YT 19 Joshua part 14 Chapter 6:17-7:1
The Book of Joshua
Part 14
The Prophecy of Joshua
Chapter 6:17-7:1:1 Kings 16:34
Recapping:
The City is Accursed
Chapter 6:17,18
The city is accursed ~ and all that are therein. The Hebrew word ~ “cherem” ~
accursed, has the meaning of being devoted or a devoted thing. There are various
renderings of the word due to the fact that the word sometimes means the act of
devoting, banning, the condition or state resulting therefrom, and sometimes it is the
object that has been devoted that is banned.
The Hebrew word also suggested "separating" or "devoting to God." Therefore, in
light of the text of that which is accursed ~ the city and its people to destruction is the
understanding that they have devoted themselves ~ to the worship of the Moon.
Likewise, Israel is commanded to keep themselves from the accursed thing.
There are objects within the city connected to the worship of the Moon that they are not
to take, lest the one taking of it makes himself accursed ~ devoted to destruction ~ and
makes the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it.
The only things that are to be removed from the city and brought back to the
camp ~ the treasury ~ the booty of the silver, gold and vessels of brass and iron. These
would be consecrated unto the LORD and come into His treasury.
The Wall Fell Flat
Joshua 6:19-21:
“But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto
the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. So the people shouted when
the priest blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound
of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so
that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the
city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and
old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.”
The ‘wall’ is singular. It is one wall that Israel is encompassing. The phrase “the
wall fell down flat” ~ is very much like the phrase “they walked on dry ground.” The
phrase means exactly what it means. Dry is dry (Jordan crossing) and fell flat is ~ flat.
The city wall did not implode on itself. That would mean the inhabitants would
have died by the wall falling on them rather than being destroyed by the edge of the
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sword. Nor did the wall fall outward as that would have caused harm to the Israelites.
The wall fell down flat. The Hebrew verb used for “fell down” has the meaning to
prostrate oneself.
The wall fell flat ~ it prostrated itself. Figuratively this is exactly what the city did
in the face of the Holiness of the LORD God of Israel. The Hebrew word for “flat” has
the meaning of under or beneath. There He is ~ the Captain of the LORDS’ host, King
of kings and LORD of lords; and He has come to claim His inheritance.
With the fortification of the imaginations and every high thing that had exalted
itself against the knowledge of God, those within the city are prostrate (fell flat) beneath
the authority of the LORD God and destroyed with the edge of the sword.
All in the city were destroyed. The word “all” is a relative term ~ meaning it does
not carry an absolute outright and entire totality. When we get to the days of the kings in
Israel’s history there are Canaanites present (1st Kings 9:16).
All the Canaanites were not destroyed but rather as a nation during this period in
Israel’s history they have been utterly destroyed. As a nation they are destroyed and all
in the city were destroyed. Only Rahab the Harlot shall live.
Only Rahab the Harlot Shall Live
Joshua 6:22,23:
“But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the
harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto
her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father,
and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her
kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.”
Rahab in the humbling of herself under the mighty hand of God and in the hiding of
the two spies ~ the confession of her faith is in the LORD God of Israel.
The LORD exalted Rahab not only in the receiving of Eternal life, but also in the
kindness of the salvation of the deliverance of her father’s house from the destruction of
Jericho.
The “kindness” that Rahab asked of the spies was not a matter of the spies
“doing a good deed,” but a matter of life and death. What she asked of them was
serious business and not to be entered into lightly.
The word translated “oath” that Rahab asked of the spies has the meaning of
“sacred promise” (Joshua 2:17). An oath was considered to be an unbreakable contract.
This unbreakable contract ~ the sacred promise the spies swore to keep was their life
for hers.
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Every day for seven days the Israelites marched past the window from which
hung the cord of scarlet. The scarlet line that the spies chose for Rahab to hang in the
window, spoke by its color ~ safety through sacrifice (Hebrews 9:19, 22).
Scarlet is a brilliant red color with a tinge of orange. Figuratively in the language
of the Scripture, the color red speaks of the dust of the ground from whence the body of
man was formed and is the color of love as is witnessed by the bloodshed of the
Covenant Son.
While orange-red in Scripture speaks specifically of the Son of Righteousness ~
God’s Seed ~ the Covenant Son, with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2).
There was no mistaking where Rahab lived. Every person in Israel’s company
knew where the harlot’s residence was and of the promised oath of the spies.
Thus, not only would the color of the scarlet cord remind the nation of Rahab’s
public confession of faith in the Covenant Son; it would also serve to remind the nation
of the “making good” of the oath of kindness Rahab had shown the spies.
Therefore, Joshua sent the same two spies to gather her and her household out
of the destruction and to bring them all to the outer camp of Israel. What a kindness of
Joshua to send in the same two men whom Rahab hid.
Can you imagine being in the house of Rahab waiting for seven days as Israel
marches around the city hearing the blowing of ram’s horns and then to “feel” the wall of
the city as it begins to fall?
The terror of those in the city would have been magnified with the wall falling.
Rahab and her family hearing what is taking place outside of the house and being
sequestered inside would be undoubtedly scary, hearing the terror of destruction; terror
on the outside but safely hidden on the inside (reminds us of Noah). When those two
men entered into her house and brought her and her family to the outer camp of Israel,
the relief of the past terror had to have been enormous.
As was mentioned in our study of Rahab, but is noteworthy to consider again is
the place of distinction held by Rahab in Israel’s history. Rahab is cited in the
genealogical record of Jesus ~ the Son of the Covenant and heir of the Kingdom of God
(Matthew 1:5). Her inclusion in the genealogy is interesting considering she and her
family are brought to the outer camp as she is not a daughter of Israel but of the
descendants of one of those “ite” nations. When and how did she come into the camp of
Israel? Only the LORD knows. Nonetheless she did and it is recorded in the record of
the King of Israel.
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Joshua 6:24-27; 7:1:
“And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the
gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the
LORD. And Joshua saved Rahab the Harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all
that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the
messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.”
“And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the
LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in
his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. So the LORD was
with Joshua; and his fame was throughout all the country. But the children of Israel
committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger
of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.”
Consequently, after all in the city have been destroyed with the edge of the
sword the city itself is burnt with fire. Not only did this take care of the spread of disease
from the corruption from the dead bodies, but figuratively it is the pictorial of the 1st born
creation of the sons of Adam who are twice dead (Jude 12b).
The creation of sons of Adam are born dead in trespass and sins. Those who
refuse the gift of Eternal life offered in the Covenant Son will face the second death ~
the destruction of the body in the lake of fire.
The End of Those Ways is Death
Proverbs 14:12:
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death.”
Those in the city have died by the sword of justice ~ they received a just
recompense in their refusal of the Eternal life offered and one day they will face the
second death to the perishing of their soul.
God’s plan from eternity past is that God might have man in His image, after His
likeness, a kingdom of sons of God ~ a kingdom of priests. All are invited to become
sons of God ~ whosoever will may receive the gift. God is longsuffering and not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (have a change of mind),
and be born again a son of God (2 Peter 3:9).
At the end of chapter 6 Joshua gave a prophecy concerning the rebuilding of the
city Jericho and the consequences of the man who would do such a thing.
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There is a connection between the prophecy given and the trespass of the
children of Israel in the accursed thing in verse one of chapter 7.
The man who would fulfill the prophecy of Joshua and rebuild the city Jericho
Five Hundred years later was a Bethelite ~ a son of Israel named Hiel. There are
similarities of Hiel to Achan ~ a son of Israel who would take of the accursed thing in
Joshua’s day. Both have similarities as it pertains to the enmity of man’s thinking.
It needs to be noted that the layout of Joshua’s prophecy and the mention of Hiel
at the end of 1st Kings 16 is identical in their layout within the scripture ~ meaning both
are at the end of the chapter with no details given. In both Joshua and 1st Kings, it is as
if the subject of the rebuilding of Jericho is just “plopped” in at the end without
explanation.
In chapter 6 of Joshua, Israel has just had her first victory in the land promised
her and then the pronouncement of the prophecy. The prophecy seems almost out of
place if one didn’t make the connection to verse one of chapter 7.
Likewise, in 1st Kings 16, the state of the nation is addressed in reference to her
kings; and then the attention is placed on the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joshua.
Thus, the connection of both passages is the committing of the trespass of Israel
in the willful negligence of the accursed thing and the breaking of the covenant.
Five Hundred years after the prophecy of Joshua, Israel will commit a trespass in
the accursed thing. They will willfully be negligent in their worship of Jehovah ~ the
covenant ~ keeping God to serve and worship false gods in their perversion of the host
of heaven ~ the luminaries ~ thereby breaking the covenant.
Before we continue in chapter 7 to address the trespass of the children of Israel
in the accursed thing of Achan, we are going to look ahead Five Hundred years to the
fulfillment of the prophecy of Joshua.
A House Divided
In 1st Kings 16 the worship of Baal is the dominate subject and is introduced by
King Ahab. The worship of Baal prevailed in the time of Moses but the worship was
among the Moabites and Midianites ~ not amongst Israelites. However, in Moses’
generation, Israel commits a trespass against the LORD by committing whoredom with
the daughters of Moab (Numbers 22-25). By the time you get to 1st Kings 16, it is the
Israelites, God’s Covenant people, who are worshipping Baal.
In 1st Kings 16 the nation Israel is no longer under the rule of theocracy of the
Godhead. The nation in its rebellion ~ desiring to be as the other nations and have a
king ~ caused the household of Israel to crumble from within.
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A house divided cannot stand; and the kingdom is divided ~ rent out of the hand
of Solomon by the LORD, the God of Israel, because Israel had forsaken the LORD and
had worshiped false gods. The LORD gave ten tribes to Solomon’s servant Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, who is introduced in 1st Kings 11.
Thus, as the prince of the LORD, Jeroboam as ruler over Israel is not of the
king’s tribe ~ Judah. Actually, all of the “kings” of Israel after the rendering of the tribes
are “king” in name only but not according to the design of God as none proceeded from
Judah’s tribe. Judah and Benjamin stay faithful to the LORD for a while, but eventually
they follow Israel into idolatry.
Hence the nation is divided 10/2 after the death of Solomon. We need to
recognize that the rendering of the house of Israel is the LORD’S doing as His
chastisement of child training. The nation ~ figuratively ~ is God’s first-born son.
Sometimes the best discipline for rebellious children is to let them have their
own way. Even though Israel had forsaken God and worshiped false gods and had not
walked in the ways of the LORD ~ with the rendering of the house of Israel came awful
consequences.
With each ruler mentioned after Jeroboam, the actions of lawlessness are
increased before the LORD. By the time “king” Ahab is introduced on the scene in 1st
Kings 16, what is mentioned concerning him? ~ “As if it had been a light thing for him to
walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat” ~ is shocking. What Ahab did was even
more depraved than the sins that marked the reign of Jeroboam.
This leads one to first consider who is this son of Nebat? Who is Jeroboam and
what were the sins that he walked in that so provoked the LORD?
Jeroboam ~ “he that opposes the people”
Son of Nebat ~ “that beholds”
Jeroboam was the ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel and is given special
attention in the Old Testament. No less than twenty-one times he is charged with having
caused Israel to sin (1 Kings 14:16).
Since Israel was already in idolatry, what made Jeroboam’s sin so great? He was
an innovator in that he was the leading force behind the practice of what the apostle
Paul calls “will-worship” (Colossians 2:23). His bold, arrogant and presumptuous
activities are detailed in 1st Kings 12.
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Will worship: Is a conglomerate mixture of Judaism, Asceticism (radical self-
abuse), and Proto-Gnosticism (the attitude that one is expecting to be accepted by God
on his own merit and believes himself to be inherently good, and the material body is
evil/wicked).
Not only is this same thinking carried on in our present day, we see yet another
element added to the mix. In today’s world religion man not only thinks of himself as
inherently good ~ but his body is an idol that ought to be worshiped ~ fulfilling every
desire and lust.
Thus, will worship is a self-contrived worship. “Worship” originating in the will of
man, which a man devises for himself thus it is a “self-made religion” of performance as
opposed to the rightly directed worship of the Divine.
1. Will-worship is arrogant and tyrannical. It reflects the self-inflated attitude of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who devised a worship format “of his own
heart” through which he “made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 14:16).
2. Will-worship is a form of rebellion. It is reminiscent of those days of Israel’s
judges, when every man did what was right “in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).
3. Will-worship is enslaving; a sense of self-determination is not only
corrupting, but intoxicating (you can feel good about yourself), and is
ultimately destructive.
That way of thinking is the revelation of a zero understanding of God.
The Will Worship of Jeroboam
First ~ Jeroboam corrupted the worship of Jehovah by instituting golden calves
as objects of divine adoration (1 Kings 12:28). This corrupted worship was first done
when the nation left Egypt.
The making of the golden calf was a direct result of Israel’s idolatry of the
worship of the host of heaven prophesied by the LORD Himself to Abraham (see
Genesis 15).
Second ~ Jeroboam changed the place of service from Jerusalem to the cities of
Bethel and Dan under the guise of convenience (1 Kings 12:27-30).
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Third ~ Jeroboam appointed priests from among people other than that of the
tribe of Levi (1 Kings 12:31) ~ a practice unauthorized.
Finally ~ King Jeroboam altered the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles from
the seventh month ~ fifteenth day, to the eighth month ~ fifteenth day (v. 32). All of this
he had “devised of his own heart” (1 Kings 12:33). Then he offered upon the altar a
burnt offering. He was a high-handed rebel who well deserved the wrath of God.
Figures of Month 7 and 8
Jeroboam had some understanding of the figures of the true in order to pervert it.
Why would he change the Feast of Tabernacles, which was ordained by God, Who was
to be worshiped and celebrated in the 7th month (Virgo) and change it to the 8th month
(Libra)?
Feast of Tabernacles which is celebrated in month seven types that which will be
fulfilled by the return in Person of Jesus Christ to claim His Kingdom with the promises
to Israel given them through their forefathers ~ finally a reality; seven is the number of
completeness! Finally the Seed ~ the Covenant Son ~ is to come. He comes as the
despised sin offering the 1st time. The 2nd time He is come to set up His kingdom and
celebrate with His people. This will be celebrated in the 7th month, the Feast of
Tabernacles.
The heavenly revelation of month seven ~ Tishri ~ is Virgo. The meaning of the
name Tishri is “Beginning. You will forgive, You will possess there.” The stars with their
signs of Virgo speak figuratively of the Seed of the woman ~ the nation Israel, the
Begotten Son given.
Through the Seed ~ the Begotten Son given, Israel will inherit the kingdom from
her Betrothed Beloved ~ Jesus Christ. This picture of the Beauty of Holiness was
corrupted by Jeroboam.
Month eight is Marchesvan ~ meaning “Bitter.” The heavenly revelation of month
eight is Libra. It was bitter (painful, costly) for God to offer His Son; for the Son to offer
Himself. But the bitterness was necessary in order for there to be a new beginning,
which is what the ordinal eight means. God’s plan is a kingdom of sons of God. The
stars with their signs of Libra speak figuratively of the Propitiation where God meets
man’s needs of Eternal life for the mortal body and righteousness for the soul.
Jeroboam thinks he can bypass the Covenant Son and begin with Eternity. By
not celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in month seven and instituting the celebration
in month eight is to “change” the times and seasons of God’s ordained Eternal
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Covenant thereby “changing” the figurative message of the heavenly pictorial.
The figurative message of the stars with their signs is speaking of the Covenant
Son and His purpose as has been recorded in the luminaries as a testimony ~ not to be
perverted or changed.
The reason Jeroboam perverted the figurative message was twofold: First, to
keep the people from going up to Jerusalem to worship. Jeroboam doesn’t want his
tribes going up in the 7th month. As prince, he wants to keep his people in his land.
Secondly, he wants to establish himself as King instead of the LORDS’ prince; and the
kingdom (as the kingdom promised as an everlasting possession as Libra declares) for
himself. Jeroboam wants to declare himself the new beginning like the number eight
witnesses.
It takes submission to the authority of LOVE to have heart satisfaction. The
heavenly revelation of the Eternal Covenant in the stars with their signs are absolutely
vital to understanding God’s Eternal Covenant, to have man in His image and after His
likeness.
There is never an excuse as to why someone does something, but there is
always a reason. Jeroboam is without excuse.
King Ahab
1 Kings 16:29-34: Read
Yet ~ king Ahab while likened to Jeroboam did more to provoke the LORD God
of Israel than all the kings of Israel that were before him! Not only did Ahab think it a
light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam ~ Ahab added four more things ~
As If It Had Been a Light Thing
First ~ he added to the corruption of the worship of Jehovah by serving Baal.
Ahab assisted in the corrupt worship of idolatry by making Baal Israel’s supreme deity
and by supplying those things needful to the religion. He does that by marrying the
woman Jezebel, who is involved with that religion.
Second ~ with his service to the false deity came his worship of the deity (two
different things). Worship ~ the adoration and rightly directed reverence to Jehovah was
denied and given to the idol as the Supreme.
Third ~ he built an altar for the purpose of sacrifice to Baal ~ in the house that he
built to Baal in Samaria.
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(Both the sacrifice and groves of trees are connected to fertility and “Seed”);
which are a perversion of the Gospel of the stars. The whole issue with the Gospel of
the stars is SEED ~ Bodies ~ Sons of God. And the fertility for bodies come from God
and not through idols.
Finally, ~ he made a grove. In Hebrew the word grove is “Asherah”.
Meaning either a living tree or a tree-like pole, which was set up as an object of worship
being symbolical of the female or productive principle in nature.
The word grove is often translated “green trees” or “grove”. This “nature worship”
became associated with gross immorality.
It goes without saying that this so called “nature worship” along with idol worship
of foreign gods was forbidden by the Hebrew prophets (Deuteronomy 16:21; Numbers
25:3; Judges 2:11-13; 1 Samuel 7:3-4; 1 Kings 11:5; Isaiah 17:8; Micah 5:12).
Ahab/Jezebel
Thus Five Hundred years after the prophecy of Joshua, the son of Nun, Ahab
along with his wife Jezebel, added four more things to Jeroboam’s list bringing the total
to eight vanities ~ or foolish acts which did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to
anger than all the kings before him.
The ordinal eight which is indicative of a new beginning reveals that there is
nothing new under the sun when it comes to man. Man always thinks of himself as the
originator ~ ha!
The wickedness of man ~ due to his indifference to God is great in the earth, and
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil ~ continually. Added to this
list of wickedness ~ as if it were possible ~ is the rebuilding of the city Jericho. Thus,
within the figurative pictorial of a “new beginning” is the revelation of the conclusion of
the matter.
The ordinal nine is the last of the digits and thus marks an end. The end of the
ways of man ~ is death.
Definition of the Names ~ 1 Kings 16
Ahab ~ "uncle"~ son of Omri ~ “life" or "servant"
Jezebel ~ "where is the prince?" ~ A ritual question spoken in ceremonies
honoring Baal ~ daughter of Ethabaal: toward the idol, or with Baal from whom their
king was named (named after Baal) (1 Kings 16:31). Jezebel was a Zidonianite.
Zidonian ~ the inhabitants of Zidon.
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Zidonians
The inhabitants of Zidon were among the nations of Canaan. They oppressed the
Israelites on their first entrance into the country, (Judges 10:12) and appear to have
lived a luxurious and reckless life (Judges 18:7).
Baal
Besides worshiping Ashtoreth (she was the supreme female divinity) as their
tutelary goddess ~ the guardian or patron of the “spirits” in the region (1 Kings 11:5; 1
Kings 11:33; 2 Kings 23:13) in the days of Solomon ~ Baal was added to Israel’s list of
false deities as the supreme male divinity. Again ~ the perversion of Seed.
Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others
suppose that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. Regardless, there can be no doubt
of the worship of Baal. Baal had become the preeminent god to worship.
The worship of Baal prevailed in the time of Moses among the Moabites and
Midianites, (Numbers 22:41) and through them spread to the Israelites (Numbers 25:3-
18) but ceased under Joshua’s leadership.
In the times of the kings it became the religion of the court and people of the ten
tribes, (1 Kings 16:31-33; 1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kings 18:22) and appears never to have
been permanently abolished among them (2 Kings 17:16). Baal is found in several
places in the plural BAALIM (Judges 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jeremiah 2:23; Hosea
2:17).
Usually mentioned along with other gods, and most often identified with Molech
(Jeremiah 19:5), Baal’s own field of action is seldom defined. Nonetheless, Ugaritic
records show him as a weather god, with particular power over lightning, wind, rain, and
fertility.
However, seeing as Baal was known as the sun-god, under the general title of
Baal, or "lord," the significance is that Baal was the chief object of worship above the
other so-called gods.
What is evident is the perversion of the Eternal Covenant declared in the
heavenlies. One can see the perversion in connection to Seed and the First Born ~ the
Covenant Son.
Molech
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Molech was another Canaanite deity. It is believed that idols of Molech were
giant metal statues with a body of a man and with the head of a bull. Each image had a
hole in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to
the hole. A fire was lit in or around the statue.
Here is the perversion: head of a bull perverts “shall not the judge of all the earth
do right?” ~ Taurus; and a body of a man. What do you have? a god-man. But his
abdomen is cut out. Who carries the seed in the abdomen? The woman. But the
Covenant Son is the Seed for Eternal Life. That is how one of the statues was a
perversion of the truth.
Babies were placed in the statue’s arms, but most often in the hole. When a
couple sacrificed their firstborn, they believed that Molech would ensure financial
prosperity for the family and future children. This is a perversion of the sacrifice of the
Covenant Son.
Human Sacrifice
“Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away (Psalm
144:4).” The dwelling place of man ~ the body of flesh and bone is not his own.
The body of flesh and bone is the Lord’s and the Lord is for the body (1
Corinthians 6:13). The image of flesh and bone is not man’s image but the LORD’S
image.
Man made in God’s image is a seed grain in hopes of receiving the Eternal life in
the image and likeness of God. In the taking of man’s life which is precious to God and
shedding the blood desecrates the holiness of God and defiles it. God hates human
sacrifice.
Why? Because to shed your brother’s blood is a great wickedness. What is
desecrated is the extraordinary LOVE of God, by making it ordinary. It makes common
the extraordinary sacrifice of the Covenant Son. God hates mixture.
The Coming Seed was no ordinary man, He is ~ Spirit Being of Deity. He is God
come in the flesh ~ come in the flesh and bone body in the image of God in the likeness
of man ~ blood to make an atonement for men’s souls. To shed the blood of a brother is
to make God common.
“I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it
is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
Although human sacrifice was not common in Abraham’s native Ur, it was well-
established in his new land of Canaan. It was the Canaanites that practiced human
sacrifice ~ not Abraham.
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God would later asked Abraham to offer Isaac his son as a sacrifice ~ common
practices in the land (Genesis 22:2) ~ as a figure for those natives dwelling in the land
to distinguish Himself from gods like Molech.
Unlike the native Canaanite gods, Abraham’s God abhorred human sacrifice.
God provided a ram to take Isaac’s place (Genesis 22:13) and used this event as an
illustration of how He would later provide His Own Son as the Appointed Substitute to
take our place.
Despite occasional efforts by godly kings, worship of Molech wasn’t abolished
until the Israelites’ captivity in Babylon. Even though the Babylonian religion was a
pantheistic religion which tolerated all gods and was personified by astrology and
divination, it did not include human sacrifice.
Thus, the result of the dispersion of the Israelites into a large pagan civilization
succeeded in finally purging them of their false gods.
When the Jews returned to their land, they rededicated themselves to God, and
the Valley of Hinnom was turned into a place for burning garbage and the bodies of
executed criminals.
Jesus used the imagery of this place—an eternally burning fire ~ as the
judgment of the Second Death, consuming the bodies of those sons of Adam who
reject God’s plan for them (Matthew 10:28).
However, in the days of King Ahab and his wife, the kingdom of Israel is divided.
Ahab was a wicked king doing evil in the sight of the LORD with Jezebel his wife
serving and worshiping Baal, introducing the kingdom of Israel to the worship of Baal in
Israel's capital city of Samaria ~ as opposed to the worship of Jehovah (1 Kings 16:31-
33; 1 Kings 18:19, 22).
Temples were erected to Baal in Samaria, (1 Kings 16:32) and he was worshiped
with much ceremony (1 Kings 18:19, 26-28; 2 Kings 10:22). The priests of Baal were in
great numbers (1 Kings 18:19), and of various classes (2 Kings 10:19). Their mode of
offering sacrifices is described in 1st Kings 18:25-29 as violent and bloody, committing
sacrilege against the body of humanity made in the image of God.
Nonetheless, the overall attractiveness of this worship was undoubtedly its
immoral and lustful environment. Prostitution in the “worship” service was a big draw.
This is how Israel is going to end up according to the prophecy of Joshua at the end of
chapter 6.
The whole point is the exposing of the deceitfulness of the enmity. Joshua who is
a warrior prophet gives a prophecy and connects it to the trespass of the children of
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YT 19 Joshua part 14 Chapter 6:17-7:1
Israel in the future ~ to the accursed thing that Achan took. Why is Israel connected to
the trespass of Achan? That will be in next week’s lesson.
We can have a better appreciation of what Rahab the Harlot was delivered out of
~ and what a great salvation!
This concludes the lesson. If you’d like to prepare for the next lesson please read
1Kings 16:34 and Joshua 7
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