Today's Passage - Joshua 7:26

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 7:26   Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.     Joshua is a book full of rocks. In chapter, when the Israelites crossed Jordan river, God asked them to pick up twelve rocks from the river and bring them onshore, then pick up twelve rocks from the shore and place into the river, all in order to commemorate God's work. After Israelites beat Achan to death, they put a pile of rocks on him. In other word, they didn't throw a bunch of rocks on him, but they did it deliberately with significance.   First of all, why was Achan beaten to death? Didn't he repent for his sins before God? When Achan repented for his sins, he indeed had a change of heart, but it's not related to the punishment he received for his sin. On the one hand, the sin inside him could be forgiven through repentance; on the other hand, he still needed to bear the consequence of sin. Therefore, a murderer can be convicted to death sentence, and while locked up in jail his soul can be saved because he believed in Jesus, but that doesn't mean he will be spared of the death sentence. In the process of the penalty, there's still hope in God's mercy; because of the death of Achan, Jehovah decided to "turn from his fierce anger." We can see God's mercy in this process.   Next, these rocks symbolize a warning. From that time on, whenever Israelites pass by this place, they would think of the failure of their people. In the same way, in our spiritual life, we should also be warned by the failure of the past, so that we won't deviate from the right path on our journey of faith. For example, the Bible described prophet Balaam as "who loved the wages of wickedness." God wanted to use Balaam to warn those who serve Him not to love money. As we think about Achan, we also need to ask ourselves: "Lord, is that me?" We might not have kept money or beautiful clothes, but we might have kept to ourselves caring for brothers and sisters or love and submission to God. The failure of Achan was rooted in how he loved the world and not following God's commandment. What's our attitude when we come before God? May God help us to be determined not continue to be weak, but to remove all the attributes of Achan from our lives. May God help us to restore His testimony through our lives in this generation of the end time!    Pray with Pastor Tong       Lord, I thank you because you once again showed us the rocks that warn us in our lives. May the Lord protect our hearts to depart from the way of Achan, and to follow you closely in your way. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!