Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Stay tuned as we talk about Jehovah, God of the Valleys. Today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctly first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick will be talking about how we can trust the Lord not only when we're enjoying those mountain experiences, but also when we're trying to find our way through the valleys of life. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on Jehovah, God of the Valleys. What we're doing in this series is looking at the seven valleys that are mentioned in scripture because each of those seven valleys represents a unique aspect of God's purpose and provision for his people. For example, on the last program, we finished up the Valley of Eshcol in the Book of Numbers, and we said it was a place of plenty.

Today, we want to talk about the Valley of Achor, which was a place of purging. It's found in the Book of Joshua, Chapter 7. When we come here to the beginning of the Book of Joshua, this is Israel's final exam. It's time to find out how well they've learned their lessons during their 40 years in God's wilderness university. In Chapter 1 of Joshua, you have Moses passing the mantle of leadership on to Joshua so they can go in and possess the land.

I wish I could say that the Israelites scored an A+ on their final exam here in the Book of Joshua, but they didn't. In fact, they lost an important battle at Jericho. You might think they won the battle at Jericho because that is where the walls came tumbling down. That's true. They marched around the city 13 times and the walls came tumbling down. It was a wonderful victory, but they also lost a battle at Jericho because the Battle of Ai, which Israel lost, was lost because of something that happened at the Battle of Jericho.

You could say that at Jericho, Israel was one and one: one win and one loss. They won the battle at Jericho, but something that happened at Jericho caused them to lose the battle at Ai, which happened later. Joshua Chapter 7, verse 1 says the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. They won a great victory at Jericho, but the seeds were sown for a future defeat. They did what they were supposed to do, but the ecstasy of victory would soon fade in the face of tragedy.

A man named Achan disobeyed God at Jericho. At Jericho, everything was declared corban, that is, the entire city and all of its inhabitants were to be destroyed. The gold and silver were to be placed in the Lord's treasury. No Israelite was to keep anything for himself, but this man Achan and his family had stolen a beautiful Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold that probably weighed one or two pounds. They buried their booty underneath their tent. They thought they had covered their tracks. Their booty was probably worth the equivalent of a good year's wages back in those days, so Achan and his family thought they were wealthy.

They didn't think anyone would ever know what they had done, but they forgot someone. They forgot that there's someone who's always watching, who's always there, and who always knows. Achan and his family forgot God. Notice four things about the sin of Achan. First, the sin of Achan was not immediately evident. Sometimes we sin and we think we've gotten away with it, but the Bible says be sure your sin will find you out. It's a universal law that we will reap what we have sown. Sooner or later, the consequences of our actions will catch up with us.

Achan's sin was discovered in Joshua Chapter 7. The Israelites were flying high on the heels of their victory at Jericho. The next Canaanite city in their path was Ai, so Joshua sent spies to check out Ai. They came back and said Ai is not even as big as Jericho was. It won't even take our whole army. Let's just send two or three thousand men and that ought to do the job. They sent out 3,000 men, a fraction of the Israeli army, but the men of Ai killed about three dozen of Joshua's men, and the rest of his army took off running for their lives. That wasn't supposed to happen. The victory at Jericho was still fresh in their minds. They knew something was dreadfully wrong.

Verse 6 says Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. The first thing to notice is that the sin of Achan was not immediately evident. Then the second thing is the sin of Achan was infectious. It spread from Achan to his wife and then to the children. The scriptures indicate that they were all accomplices in Achan's deception. Achan's wife and his children had the same wicked, covetous, idolatrous spirit that Achan had. It says the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing, rather than saying that Achan and his family had committed a trespass.

God recognized the infectious nature of Achan's sin and its potential impact on the entire nation. Number three: the sin of Achan robbed Israel of victory. When Joshua and the elders fall on their faces before the ark of the covenant and they cry out to God and they say, "What went wrong? Lord, why have you brought us over the Jordan only to let us be destroyed?" Here's the Lord's answer in verse 11: "Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you," that is Achan and his family.

When Achan and his family took the accursed thing, they themselves became cursed. Whatever you love is what you eventually become. Just as the sin of Achan robbed Israel of victory, sin in the lives of believers will rob us of victory because the key to spiritual power is the indwelling Holy Spirit and the effect of sin is that it quenches the Holy Spirit. It puts a crimp in the line that connects us to the power source.

Number four: the sin of Achan had to be judged. I'm sure Achan was sorry about what he had done. He probably stood there and cried big crocodile tears and told everybody how repentant he was. There's a big difference between being sorry for what you did and just being sorry you got caught. The sin of Achan had to be dealt with. Joshua Chapter 7, beginning in verse 22 says Joshua sent messengers and they ran unto the tent and behold it was hid in his tent and the silver under it. They took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and unto all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord.

Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them unto the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day." All Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor unto this day.

Sin cannot be ignored or just swept under the rug. It must be judged. It must be dealt with. That's a principle that applies not only to the Old Testament but also to the New Testament. Church discipline is all about specific steps outlined in scripture for dealing with sin in the local church if only we will follow them. One thing that has seriously damaged the testimony of the church and the credibility of the church in the world today is that church discipline has been ignored in some cases that have been widely publicized. It brings reproach and embarrassment on the cause of Christ, but the Bible says judgment begins in the house of God.

Achan's sin had to be judged and the Valley of Achor was a place of purging. Sometimes God takes us through those valleys to purge us of sinful attitudes and sinful actions that he knows will damage us and potentially destroy our lives. Well, that's all of our time for today. It's been good to have you with us, listening friend. Next time we'll look at the Valley of Jezreel, which was a place of power. I'll see you then. You take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend for tuning in today. You've been listening to Messianic Perspectives, the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Gary Hedrick and CJF Ministries. If you enjoyed today's study, you'll be glad to know that our special offer this week is the CD of this current series of studies on Jehovah, God of the Valleys by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for a suggested contribution of just $6 or more.

The series is also available in booklet form. The title is Jehovah, God of the Valleys by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for your gift of just $7 or more to help us keep this program here on your station. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

Have you enjoyed this edition of Messianic Perspectives? Why not continue to learn about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith by inviting a speaker from CJF Ministries? Call our toll-free number 1-800-926-5397 and we'll be happy to handle all of the details. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on Jehovah, God of the Valleys right here on Messianic Perspectives.