“THE BOOK OF JOSHUA ~ a Type & Shadow” A-034 (02-02-22) Joshua 7:16-21
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● Joshua 7:16 (New English Translation) says, “Bright and early the next morning Joshua made Israel approach in tribal order {Hb. by tribes}, and the tribe of Judah was selected.”
● Here we find that the process of searching out and punishing the guilty party continues. Four times we read in the book of Joshua that he rose early in the morning to deal with this injustice that had been committed. The point is that we see how Joshua was not one to procrastinate when something needed to be dealt with.
● Joshua 7:17 (NET) says, “He then made the clans of Judah approach, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He made the clan of the Zerahites approach, and Zabdi was selected.”
● From the NET footnotes, we see a translator's note (tn) saying that the Hebrew reads, “and he selected Zabdi.”
● Achan did not come forth voluntarily to confess or repent and throw himself on the mercy of God. His failure to do so revealed a heart attitude such as that of the prodigal son in the New Testament.
● Joshua 7:18 (NET) says, “He then made Zabdi’s {Hb. his} family approach man by man {Hb. by man} and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected.”
● Joshua approached this family “man by man” or “name by name” and Zabdi was selected.
● Joshua 7:19 (NET) says, “So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, honor {Hb. give glory to} the LORD God of Israel and give him praise! Tell me what you did; don’t hide anything from me.”
● In the Old Testament, Holy Spirit had a way of working through various leaders who followed the voice of the Lord, so that when something went wrong, it could be made right again. Through Joshua, salvation was brought to the Achan who was troubled over his wrongdoing.
● Joshua 7:20 (NET) says, “Achan told Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel in this way:”
● The process leading to Achan’s mistaken identity issue was a familiar one. He saw, he coveted, and he took. Just because we think there was no grace in the Old Testament is not true. Grace is a Person, who created you with salvation within, which for me from a theological mindset is the rescuing of our understanding or thoughts.
● Achan’s confession, while honest, was too late and it was the product of discovery because it was not based on an act of repentance or of godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Like some, he just got caught.
● Joshua 7:21 (NET) says, “I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, 200 silver pieces, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent, with the silver underneath.”
● There seems to be three concluding points in this chapter which are #1 sin needs to be dealt with honestly and decisively. Of course, when we refer to sin we're talking about a state of mistaken identity.
● The second thing is that Achan’s choice to steal from God’s treasury is said to have grown from out of the soil of dissatisfaction within him. This is why we are encouraged to enter into God’s rest, which is the same rest we were created in. And His rest is too be a state of being relaxed in our thinking and not worried, or stressed about anything, but to simply trust Him as our Father period.
● One of the problems we face when we think we are trusting the Father is the pressure of taking matters into our own hands concerning what we are believing for. In failure, we find that our contentment in the Eternal Christ, in Father’s love and grace toward us should be enough to establish a trust-relationship. It is apparent that much of our trouble is caused by a great deal of our own self-made misery and sinful behavior out of the mistaken identity we still possess.
● Finally, it would be helpful to note that when Achan sinned from out of his own mistaken identity, there was sin in the camp of Israel, and it was said that the blessing and strength of God was halted and that nation met with discipline and failure. The point is that even though we have looked at what the Old Testament mindset seemed to be like, the fact is that once our mistaken identity is dealt with, the grace and blessing that was always there, still flows in our lives, but in our minds it is no longer interrupted.
● This is why we are reminded that AREAS OF KNOWN SIN in our lives can seem to create a barrier within in our thinking between us and the Lord, simply when we revert back to the old mindset of the lie of separation just because of the things we fall into, when we know better. I hope you were enlightened and inspired to “dig deep into the well of Father’s mind within” as you watch this video lesson!