Karen? No, Cherem! - Part 3
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].
Achan was charged with six crimes. Consequences followed. Let’s see what they were.
The next city attacked by the Israelites was Ai. Though Ai was a rinky dink hick town, those few souls in Ai whupped Israel’s rear end and sent them packing! You see, the Israelites sinned by stealing some of King Yahweh’s Firstfruits. They cheated on their taxes, to employ a contemporary phrase. Until the sin was judged by all Israel, they were officially cherem. They took the cherem, so they became cherem along with the cherem they took.
It didn’t matter that only Achan took the cherem. The Law applied to the entire congregation of Israel, and they had to enforce it. They didn’t, so they paid the price at Ai. When they finally did judge the sin, they no longer had the cherem among them and accordingly were no longer cherem themselves. So they returned to Ai and destroyed that city because the Lord again fought for Israel.
There is a powerful invisible spiritual truth taught by the concept of cherem. We want to investigate this teaching because it is a heavy message we dare not miss out on.
Because Achan stole the cherem, he himself—along with those in cahoots with him, viz., his family—were also cherem. This means they and all their possessions had to be utterly destroyed too. Listen:
And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones [Joshua 7:25].
Doesn’t that seem wrong to you? Do you see overkill there? I mean, they stoned them to death and then they burned their bodies and property with fire! Why bother to burn them after they were dead? Can the Lord really be that vindictive?
In response, would you rather the Lord had them burned alive? The Lord, you see, taught spiritual truth by means of Achan’s judgment. This truth required that Achan be burned to cinders. Having Achan killed by stoning first was merciful, compared to simply having him burned alive. So, no, the Lord wasn’t being vindictive with Achan.
In our next study we will see why the Lord had Achan burned after he was dead. For the time being let’s meditate on what the Lord has taught us today.
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...
Achan was charged with six crimes. Consequences followed. Let’s see what they were.
The next city attacked by the Israelites was Ai. Though Ai was a rinky dink hick town, those few souls in Ai whupped Israel’s rear end and sent them packing! You see, the Israelites sinned by stealing some of King Yahweh’s Firstfruits. They cheated on their taxes, to employ a contemporary phrase. Until the sin was judged by all Israel, they were officially cherem. They took the cherem, so they became cherem along with the cherem they took.
It didn’t matter that only Achan took the cherem. The Law applied to the entire congregation of Israel, and they had to enforce it. They didn’t, so they paid the price at Ai. When they finally did judge the sin, they no longer had the cherem among them and accordingly were no longer cherem themselves. So they returned to Ai and destroyed that city because the Lord again fought for Israel.
There is a powerful invisible spiritual truth taught by the concept of cherem. We want to investigate this teaching because it is a heavy message we dare not miss out on.
Because Achan stole the cherem, he himself—along with those in cahoots with him, viz., his family—were also cherem. This means they and all their possessions had to be utterly destroyed too. Listen:
And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones [Joshua 7:25].
Doesn’t that seem wrong to you? Do you see overkill there? I mean, they stoned them to death and then they burned their bodies and property with fire! Why bother to burn them after they were dead? Can the Lord really be that vindictive?
In response, would you rather the Lord had them burned alive? The Lord, you see, taught spiritual truth by means of Achan’s judgment. This truth required that Achan be burned to cinders. Having Achan killed by stoning first was merciful, compared to simply having him burned alive. So, no, the Lord wasn’t being vindictive with Achan.
In our next study we will see why the Lord had Achan burned after he was dead. For the time being let’s meditate on what the Lord has taught us today.
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...
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