In the book of Joshua, we learned how Achan began to confess his sin of taking the accursed thing by saying, “Then I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD”, and in chapter seven and verse twenty-four of the book of Joshua, we learn how, “Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan … to the valley of Achor” where we read,
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 unto the valley of Achor.
The verse reads, “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:” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and Joshua” whose name means “Jehovah is salvation”, “and all Israel with him” or “and each, every, the whole and everyone of the people of Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”, “took Achan the son of Zerah” which means “seized and lay hold of Achan whose name means troubler the male offspring and progeny belonging to Zerah whose name means rising”, “and the silver” or “and the silver metal”, “and the garment” which means “and the article of clothing”, “and the wedge of gold” or “and the tongue-shaped gold metal”, “and his sons” which means “and his, Achan’s, male offspring and progeny”, “and his daughters” or “and his, Achan’s, female offspring and progeny”, “and his oxen” which means “and his, Achan’s, oxen, bulls or cattle”, “and his asses” or “and his, Achan’s, donkeys”, “and his sheep” which means “and his, Achan's small cattle such as sheep”, “and his tent” or “and his, Achan’s, temporary dwelling place”, “and all that he had” which means “and each, every, the whole and everything that he, Achan, held, owned and possessed”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Achan, the silver, the garment, the gold, his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys, sheep, temporary dwelling place and everything Achan possessed” were seized by “Joshua”.
The verse goes on to say, “and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “and they brought them” which means “and they, the people who gathered and carried everything Achan possessed” “unto the valley of Achor” or “to the lowland and open country belonging to Achor whose name means trouble or disturbance”. Joshua or the writer shared how everything “Achan” possessed was gathered together and carried to the lowland of “Achor” for the reason we shall discover in our next verse.
When we consider the words in this verse, we discover the next step taken by Joshua to eradicate the sin from the people of Israel. Everything “Achan” owned and possessed including his family were taken to the lowland of “Achor” which means “trouble or disturbance”. When we use our imaginations we can almost see this process and the difficulty it caused for everyone involved. Sin has consequences, and “Achan’s” sin not only affected him, but also his family and the people of Israel. This is not the way God wanted it to be, and He doesn’t want this for our lives either. God loves us so much that He has given us commands that keep us from these horrible consequences, and He sent His Son Jesus into the world to be crucified on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days so when we yield our lives to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and keep us following His ways so we need not suffer for our wrongdoing.
Next time we learn how “Joshua said, Why have you troubled us?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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