[A Meditation on One Verse]

(Joshua 7:25) “Joshua said, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.’ Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.”

Joshua summons Achan, who had plundered God’s things, and declares that his sin had ‘brought trouble’ upon all Israel. Then all Israel takes up stones and judges Achan and all that belonged to him, ‘bringing trouble’ upon him. The wage of sin is such a terrible trouble. That is the meaning of the name ‘Achor.’

But as in yesterday’s meditation, Achan’s greed was in fact a mirror reflecting the spiritual state of all Israel. The pride of having usurped the spoils of God’s glory from the victory at Jericho was within them.

Therefore, those who were stoning Achan were, in truth, not qualified to throw stones. Just like the crowd that stood with stones before the adulterous woman but had to turn away at the words, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” For they too were people who deserved to stand in the Valley of Achor.

But God renames that place called the ‘Valley of Achor’ (Trouble)—a place full of the shadow of death that all sinners deserve—as a ‘place of hope.’

(Hosea 2:15) “There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope…”

The Valley of Achor, thus reborn, is Golgotha, the ‘Cross.’ Because it is the place where Christ took my trouble upon Himself, the Valley of Achor is no longer a place of condemnation. It is a place of thanksgiving, joy, praise, and worship. That is why the cross where the Lord was hung, that place of grim punishment, is ‘dazzlingly’ beautiful.

This morning, embracing that beauty, we pray this prayer:

”Lord, help us to hold fast to the grace of the cross in the ‘today’ You have given. Let us rejoice in Christ Jesus.”

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(Daily Reading)

– Joshua 7:13-26