Awaken Bible Prophecy Update 3-1-23: The Lesson of Achan

What is it about the church today; why is it the walk believers have with Jesus Christ has such little power?  Not only that, why do so many Christians seemingly have such little favor and so few blessings from the Lord?

The reason is plain as day in the writings of the Old Testament, yet because some pastors want to “unhitch” Christians from the Old Testament and so few people consistently, regularly read the entire Bible, the answer is hidden and available only to those who seek out the Lord through His holy Word.

God wants to bless those He calls His own.  He wanted to bless Israel – His Chosen People.  He wants to bless us who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.  But, He cannot – will not – pour out His favor and blessings because of a very simple step so many of us miss in the Christian life.

We’ll explore this easily remedied aspect of our relationship with God today as we study in the book of Joshua what I call The Lesson of Achan.  Additionally, we’ll see what the implications are for these final days prior to the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church.

First, we pray, then read from God’s Word.  After that, we’ll study how to change the circumstances many of us face.  Perhaps this will be of help to some folks.

 

 

Transcript:

What is it about the church today; why is it the walk believers have with Jesus Christ has such little power?  Not only that, why do so many Christians seemingly have such little favor and so few blessings from the Lord?

 

The reason is plain as day in the writings of the Old Testament, yet because some pastors want to “unhitch” Christians from the Old Testament and so few people consistently, regularly read the entire Bible, the answer is hidden and available only to those who seek out the Lord through His holy Word.

 

God wants to bless those He calls His own.  He wanted to bless Israel – His Chosen People.  He wants to bless us who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.  But, He cannot – will not – pour out His favor and blessings because of a very simple step so many of us miss in the Christian life.

 

We’ll explore this easily remedied aspect of our relationship with God today as we study in the book of Joshua what I call The Lesson of Achan.  Additionally, we’ll see what the implications are for these final days prior to the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church.

 

First, we pray, then read from God’s Word.  After that, we’ll study how to change the circumstances many of us face.  Perhaps this will be of help to some folks.

 

<PRAY>

 

Scripture

John 14:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

 

John 15:14

“You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

 

 

The Lesson of Achan

 

  • In the Founders’ Bible there’s a succinct and very pertinent quote concerning the children of Israel:

 

In the book of Exodus, it took only forty hours to get Israel out of Egypt, but in the book of Numbers it takes forty years to get Egypt out of Israel.

 

  • In other words, God can accomplish quickly what it takes man a long time to achieve
  • In Egypt the people of Israel had been exposed to and ruled by the pantheon of gods that Pharoah and that nation worshiped
  • For 400 years they’d heard and seen nothing but reverence and fear for the 1500+ gods that oversaw every aspect of Egyptian life
  • When Yahweh came along to remind the Israelites that He had a covenant with them which He’d made through their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – they had a distant memory of Him but that’s all it was
  • The other gods in Egypt were so much in their face that comprehending a God greater than them all who would deliver them out of slavery was almost impossible for the people to believe
  • However, Yahweh demonstrated His might, power, and authority over these many gods through the Ten Plagues in what we call a polemic attack
  • According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “The meaning of polemic is an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another.”
  • God came against these lesser beings that had set themselves up as the numerous gods of Egypt and one after another knocked them off their pedestals
  • Finally, with the 10th Plague against the firstborn, Yahweh showed that Pharaoh himself was not a god as he proclaimed
  • God made good on His promise to break the bondage of slavery and to remove His people from the land they’d spent so much time in learning all the wrong theology
  • Of course, we know the story
  • When they came to the point of crossing into that promised Land, Moses sent the 12 chieftains from every tribe of Israel, and despite the good account of the land, 10 of them fearfully reported that the sons of Anak, the giants which possessed it, were too powerful to overcome
  • These were real giants, descendants of the Nephilim – now called Rephaim – and the land swarmed with them
  • In their flesh, those 10 men weren’t incorrect that it was impossible for Israel to overcome them
  • But Joshua and Caleb believed God
  • He had done what He’d said He would do in delivering them from Egypt, and He would do the same against these fearsome enemies
  • Of course, the balance of the Israelites followed the 10 chiefs and Israel didn’t cross into the Promised Land at that time
  • This evidence of unbelief caused God to punish them such that they were fated to wander in the wilderness for 40 years
  • It was only after this first generation – the Exodus generation – died out completely, except for Joshua and Caleb, that God brought Israel across the Jordan River
  • Now the 2nd generation – the children who their parents thought would die in such a crossing – was actually the one that God allowed to continue His work
  • What was that work?
  • They had to rid the land of the giant tribes
  • As preparation prior to crossing the Jordan, God had them move northward along the eastern side of the river to attack and destroy the remaining giants there
  • Previously the people of Moab and Edom – under God’s protective hand – had removed the giants in their nations
  • That left the Amorites to the north led by Kings Sihon and Og
  • Again, because God was with Israel, these vicious kings were no problem for the Israelites to dispatch
  • Having done so, they were ready for whatever came their way on the west side of the Jordan
  • First up was Jericho, and God delivered His instructions in Joshua 6:17:

 

And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.

 

  • What did God mean when He specified that a city and/or people should be devoted to destruction?
  • According to gotquestions.org:

 

The Hebrew word used here is charam, meaning “to curse, annihilate, or destroy.” The literal interpretation is that the Hebrew person who sacrificed to another god was to be put to death. Idolaters received capital punishment.

 

  • Thus, being devoted to destruction meant a complete annihilation because the object of this action, i.e. a person or a people group, followed and sacrificed to a pagan god who was rebellious and antagonistic toward Yahweh
  • The key reason for God’s severe punishment on particular tribes and their cities was because they were descendants of the Nephilim
  • Their DNA contained non-human elements
  • Their bloodlines weren’t fully human
  • Interestingly, they were all descendants of Noah’s son Ham, which is another discussion for another time
  • As a result, God required these peoples to be eradicated so that they would not intermarry with the Israelites
  • The descendant line of Jesus and the people He came to save had to be 100% human with no contamination from the fall of God’s rebellious sons as recounted in Genesis 6
  • In the accounts of Israel’s taking of the land of Canaan, you’ll note that not all tribes or cities received this absolute eradication penalty
  • It was only those with the potential to thwart God’s plans and purposes for all mankind going forward
  • That sets the stage for what comes in Joshua 7
  • Immediately in Joshua 7:1 we learn the following:

 

But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

 

  • This is the preface to the account of Achan, whose actions were opposed to the Lord’s commands and which threatened the integrity of the people
  • In the rout of Jericho, everything in the city was to be devoted to destruction by either being destroyed or – in the case of various material assets – placed in God’s treasury
  • But one person violated this command, although Israel didn’t realize it at first
  • Fresh off the victory at Jericho, Joshua sent spies to check out the city of Ai
  • The men came back and said that destroying it would be a piece of cake
  • In fact, it would be so easy to take the city that Joshua only needed to send 3000 men to do so
  • To Israel’s surprise, the attacking squad was routed and they fled with their tales between their legs
  • Whatever went wrong?
  • Two things:
    • #1 – You’ll note in the account that Joshua neglected to consult the Lord for His guidance in going after the enemy; perhaps in doing so, Joshua would have learned about the second issue
    • #2 – In Joshua 7:10-12 we learn the major transgression which has occurred that has caused Israel to lose God’s favor:

 

The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

 

  • This is really bad
  • God commanded Israel to devote everything to destruction that they plundered from Jericho
  • One man – one man! – was not obedient to that command
  • As God then says in Joshua 7:13:

 

“There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 

 

  • God then has Joshua find the culprit
  • One by one the tribes stands before the Lord and He shows Joshua who is at fault
  • After the tribe is found, then the households come before God
  • With that, Achan is determined to be guilty
  • Why would he do such a foolish thing as to disobey God?
  • We learn the reason is Joshua 7:20-21 where Achan says:

 

“Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

 

  • We see it was lust and greed rising up in Achan – so powerful that he sinned against God to steal these few possessions
  • One man’s sin!
  • Did he think he’d get away with his theft and disobedience?
  • Surely he knew the penalty for transgressing the Word of the Lord
  • I wonder how many believers today know that there are penalties for transgressing God’s Word, but do it anyway?
  • The punishment was then carried out as noted in Joshua 7:25:

 

And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

 

  • The penalty was great for this man, yet the punishment was just because all Israel knew what God had told them
  • In executing this judgment, it had the desired effect, namely as we see in Joshua 7:26:

 

Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. 

 

  • Do you hear that?
  • For this sin of disobeying the Lord, it riled Him to the extent that He burned with anger
  • When God tells someone something, it’s obviously wise to heed that Word
  • Otherwise, severe consequences may result
  • God’s grace is expansive, but sin corrodes our relationship with the Lord
  • Following the routing out of this sin, Joshua apparently consulted with God for what they should do next for God tells him that it’s now okay to attack Ai in the manner He prescribes
  • Checking with God what one should do, and then doing it as He says to, brings the Lord’s favor
  • Ai is subsequently subdued, and Israel moves on

 

  • What does this have to do with us today?
  • The question we have to ask is: How many people who call themselves Christians – who, in fact, are actually born again – live their lives against the commands of the Lord and still expect His favor and blessings?
  • But, how can God pour out good things upon His people if they disobey His commands?
  • Listen, as Scripture tells us, God rains on the just and the unjust
  • However, the just should know better
  • They have no excuse, yet many believers rarely do better
  • We know that there is great Biblical illiteracy in the church
  • People simply don’t read their Bibles
  • If they do to some extent, it’s more like they read a verse and the devotional from Our Daily Bread and think they’re good to go with God
  • Nothing against Our Daily Bread
  • I subscribe and read it
  • But that is only the appetizer
  • No one eats the carrot sticks and walks away full from the dinner table
  • We want the meat!
  • So it should be with God’s Word, but sadly it’s not
  • As a result, Christians today don’t even know what God wants
  • They don’t know Biblical history and they have no sense of the lessons that the New Testament teaches us, let alone the Old Testament
  • For Christians to expect God’s blessing and to ignore what He tells them . . .
  • For them to disregard how He shows us how to walk out this Christian faith. . .
  • Then to expect Him to answer their prayers. . .
  • It’s not going to happen unless He foreknows that by doing so, a person will definitely grow in his faith
  • But I seriously doubt that every such answered prayer will result in growth of that nature
  • So, God won’t answer it
  • The prayers of these Christians may as well be hitting a brass ceiling – which they likely do in one form or another
  • The Lesson of Achan is one of obedience
  • Only be living rightly according to the Word of the Lord do we have His favor
  • I’m not talking here about works salvation
  • I’m speaking, about first and foremost, the heart condition that draws a person to God and makes him want to obey all that He says
  • Achan didn’t have it
  • Or if he did, he chose not to heed it
  • His lust for things was greater than his love of God
  • How many today who are truly saved are in this same situation?
  • They love the world
  • They desire its pleasures
  • Certainly, not all of them are bad and harmful by any means. . .
  • Family – children – even working in God’s kingdom to do good things. . .
  • But if the realization isn’t there that this isn’t our home. . .
  • That this is an alien place. . .
  • That Jesus has commanded us to seek first the kingdom of heaven. . .
  • To have their heart in the right place focused on our heavenly home rather than this earthly one. . .
  • That’s a problem
  • And it causes God to withhold His blessings
  • He wants to pour them out
  • But He simply won’t bless a lifestyle – particularly a heart condition – that sets Him aside in favor of the things of this world
  • This is why we miss so much of what God wants for us
  • I imagine that Achan in his last moments wished that he had heard the call of God upon him and sought the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength
  • His story would have turned out so much for the better
  • How about our stories?
  • Will they turn out like we want or what God wants?

2 Responses to “Awaken Bible Prophecy Update 3-1-23: The Lesson of Achan”

  1. Reply Jim Eastman

    Tough message but good for us to hear. We must be totally committed to the Lord. There are too many feel good messages in churches today. We need to examine ourselves daily and repent while there is still time.

  2. Reply Pamela P.

    So true! Both James and John make this very plain, in fact they couldn’t be more blunt and direct about it:
    Friendship with the world is enmity with God. (James 4:4)
    If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
    I find it terribly sad that so many believers here are still so tied to this world. Neither Father God nor Jesus are first place in their hearts. Nor is His plan and agenda for their future: a relocation, a wedding, a honeymoon and a new kingdom to help rule. How the tawdry activities and things of this world pale in comparison!

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