Day 82: The Valley of Achor

Today's reading: Joshua 5-7 and Psalm 125.

I. Joshua 5 begins with the local pagan kings expressing fear that the Jordan River was made passable for the Israelites. God then tells Joshua to circumcise all the male Israelites, as this generation hadn't been during the desert wanderings. With this, Israel renewed its covenant with God before the coming battles. 

Ugh. I can't imagine what this was like for them. Usually, such is done to infant males, not boys or men of much older ages! 

Israel next celebrated Passover in the Promised Land. After they ate "produce from the land," the manna from God that had sustained them in the wilderness stopped. This would be the official end of the desert wanderings, one might say. The chapter ends with Joshua meeting an angelic figure (St. Michael the Archangel?), the "commander of the army of the Lord."

In the next chapter, we have the first big battle in the Promised Land: Jericho is taken by a miracle, with all the people being slaughtered and the city utterly destroyed. Once again, a disturbing episode for modern sensibilities, but something in which we are forced to trust in the Lord.

Joshua 7 tells of what happened after the incredible victory at Jericho. No surprise, greed took hold of some of them who attempted to keep the "devoted things" contrary to God's command. This resulted in Israel being defeated for this sin at Ai. Joshua cries out in lament, to which God responds that the stolen booty must be recovered and the guilty killed. This was done, and the chapter ends.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on this:

The culture of the Canaanites is built upon wickedness, upon the denigration of the human person. They sacrifice their children to the god Molech (or, Moloch). So this battle is truly a "cosmic" battle - a moral battle - not simply a battle for territory... Achan takes plunder from the ruins of Jericho, so he, his family, and everything he owns are destroyed. While this judgment might sound brutal, it is just. Achan's sin comes at the price of thirty-six lives at the battle of Ai. The place where he dies is named the Valley of Achor, which means "trouble." (p. 176).

II. Psalm 125 is, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

A psalm of trust. Just as Mt. Zion is immovable and secure, because God chose to dwell there, so those who stay faithful to the Lord enjoy a similar blessing. The Psalmist sees this in spiritual terms: God defends his people from conquest, lest wickedness overtake the land and even the devout can be corrupted. The unfaithful, however, will face the judgment that awaits the godless. (p. 941)

That's it for today!