Consecration Revisited

Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow." Joshua 7:13
The Bible does not stop talking to us. We looked at "consecration" (http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/01/consecrate.html) previously in Joshua 3 and here it is again in chapter 7. This time, however, it is not so "friendly." The backdrop to this event is after the destruction of Jehrico. One of the soldiers, Achan, had taken some of the spoil for himself.

This caused God to remove His help from them and in fact to fight against them. Now recall the details. The Israelite army was over 600,000 armed men. When the story was over, they had wiped out the armies of Ai and the total number from the city, including men, women, and children, was 12,000. Even with an estimate that one in three were soldiers, the total army would have been generously estimated at about 4,000.

Aside: The initial conquest was "lost" because 36 of the Israelites were killed. The rest were so demoralized that they ran away. Talk about the "mouse that roared." In reality, we can see that God was fighting against Israel at this point to instill such terror into the entire army over the loss of 36 men.

Joshua was devastated and fell on his face before God to plead for explanation and further direction. And here is where the verse comes in.

League's version: "Get up! What you doin' on your face? You have some work to do. (Little foxes from the previous post. http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/01/giants-and-foxes.html)  Set yourselves apart to witness what God will do."

Again notice that this is not a good thing to witness, but it is instructive and edifying. We can learn from mistakes and failures. If nothing else, we can be like Thomas Edison and "know what does not work." (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed132683.html)

On occasion, we set ourselves apart to witness a great conquest. At other times we witness God's character in correcting and disciplining us. The old saying, "Please be patient with me, God is not finished yet," reflects His inexhaustible patience with molding and shaping us into servants who can bring praise to Him.

Either way, God is at work and we are well advised to be prepared. "Consecrate yourselves."