Day 82: The Valley of Achor

Joshua 5:2-12 The generation of Israelites born during the desert journey were not circumcised. As Israel prepared for battle, Joshua had all the men of military age circumcised in keeping with the covenant. They could then celebrate the Passover for the first time in the Promised Land. The day after Passover, the manna stopped falling from Heaven because the people had food available from their new land. (CCC 1150)

Ch 5:13-15 The commander of the army of the Lord: He appeared to Joshua, who removed his shoes in awe just as Moses did at the burning bush. The scene reinforces the fact that Joshua continued the mission given to Moses. (CCC 208, 2777)

Ch 6:1-27 Jericho fell not from military tactics but through AN ACT OF GOD with the obedient cooperation of his people. The procession around the city and the final shout have a certain liturgical quality about them. In their invasion of Jericho, the Israelites left Rahab’s house alone as was promised by the spies. As the Letter to the Hebrews would later recount, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given friendly welcome to the spies” (Heb 11:30-31). (CCC 2018-2020)

Ch 6:21 The antics of Israel must be understood in the CONTEXT OF SALVATION HISTORY. God revealed himself and his will to his people INCREMENTALLY, bringing them along gradually not only in terms of their knowledge of him but also in their understanding of moral law. The Church, teaching in the name of Christ, forbids any form of GENOCIDE, THE KILLING OF NONCOMBATANTS, AND MISTREATMENT OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS AND PRISONERS OF WAR. Soldiers have the moral obligation to refuse to perform such gravely evil acts EVEN IF ORDERED TO DO SO. (CCC 2313)

Ch 6:22-23 Rahab is seen by some of the Church Fathers as a type of the Gentiles who would someday be welcomed into the Christian Faith and reap the benefits of the Redemption (TYPOLOGY!!). (CCC 674)

Ch 7:1-26 Following the success at Jericho, a raid on the town of Ai failed because Achan kept some of the seized valuablers of Ai for himself rather than giving it to the Lord’s treasury as required by the Law. Achan admitted his deed and, consequently, was put to death. All of Israel had to live by faith in God’s providence, and all had to obey the Lord and work for the common good. In this way, Israel foreshadows the idea of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ in which all members have specific duties and collaborate together in a united fashion (TYPOLOGY!!). (CCC 771, 779)

Psalm 125 The believer can count on the Lord’s help and protection no matter what dangers and risks he or she faces. Evildoers deceitfully promise short-term relief from grief and pain if we would compromise our fidelity to God; his grace, however, will assist us in overcoming the allure of sin. This psalm reiterates the common exhortation to have a deep trust in God. “This is a powerful help in facing difficult situations when the eternal crisis of loneliness, irony, and contempt of believers is associated with the interior crisis that consists of discouragement, mediocrity, and weariness,” said Pope Benedict XVI. “We know this situation, but the psalm tells us that if we have trust, we are stronger than these evils.” (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 3, 2005)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

The Battle of Jericho and the Sin of Achan 

• Oddly, the preparations for taking the city of Jericho seem to consist simply of circumcision and Passover, with little or no military plans described. 

• The only other instructions for taking the city, given by an angel, consist of circling the city seven times, with the priests leading and blowing trumpets and all following the Ark of the Covenant. 

• The battle for Jericho is to be fought more by liturgical action than military might. 

• The weapon of God’s people is worship, in the face of which her enemies cannot stand. 

• God fights for his people; they have only to trust and keep faith in him. 

• The last key instruction is that the only things that are to survive the destruction of Jericho are those that can be passed through fire, such as silver and gold; and these are to be devoted to the Lord and given to his treasury. 

• In the ancient world, booty belonged to the victorious king, so the law regarding the plunder going into the treasury recognizes Yahweh as Israel’s king. 

• The importance of this is emphasized in a dire warning: Keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction, and bring trouble upon it. (Jos 6:18) 

• Unfortunately, this is precisely what happens. 

• A soldier named Achan comes upon a beautiful mantle from Shinar and much silver and gold, and in the same chilling language of the fall of Adam and Eve, the author of Joshua tells us that he saw, coveted, and took it (Jos 7:21). 

• Thus, Israel’s new creation of the Promised Land is now likewise marked by transgression against God’s law and a fall from grace. 

• Israel, not knowing Achan’s sin, moves next to fight against a smaller city, Ai, and unexpectedly suffers a humiliating defeat. Joshua, realizing that Israel must have sinned, convenes the people, and Achan, singled out by lot, confesses. 

• Joshua declares, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today” (Jos 7:25). 

• Israel goes on to capture Ai, only after Achan and his family are stoned to death. 

• Joshua names the valley of the stoning Achor, a rare word meaning “trouble,” which connotes death related to violation of the sacred. 

• Achan violated the covenant by transgressing the law out of covetousness. 

• The word achor is also found in Genesis 34, where Jacob’s sons enter into covenant with the Shechemites in order to deceitfully slay them for the rape of their sister Dinah. 

• Jacob fears that this covenant violation will bring down achor upon Jacob’s family (Gn 34:30). 

• Similarly, in Judges, the foolish Jephthah makes a rash oath that will cost his daughter her life, an oath that is said to bring achor (Jgs 11:35). 

• Still later, achor will describe a rash oath that King Saul makes that condemns his innocent son Jonathan. 

• The point is that oath breaking brings deadly consequences, a lesson Israel desperately needs to learn to survive as God’s people in the land.

• The irony in the Jericho story is that the faithfulness of a foreign harlot, who hides two spies, brings salvation for herself and her whole family—as well as acceptance into God’s people—whereas the insider Achan brings ruin upon himself and his entire family for hiding treasure dedicated to God. 

• The lesson contained in this sharp contrast is stunning: what matters most is obedience and fidelity to Israel’s God. 

• This fidelity is open to all, a lesson the Gibeonites will soon exploit

Human Solidarity, for Good and Bad 

• The sin of Achan demonstrates the uncontainable nature of sin and its consequences. 

• Just as Achan’s sin hurts all of Israel, our sin too affects those around us. 

• As Pope John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation on Reconciliation and Penance:

“To speak of social sin means in the first place to recognize that, by virtue of human solidarity which is as mysterious and intangible as it is real and concrete, each individual’s sin in some way affects others. This is the other aspect of that solidarity which on the religious level is developed in the profound and magnificent mystery of the communion of saints, thanks to which it has been possible to say that ‘every soul that rises above itself, raises up the world.’” 

• Just as one’s virtuous act raises others up, so too one’s sinful act has the effect of dragging others down. 

• In other words, there is no sin, not even the most intimate and secret one, the most strictly individual one, that exclusively concerns the person committing it. 

• With greater or lesser harm, every sin has repercussions on the whole human family. 

(*Walking With God: A Journey Through The Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins)

• There are so many things to cover in Joshua

• When the Israelites enter the promised land, the Lord said to Joshua that the men needed to be circumcised

• This is remarkable because remember those who were set free from slavery in Egypt were circumcised

• But during the 40 years in the wilderness, they did not circumcise anyone

• Why is that?

• Part of it is being fully delivered from their history of slavery

• Now they have a new life

• The covenant is being RENEWED

• As long as an Israelite man is circumcised, he is brought into that COVENANT

• The Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

• They are breaking free from their history of SLAVERY and being brought into a RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE right now

• There is also the recognition that the men of fighting age who were circumcised would be vulnerable

• Remember the families of Simeon and Levi had entered into a covenant with the families of the men who RAPED DINAH

• The men who raped Dinah were vulnerable after they had been circumcised and the families of Simeon and Levi killed them all

• Why did they not get circumcised in the Plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan River?

• There is a certain element of TRUST

• The very reality of circumcision when it comes to Abraham is all about making oneself VULNERABLE in a very particular way OUT OF TRUST FOR GOD

• This is really remarkable

• They now are free to celebrate PASSOVER

• The next day, the MANNA CEASES

• The Lord cared for them all throughout their wilderness journey and that is OVER 

• God will now care for them IN A DIFFERENT WAY

• Remember, they were being TRAINED by being FED BY THE LORD

• At one point, this Angel of the Lord appears to Joshua

• Joshua asks the question, “Are you for us, or are you for our enemies?”

• The Angel answers, “No; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (St. Michael the Archangel, DEFEND US IN BATTLE…)

• The question we can ask is, “Is God on our side?”

• The response is “Well, that is not the right question.”

• The question REALLY should be, “Are we on God’s side?”

• What’s revealed in this is not only our need to be ON GOD’S SIDE

• We don’t want to just make God AGREE WITH US (how often do we see this in society today?)

• This battle is not simply just against the Canaanites

• The subsequent battles are not merely against the Philistines, Amorites, or Jebusites etc.

• THE BATTLE TRULY IS A COSMIC BATTLE

• What gets revealed to us is not only were these other peoples “different”

• They were living a CULTURE BUILT UPON WICKEDNESS

• They were living a CULTURE BASED ON THE DENIGRATION OF THE HUMAN PERSON

• They would offer HUMAN SACRIFICE OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN to the “god” Moloch (or Molek or Mollok etc. I’ve seen it spelled several different ways so pick your “favorite” 😉)

• This battle is not JUST AGAINST A PEOPLE

• St. Paul said, “Our battle is not just with flesh and blood, but it is with PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS.”

• That’s one of the things revealed through Joshua’s vision

• This wasn’t merely armies coming together

• This wasn’t merely driving out a people who were WICKED

• What is really is is a COSMIC BATTLE

• WITH EYES OF FAITH WE CAN SEE THIS

• If we have EYES THAT DON’T HAVE FAITH, WE QUESTION THIS

• We will continue to run into this AGAIN AND AGAIN

• There are things that are happening in Scripture that if we read or listen to them through the EYES OR EARS OF FAITH, from the PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH, we can say, “Ok, Lord. I TRUST YOU.”

• But if we read them or listen to them through the perspective of DISTRUST, CYNICISM, or SKEPTICISM, then there isn’t too much that we can allow to PENETRATE OUR HEARTS

• Even the last story of Achon, where he takes some of the booty (plunder) from the destruction of Jericho 

• The result is that he, his family, and everything he ever owned WILL BE DESTROYED

• If we are CYNICAL, we can say THIS IS SO UNFAIR, THIS IS SO VIOLENT!

• AND YET, the TRAGEDY of that was not lost on the People of Israel

• The truth was, THIS ONE MAN’S SIN CAME AT A COST

• It came at the COST OF 36 PEOPLE’S LIVES!

• It was because of Achon’s Sin that they LOST THE BATTLE OF AI

• 36 Israelites DIED at the BATTLE OF AI

• This is towards the level of JUSTICE

• It was not a TRIUMPHANT KIND OF JUSTICE

• It was NOT A HAPPY MOMENT

• They name the place where this JUSTICE is carried out THE VALLEY OF ACHOR

• Achor means “TROUBLE” or “SADNESS” or “DESPAIR” or “SHAME”

• It is NOT A GREAT MOMENT

• The Valley of Achor is the VALLEY OF OUR SHAME

• The Valley of Achor is the VALLEY OF OUR TROUBLE

• When you read this, read it from the perspective of the People of Israel

• Here is the justice that must be doled out

• It is NOT A HAPPY MOMENT

• NO ONE considered it to be a HAPPY MOMENT

• When we read through THE EYES OF FAITH, WE SEE THAT

• When we read through THE EYES OF CYNICISM, WE CANNOT SEE THAT AND WE WILL NOT SEE THAT

• Later on we will read the Book of the Prophet Hosea

• Hosea Ch 2: God says, “I will take your Valley of Achor (your Valley of Trouble, your Valley of Shame) and make it into a DOOR OF HOPE.”

• Here is what The Lord can do!!

• God can transform the LOW POINT in people’s lives that NO ONE WANTED but HAD TO BE DONE

• God can TRANSFORM THAT LOW POINT INTO A DOOR OF HOPE

• Can YOU do that? I can’t…

• We need to RECOGNIZE that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US HAS A VALLEY OF ACHOR

• Maybe it’s something someone has done to us

• Maybe it’s something we have chosen (Oh man….If you only knew 😩)

• We brought upon ourselves TROUBLE

• We brought upon ourselves SHAME

• We brought upon ourselves something that WE ABSOLUTELY HATE ABOUT OUR REALITY, ABOUT OUR LIVES

• Well Hosea PROMISES that even that LOW POINT that we think WILL HAUNT US FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, THE LORD GOD SAYS, “Actually, that’s not true.”

• “I can take this Valley of Achor and I can transform it into a DOOR OF HOPE.”

• We all have a Valley of Trouble

• We all have a Valley of Shame

• We all have things in our past that have wounded us and continue to linger and HOLD ONTO US 

• SO SURRENDER THAT TODAY

• GIVE GOD PERMISSION

• “Ok, Lord, I give you permission. Transform my Valley of Achor, my Valley of Trouble, my Valley of Shame, into a DOOR OF HOPE. I surrender to you. YOU CAN CHANGE IT.”

• Fr. Mike is praying for each one of us that we can do that TODAY

• Fr. Mike has his Valley of Achor as well (hard to believe, isn’t it?)

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER 

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we thank you. We thank you for sharing this story with us. Thank you for being part of our stories. As we, like Achon, as we can be unfaithful knowing exactly what you have asked us to do. So often, Lord, we turn away and do what we want to do. Lord, the heart of every sin is knowing what you want and yet doing what we want in violation of that. And so, we come back to you knowing that in our guilt you meet us with your mercy. In our shame, you meet us with your reconciliation. And so please, Lord God, transform our Valley of Achor into a door of hope. Hope for our lives, hope for our children, for our families, hope for our culture, hope for our world, hope for your people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”