Hidden Treasures

Joshua 7

God specifically said everything in Jericho must be destroyed except for the gold, silver, bronze and iron, and that is to be given to the Tabernacle. But Achan wasn't listening.

After the fall of Jericho, Joshua sent spies to Ai. The spies came back saying 'No problem. There aren't very many people there, just a few thousand of us can take them.' So he sent those few thousand men to Ai and they became afraid. Thirty-six men were killed and the Isrealites lost their faith.

Now even Joshua began to blame God. 'Why did you have to bring us here, to kill us? We were just fine on the other side of the Jordan. It was nice enough. Now all the Amorites and Canaanites will hear this and they will come kill us.'

Wow, how many times, when things get hard, do I do the same thing? God wins a battle with Satan and I'm feeling good and suddenly something tries to kill me and all faith is lost. I begin to whine to God. "Now look. Everyone's going to see what happened and they're gonna start talking..."

God quickly called Joshua out of this despair. "Isreal sinned", God reveals, "they are cursed because they took what didn't belong to them--after I told them to destroy it." He continues to tell Joshua to get up and find out who did it and destroy those things or else they are on their own. Following God's commands, Joshua brough the people before him tribe by tribe, family by family, household by household, person by person. Finally, Achan was taken and when asked, confessed to taking silver and gold and hiding them beneath his tent. Everything that belonged to Achan, including his wife and children, were taken to the Valley of Achor, and they were stoned and burned. Destroying Achan and his property was the only way to destroy the sin in the tribe. Removing the sin was the only way for the people to be redeemed. Fortunately for us, Christ made that redemption possible for us. Through His death, our sin has been removed.

Notice that Achan hid the treasure? He wanted it so badly that he stole it, yet when it was his, he couldn't even enjoy it because he had to hide it to keep from being found out. I frequently read the blog Encouragement for Today by Proverbs 31 Ministries. In today's entry, Lisa Whittle talks about the secret thins in our heart--"those secret places that reside deep within our soul that we keep hidden from others and even try to hide from God?" She notes "The crafty, conniving one knows that if he can get us to continue to bury our secret places deep within our heart, we can’t be effective for God. He knows that thoughts of our private sins will eventually eat away at us, causing us to feel fraudulent and unworthy of the love and acceptance of others, and most of all, our Heavenly Father." Whittle goes on to remind us of the redemption we have in Jesus Christ and gives practical ways of combating those secret-keeping habits.

The people then built a memorial of stones in the Valley of Achor. This memorial reminded them that disobedience brings destruction, but also repentence brings redemption. In my Memorials post, I mentioned memorial stones in our spiritual lives. Brian commented, "...Some remind us of times when we were just plain stupid and others are very painful...." The memorial built in the Valley of Achor is one such set of stones. They remind Isreal of a time when they messed up and found themselves on their face in destruction. But when we look back on these stones, they also remind us of the forgiveness and mercy of Christ and what He brought us from.

Memorials

When all the people had crossed the Jordan, God had Joshua get 12 men to gather stones from the middle of the river to take with them when they camped that night. These stones were to be built into a memorial so the people had something physical to remind them about the wonders God had done that day. When their children saw these stones and ask what they mean, the people were to tell them of the time God stopped the waters of the Jordan river. (Joshua 4)

We too, put up stones as memorials. Cemetaries are full of them. Stones put up where we bury our loved ones and something is usually etched on these stones in order to remind us what they meant to us. Just as the Isrealites were told to remember and pass along to future generations what God did, we are to pass along to future generations what God has done for us--and we have memorials to remind us.

I recently went on a couple of memorial tours with my grandparents. The days were filled with cemetary tours (complete with my taking photos), but we did more than just look at peices of stone. At each stop, my grandparents would tell me stories of those whose names we read on the stones. "Grandmother was a lady. She always sat up straight and only crossed her legs at the ankles. The only negative comment I ever heard her make was if she was really frustrated, she would sometimes say 'well dog my cats." Not only were there scores of stories of people, which I only pray I remember long enough to write some of them down (really need to go on another trip so I can get these down), but there were stories of places. "I used to ride my bike down this road to school. My old girlfriend lived there. That's where my grandmother went to church." My grandparents made sure I knew that our family was made of believers. They weren't all happy stories, but they reminded me how Christ was always there for them. "That's the graves of your great-grandmother's sisters. They were killed in the tornado in 1936. That's where my brother and his fiance' died the day before they got married."

We also have memorials in our spiritual lives. People, places, dates, and things that remind us of significant events on our Spiritual journey. They aren't always happy memories, but they tell of a time when we experienced the move of God. I was going to list mine here, but I think that's another post. What's the purpose of these memorials? Theres two: 1) to remind you what God did for you and 2) so when your children ask "what's that?," you can tell them what God did for you and they too will know God is real and His hand is mighty.