“So the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst” (Josh 7:10-12).
Israel’s army had just been completely routed by a few soldiers from the city of Ai because of Achan’s disobedience (Josh 7:1). We cannot properly appreciate God’s response to Achan’s sin unless we consider it against the backdrop of Joshua’s dialogue with the captain of the LORD’s army. When Joshua asks the divine warrior, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” (Josh 5:13), the captain answers him with a one word response. “No!”
One of the purposes of the book of Joshua is to remind us the God of the universe is not Israel’s personal tribal deity. He is not their good luck charm. Nor is he ours! But sometimes we act as if God’s primary purpose in the universe is to find us a parking spot. No doubt, God loves to bless his children with good gifts, and delights in providing for our needs (which at times includes a convenient parking spot).
One of the clearest ways to see who is master and who is servant in our personal theology is the way we relate money.
But we must remember we are here to do God’s bidding, he is not here to do ours. Like the people of Israel at the time of Joshua, we must also make difficult choices about whose side we’re on. And this choice is particularly challenging when it comes to money. Achan’s sin was actually not in taking some treasures from Jericho. Achan’s sin was in taking those treasures and not giving them to God. He chose to put them in the wrong tent: his own (not God’s). God is indeed for us (see Rom 8:31), but he is not our genie who is always on our side. God is our master. We are not his. And one of the clearest ways to see who is master and who is servant in our personal theology is the way we relate money.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matt 6:24).
