Karen? No, Cherem! - Part 2
Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed…And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones [Joshua 7:11-12, 25].
The Firstfruits always belonged to the Lord, but He cannot use it if it is unclean. What was to be done with it under that situation?
I got it. Let’s give it to the poor. Uh, that would be a no. The Lord’s people were not permitted to contact ritual uncleanness either, or they became unclean and out of fellowship with the Lord and His people. The long and the short of the matter is this, dear friends. The Lord couldn’t use ritually unclean things and neither could His people. What’s more, the things which belonged to the Lord could not be used by others, even if those things were clean.
The solution was that all suchlike things were put under the “ban”, “devoted to destruction”, cherem. Since they belonged to the Lord and He could have nothing to do with them, they were utterly destroyed. That is what it meant to be under the ban or to be cherem. The items were literally “devoted to destruction”.
The Israelites crossed the Jordan River under Joshua’s leadership to conquer the Promised Land. The first city they attacked was Jericho, the city of palms. This made Jericho the Firstfruits of the Promised Land, so all its people and property belonged to the Lord.
Trouble was, Jericho was a heathen city, living under paganism and idolatry. Accordingly, Jericho was “ritually unclean”, making it unusable by the Lord. Ergo, Jericho was cherem, under the ban, devoted to destruction. The Israelites were commanded to utterly destroy every person and thing in Jericho.
One Israelite, a certain Achan ben Carmi, saw some valuables he liked in Jericho. He fixed his eyes on them and lusted after them, until sin won out and he stole them. He took them to his tent and hid them there. Here’s the list of crimes with which the Lord charged Achan:
1. sinned
2. transgressed the covenant
3. took things under the ban
4. stole
5. deceived
6. put banned things with his own possessions
You may read the verses quoted at the start of this study to confirm that Achan was charged with those six crimes.
Well, criminals must be tried and sentenced justly, so consequences followed Achan’s crimes. We’ll assay them in our next study. Jesus calls us at this time. Let us arise and go to Him.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Firstfruits always belonged to the Lord, but He cannot use it if it is unclean. What was to be done with it under that situation?
I got it. Let’s give it to the poor. Uh, that would be a no. The Lord’s people were not permitted to contact ritual uncleanness either, or they became unclean and out of fellowship with the Lord and His people. The long and the short of the matter is this, dear friends. The Lord couldn’t use ritually unclean things and neither could His people. What’s more, the things which belonged to the Lord could not be used by others, even if those things were clean.
The solution was that all suchlike things were put under the “ban”, “devoted to destruction”, cherem. Since they belonged to the Lord and He could have nothing to do with them, they were utterly destroyed. That is what it meant to be under the ban or to be cherem. The items were literally “devoted to destruction”.
The Israelites crossed the Jordan River under Joshua’s leadership to conquer the Promised Land. The first city they attacked was Jericho, the city of palms. This made Jericho the Firstfruits of the Promised Land, so all its people and property belonged to the Lord.
Trouble was, Jericho was a heathen city, living under paganism and idolatry. Accordingly, Jericho was “ritually unclean”, making it unusable by the Lord. Ergo, Jericho was cherem, under the ban, devoted to destruction. The Israelites were commanded to utterly destroy every person and thing in Jericho.
One Israelite, a certain Achan ben Carmi, saw some valuables he liked in Jericho. He fixed his eyes on them and lusted after them, until sin won out and he stole them. He took them to his tent and hid them there. Here’s the list of crimes with which the Lord charged Achan:
1. sinned
2. transgressed the covenant
3. took things under the ban
4. stole
5. deceived
6. put banned things with his own possessions
You may read the verses quoted at the start of this study to confirm that Achan was charged with those six crimes.
Well, criminals must be tried and sentenced justly, so consequences followed Achan’s crimes. We’ll assay them in our next study. Jesus calls us at this time. Let us arise and go to Him.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
No comments have been added yet.
