In the bible book of Joshua, there is an interesting story of
a man called Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of
the tribe of Judah. Contrary to the instruction of the Lord to the children of Israel
not to take any spoil of Jericho because the city and everything in it was
accursed, this man Achan couldn’t get his eyes off some of the spoils, so he
took some good stuff and hid them under the ground in his tent. It appeared
that no one noticed him, perhaps they could have raised an alarm to the leaders
of the people knowing the consequence of such action, not just upon Achan, but
upon the entire nation. Although, it is possible that his family knew about it,
but they refused to expose him, seeing that they would also be beneficiaries of
his “Blessing”. Well, he kept his “blessing” which he got by his own scheming,
hoping to enjoy them someday, perhaps when they were fully settled into the Promised
Land.
It wasn’t long after that they fought another battle with a
much smaller nation and lost due to Achan’s action. He was exposed as having
taken for himself goodly Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver and
a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. He was taken out of the camp along
with all of his and stoned to death. You may look at this story and wonder why
Achan did what he did, he should have known better perhaps. Now, suppose that
the interval between the destruction of Jericho and the battle with Ai was many
years apart, then perhaps Achan wouldn’t have been discovered that quickly, and
he would have had the time to flaunt his babylonish garment and lavish some of
gold and silver upon himself and his family. Others around him would have
envied the “blessing of God” upon him. If he had lived in our time, he may have
even come to the altar testify of how good the Lord has been to him and his
family, when in reality God had nothing to do with his “blessing”; he was the
source of his own cursed blessing.
If you take time out to follow the story from there on, you
will soon find out that of all the other nations that Israel conquered on their
way to possessing the Promised Land, it was only from Jericho that they took no
spoil. They spoiled other nations completely, and there was enough animals,
gold, silver and garments to go round everyone, but Achan wouldn’t be a part of
these, he had worked out his own blessing by his own strength and he had ended
up badly. Israel not only possessed gold and silver, they became inhabitants of
the land that produced the gold and the silver; a land flowing with milk and
honey.
Today, there are many believers who are trading God’s
blessing for Achan’s cursed blessing. You cannot help yourself with things that
have been accursed, the end would not be different from that of Achan. There
can be no justification for possessing things that have been accursed, Achan
could have been justified having suffered several years in the wilderness
experience without new clothing and some silver and gold to enjoy life with,
but all of these and even more had been reserved for him as part of God’s
promise, only that he never lived to enjoy them. You don’t try to create your
own blessing for yourself by ignoring God’s instructions to engage in dubious
or sharp practices, there can be no justification for that. That the economy is
bad, that things aren’t working fine, that you haven’t been paid your salary
for months is no justification; let the blessing of God find expression in your
life, He is the blesser. God is already aware of what you need and He has made
provision ahead, but you have to possess it by faith and with patience.
Patiently go through “your Jericho” without touching the spoil, Ai, Bashan,
Hebron and all the other nations are still ahead of you, and the blessing
contained in them are far more than what Jericho has to offer. Look beyond your
present needs, situation and circumstances, to the glorious destiny that lies
ahead of you. Others around you may be looting from Jericho, and hiding their
loot under their tents (offshore accounts), ignore them and look up to the
blessing of God that makes rich and adds no sorrow (Prov. 10:22). Don’t allow
your needs at the moment to lure you into seeking help from where you
shouldn’t, there are many who seem to be enjoying cursed blessings today, but
their destruction is near. Stand your ground in faith and wait for the
manifestation of God’s blessing in your life no matter how long it takes. If
you determine to stand strong, and wait on God, you may eventually not have to
wait for too long.
Shalom!
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