No Man is an Island

“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.” Joshua 7:1 (ESV)

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ¹²Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.
Joshua 7:10-12 (ESV)

And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” Joshua 7:20-21 (ESV)

The context for these scriptures was the command by the Lord to Israel that they were to destroy Jericho along with everything and everybody in the city. It was all devoted to the Lord for destruction. The people of Israel obeyed the command, everyone but ONE person. Yet scripture records the actions of that one person as “the people of Israel broke faith. . .”

I suppose Achan’s thought process was something like this:

“I really like that coat and a little silver and gold couldn’t hurt. Who knows what will happen in the future. I’ll just take a few items. No one will notice the difference and I doubt my taking these few items will hurt anyone.”

It’s a great example of how the thoughts and beliefs of men and women are different from the Lord. We see ourselves as a collection of individuals and that is true, but only to a point. Yes, we are a community of individual people, each with a separate relationship to the Lord, each with personal accountability to His Maker. Yet, according to the Bible, we are part of community, the Body of Messiah. We are all a different part of Yeshua’s body, yet we are all of one body. Therefore, the actions of one individual not only affect the one person but also the body, usually at a local level but eventually spreading beyond the local congregation. The other side of the situation is that the consequences of the actions of an individual, whether good or bad, also affect not just the one person but extend to others as well.

What would have happened if the Lord did nothing? What if the Lord had not judged the sin of Achan?

I believe several things would have happened.

• The Lord would have not acted in character with His nature. He would have ceased to be God. The Lord will always act true to His nature. He will always judge sin.
• Achan would have started to believe that there are no consequences for disobedience. He would have continued to disobey the Lord and the leadership of Israel.
• Achan would start to display greed (idolatry) by amassing more and more things.
• Achan would become a symbol to others that there are no consequences for disobedience. The rest of the people of Israel would start imitating Achan, becoming a nation of individuals thinking only of themselves.

Failure to deal with the leaven of sin in Achan’s life would allow that sin to spread to the whole loaf, the nation of Israel.

We should be asking the same question. What would be the consequences if the Lord does not deal with our sins? The answers would be similar to the list.

• The Lord would have not acted in character with His nature. He would have ceased to be God. The Lord will always act true to His nature. He will always judge sin.

• We would start to believe, consciously or unconsciously, that there are no consequences to our actions. Disobedience would continue towards the Lord and to those in authority.
• Idolatry (lust, greed etc) would increase.
• You become a symbol to others that there are no consequences for sin. Others would imitate you.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. 1Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV)

A Missing Question?

“But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Matt 9:12-13 (ESV)

I will be the first to tell people that I don’t want to read more into scripture than what is obvious. Many a religion, denomination or move of God became side-tracked by reading something into a bible scripture that was not part of the intended obvious meaning, nor part of the historical meaning either.

Yet, lately, when I read scriptures like Matthew 9: 12-13, I seem to be asking myself if Yeshua is asking another question beyond what I see written. Follow my train of thought and maybe you will understand what I am saying.

One of the basics of Biblical faith about the nature of man is the doctrine of “The Depravity of Man”. This doctrine states that man, by his very nature, is completely and totally sinful, unable to save himself. Whether we commit an actual sin or not, whether the sin is simple or heinous, is not the issue.  The question is about our basic nature as defined by God in scripture. We are sinners by nature and in need of God’s salvation.

Regarding the Matthew passage at the beginning, here is a possible chain of thoughts (logic) we must examine:

By Yeshua’s own words:

• Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick
• He came to call sinners to repentance but not the righteous.

Furthermore:

• If man is sinful by nature
• If man is incapable of saving himself
• If man by the work of God can only be saved through Yeshua’s death and resurrection on the tree (cross)

A conclusion we can reach, based on these thoughts, is that everyone is in the group that Yeshua is seeking.

The question I keep asking myself is this. Is there another question in Matthew that Yeshua is not asking His detractors? Could this be the question: If I am seeking out the sick and the sinners, if scripture states that everyone is a sinner before God, then why are you not also amongst the group of people seeking me?