From my recent bible reading.....
Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites are conquering the land that God has promised them and one of the first cities to go is Jericho. After marching around it once a day for 6 days and 7 times on the 7th day, they blow their trumpets and shout and the walls "come tumbling down" ... and a man named Achan decides that God was probably only half-serious when he said, "Destroy everything in the city. Don't keep ANYTHING". He steals some things and hides them in the ground under his tent.
When they go next to fight Ai, they are defeated and end up running away! God reveals to Joshua that the reason for the defeat is because there is sin in the camp... and once it is discovered that Achan is the guilty party... and he and his whole family are dragged outside the city and stoned (guess God was fully serious).... God tells Joshua to go and fight Ai again. This time God turns the whole "Achan fiasco" into a strategy. He sends half the army to pick a fight and run away again. While the enemy army pursues them thinking, "They're running away again! Those losers!", the other half of the Israelite army will attack from the other side of the city (where they have secretly camped) and while the city is unguarded, conquer the city. Of course... it works.
Isn't that so like God? How often has He taken a big mess in your life and turned it around, USED IT, and made something awesome out of it? I don't know why or how He does it most of the time, but He is the Master at it.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
3 comments:
This story does not fit well with those who believe that God will not judge those who do not follow His will. Of course, it is the Old Testament so it could not possibly apply to today! ;-)
I was going to talk about Achan's fate, but decided not to because I wanted the post to be encouraging! Ha ha! But, obviously Achan's problem was in his heart... unrepentance. God always sees the heart... which sometimes comforts me and sometimes scares me to death! But I just trust God to know what He is doing when it comes to judgement.
It is interesting that you wrote about that story - good though. It has always been one of the hardest stories in the bible for me to read - especially when I was a new Christian. I get it, but it is hard for me to explain to someone else (like my children for example) why God would kill Achan's whole family like that.
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