“Joshua said, ‘Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.’ And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day'” (Josh 7:25-26).
Though we long for Yeshua’s return, we ought also be actively preparing for the day of our death and memory we leave behind to future generations (Eccl 7:1). The specific wording describing Achan’s death is part of a larger literary strategy intended to teach us to trust in God rather than in our own ethnic identity.
When we relate to Joshua 7:25-26 as a web of words, we will see how thoughtfully each word has been stitched into the larger tapestry of the book. “Being burned with fire along with his entire family” means that Achan perished exactly like the Canaanites of Jericho, with the obvious exception of Rahab (compare Josh 7:25 with Josh 6:24). Having a “large heap of stones” marking the place of his death means future generations thought no differently of Achan’s memory then they did of the king of Ai whose body was also marked by a “large heap of stones” (Josh 8:29). Till this very day, Achan has been memorialized as an Israelite who acted just like (or perhaps even worse because he should have known better) than the Canaanites!
We don’t have a choice about our ethnicity (or our gender). But in this “progressive” world which places more emphasis on the “color of our skin” than on the “content of our character,” we must always remember that Rahab the Canaanite prostitute made it into God’s Hall of Faith (Heb 11:31), not Achan the Israelite. Even though Achan comes from the same tribe as our Messiah, he is only remembered for the trouble he brought upon our people.
On a very personal note, the tragedy of October 7 and the malignant antisemitism which is even metastasizing among some Christians who belong to the conservative right has caused many Jewish followers of Yeshua like myself to be far more passionate about the existential fears and concerns of our own people. But when I die, I hope I will not just be remembered as an Israeli who loved the Jewish people, but also as disciple of the Jewish Messiah who loved, prayed for, and shared the gospel with my enemies.
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham” (Matt 3:8-9).
