You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." – You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." – Joshua 8:2

Today's Scripture Reading (February 12, 2022): Joshua 8

Soon after I graduated High School, I worked for a few months as a night porter or janitor/security guard in a local Department Store. Insurance regulations required that someone be continuously onsite. And so usually four of us walked the building, cleaning, and doing other tasks throughout the night when everyone else was hoe and sound asleep. Several security policies pertained to us, including being frisked at the end of our shift (but we never were) to ensure that we weren't carrying out merchandise hidden on our bodies. Another policy governed found money in the store, especially in the areas surrounding the cash registers. We were to turn any found money into our boss, who returned it to the store. And to make sure that we returned any found money, every so often, the store would plant money somewhere to see what happened to it. It was a test, but because we knew about it, it was one that no one failed.

As Israel prepared to attack Jericho, Israel had been told not to take any of the loot.   

But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury" (Joshua 6:18-19).

Achan disobeyed the instructions and kept some of the devoted things for himself, a mistake that he paid for with his life. But Jericho had been a test. It was not the pattern that Israel would always be asked to take. Sometimes, they would be allowed to take the plunder. But there would also be times when the plunder would need to be destroyed, and God needed to know that when the loot needed to be destroyed, Israel would follow his instructions to dedicate and destroy certain things.

Achan had failed the test, and his family lost their leader. They had paid a high price for a little gain. How foolish they must have felt to know that if Achan had just waited, he could have openly taken more at Ai than he had secretly stolen from Jericho, and he would not have sacrificed his life in the process.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joshua 9