worship of anyone or anything that isn’t HIM. Worshiping anyone besides the Creator, the authentic and genuine God, will not end well for us. If society accepts some activities as legal, and yet the Bible speaks against them, we have no choice but to follow the Bible. Disobedience will lead to defeat in battle just as surely as Achan’s sin led to defeat for Israel.
If your actions and activities or your habits were examined, what side do they place you on? Is your confession on record in heaven that you are surrendered to God, and relying on Him for victory? Refreshing that is always a good idea.
Faithfully,
PR