Get up!

“1-But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel. 2-Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the country." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3-And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few." 4-So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. 5-And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
(Joshua 7:1-5)

The children of Israel had just utterly destroyed Jericho and all its inhabitants. An immensely fortified city with its forty foot high by forty foot wide surrounding walls dropped into the ground like a pancake and fell flat creating perhaps the first paved sidewalk or walking trek around the outskirts of the city. Scripture says, “the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.”[i]

With this acclaimed fame and power, Joshua began to plot his next military campaign of advancement into the newly acquired Promise Land. Joshua sent a pre-war assessment team to help strategize for their upcoming acquisition. The team came back from examining the city of Ai, with high spirits and overwhelming assurance of victory. Because the people of Ai were few, they estimated that it would only take two or three thousand men to capture and overcome Ai.

Israel, by all calculations was set for a victory. However, before they even made it to the gates of the city, thirty-six men were struck down. The hearts of the Israelites began to melt and they ran for their lives.

When the news of defeat reaches Joshua, he is heart stricken. Scripture says,

6-Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7-And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all-to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 8-"O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? 9-"For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth.
Then what will You do for Your great name?"
(Joshua 7:6-9)

Even Joshua’s perspective seems to have all of the sudden become vexed, he is disoriented and disillusioned. This is Joshua, the commander of the children of Israel. He even laments that they would have been better off having never attempted to enter into the Promise Land. It’s amazing how fast discouraging instances can inflict the human-heart with pessimism, defeat, doubt and despair. Joshua’s perspective is warped and his pity-prayers are directed down the wrong track. God simply responds,

“Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?”
(Joshua 7:10)

“Get up!" God in essence said, “Get up! And stop the pity-party. Enough pouting already, you’re looking at this thing all wrong.” He continues with clarification,

"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.”
(Joshua 7:11)

This passage gives us powerful insight into God’s perspective on a community. Verse one tells us, “the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things.” So the question becomes, who sinned, the children of Israel or Achan the son of Carmi? The answer: “yes.” “Yes,” the children of Israel sinned, and “yes” Achan the son of Carmi sinned.

Achan was one man who sinned, yet from God’s perspective it was the children of Israel who had sinned. Achan is the only one who took some of the spoils of Jericho for himself, yet God’s appraisal in verse eleven says, “Israel has sinned, and they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.” Five times in this verse God refers to Israel in the plural form. It was only one person who stashed the goods, but from God’s perspective it was all of them who had stolen and deceived; and put it among their own stuff.

Though God would later point out Achan as an individual with his personalized consequences, all of Israel was guilty and suffered defeat at Ai because of him. They were simply many members of one body. (If you would like to read the rest of the story including Achans stony ending, it can be found in Joshua 7:14-26)

A group of people is traveling in a boat. It’s crowded, so everyone finds his or her place. Some are in the bow; some are in the stern. It’s a crowded ship. The boat sets out and not too long into the journey, one of the passengers pulls a drill out of his bag and starts to drill a hole in the bottom of the boat. The other passengers turn to him in anger and disbelief. "What are you doing?", they demand. "You’ll sink the ship and we’ll all drown!" The man turns to them and says, "I paid for my ticket and you paid for yours. My ticket covers this seat and the floor beneath it. I can do what I want with it!"
Found in the classical rabbinic Midrash

q What does this passage communicate about God’s perspective of a community of people?




q What do you think about the truth that we are all members of one another?

q As we saw yesterday, this is a counter-cultural concept, especially for people in the Western Hemisphere. What are the implications of a group of people being seen as one? What are the challenges that come along with that reality? (Hint: consult Joshua chapter seven again)





q Does our opinion and preference for isolation, individualism, independence and personal faith change, alter or nullify God’s perspective of us being members of one another?




q Do you wish it did?



q Do we often live as if our opinion and preference for isolation, individualism, independence and personal faith change, alter or nullify God’s perspective of us being members of one another?

“A healthy social life is found only,
when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection,
and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living"
Rudolf Steiner

[i] Joshua 6:27.