CHAPTER 7 THE SIN OF ACHAN AND FAILURE AT AI. Because of the sin of Achan, when they advanced on Ai, the children of Israel were smitten and put to flight by ‘the men of Ai'. This gave Joshua and the elders of the people great concern, both for Israel and for the name of YHWH. This was expressed by... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.' Meanwhile scouts were sent through the gap in the mountains to discover the next obstacle before them and the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three eleph men go up and smite Ai, and do not make all the people toil up to it, for they are but few.” ' The scouts did not see Ai as a large obstacle. They recommended only sending three units... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So there went up there of the people about three eleph men, and they fled before the men of Ai.' The three units soon discovered that Ai was tougher than they had expected. The men there were experienced fighting men, ever being the first to meet invasion that came over the Jordan and through the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty six men, for they chased them from in front of the gate even to the quarries (or Shebarim), and smote them on the descent, for which reason the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.' The men of Israel reached the gates of the city no doubt... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of YHWH until the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust on their heads.' Meanwhile Joshua was desperately concerned to discover what had gone wrong. The tearing of clothes in a formal way was an ancient meth... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua said, “Alas! O Lord YHWH, why have you at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? Would that we had been content and dwelt beyond Jordan. Oh YHWH, what shall I say after that Israel have turned their backs on their enemies... [ Continue Reading ]
Joshua 7:10 a ‘And YHWH said to Joshua, “Get yourself up. Why do you lie on your face? Israel has sinned.” ' After they had been at prayer for some while and evening came YHWH spoke to Joshua. Perhaps it was by a voice that could be heard, or possibly it was by words impressed on the brain, but ei... [ Continue Reading ]
“ That is why the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies because they are become devoted. I will not be with you any more until you remove the devoted thing from among you.” Because the devoted thing was among them they too were devoted t... [ Continue Reading ]
“ Get up, sanctify the people and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, for thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, there is a devoted thing in your midst, Oh Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies, until you take away the devoted thing from among you.' ” So Joshua was commanded to rise and... [ Continue Reading ]
“ In the morning therefore you will be brought near by your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which YHWH selects shall come near by families, and the family which YHWH shall select shall come near by households, and the household which the Lord shall take shall come near man by man.” We do not... [ Continue Reading ]
“ And it shall be that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of YHWH, and because he has wrought folly in Israel.” Anything devoted had to be burnt with fire. By taking the devoted thing the culprit had made... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected.' Joshua always rose early on special occasions. Perhaps it was in order to pray before acting. Or perhaps he was concerned to obey YHWH as quickly as possible. (How good it would b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he brought the family of Judah near, and he selected the family of the Zerahites. And he brought the family of the Zerahites near, man by man, and Zabdi was selected. And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of J... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give, I pray you, glory to YHWH, the God of Israel, and make confession to him, and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” ' This was a stern legal adjuration. To ‘give glory to YHWH' in such circumstances was to be open with the truth (compare... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Achan answered Joshua, and said, “Truly I have sinned against YHWH, the God of Israel, and these are the things that I have done (literally ‘thus and thus have I done'). When I saw among the spoils a beautiful robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge (‘a tongue') of gold... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver under it.' Joshua immediately insisted on the stolen items being produced. They were part of what was devoted and must therefore be carefully dealt with. The men he sent went with haste. All... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to the children of Israel, and they poured them out before YHWH.' The recovery of these devoted things not only concerned Joshua but the whole of Israel. All were involved and concerned for their recovery. All would ben... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor.' No one, least of a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? YHWH will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. And they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.' Joshua's declaration was not vindictive. It was a public declaration of the reason for what was being done, a judicial s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they raised over him a great heap of stones, to this day, and YHWH turned from the fierceness of his anger, for which reason the name of the place was called the valley of Achor to this day.' The heap of stones, partly gathered from the stones hurled in execution, was a witness (Joshua 4:21;... [ Continue Reading ]