Avoidance Theology
April 24, 2026
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
Do you like the good stuff? Amazing how each of us peoples is attracted to something that we just have to have. Fortunately, we are not all drawn to the same ‘good’ stuff.
Israel had just finished forty years traveling from the southwest to the east side of what we think of as Israel. All of the adults over forty years of age have died except for Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites have crossed the Jordan River and are beginning the conquest of Canaan with the taking of Jericho which has just been completed after a seven day seige which included no military warfare until the final day. The city has been razed, destroyed, decimated and is now rubble. All of the inhabitants are deceased save for Rahab and her family. You are Joshua and with that initial victory, turn your attention toward a small neighboring village. It is a village so you send 3,000 men to subdue Ai but somehow your superior force is driven away and 36 of your men are dead with nothing to show for the efforts. You, Joshua, are Moses’ replacement and you have no comprehension why God didn’t give you the victory.
After you humble yourself before God and seek His giving you understanding, God tells you,
Are you thinking this is unfair, that they had not warning? Not so. Before the assault on the seventh day, Joshua had reiterated that this city was ‘devoted’ to God,
This ‘devotion’ of the firsts was one of the precepts God had given forty years before at Mount Sinai,
Back to the solution. The Lᴏʀᴅ has been specific that the Israelites cannot go forward, cannot possess the Promise Land, until they remove the fault from their midst. There is a deliberate means God provides. The next morning, the Lᴏʀᴅ will indicate by drawn lot which of the twelve tribes has the guilty party. That done, then the clans, and then down to the households in that clan comes man by man and Achan is taken as the guilty party. He is urged to confess,
Isn’t that the way of ‘good’ stuff, that which has the appearance of something we simply ‘must’ have? Anyone else have good stuff buried where it is useless? Looked good, felt good, appealed, had to have, and then buried. Yet, divides your devotion away from the Lᴏʀᴅ and what He has next for your life.
This is an Old Testament example of exemplary judgment relative to that which is devoted to God but we also have a New Testament example in Acts 5:1-11. In the previous chapter we are told that the believers in Jerusalem were growing in numbers and were committed to meeting the needs of fellow believers. The liberty of using what they possessed to serve God included some selling some of their possessions and bringing the proceeds in for distribution to those in need. Barnabas was one of those who did this and was an encourager. Another couple, Ananias and his wife Sapphira also sold a piece of property and give for distribution but in agreement with each other kept back part of the sale proceeds while presenting the gift as the entirety of the sale.
Yes, in the age of Grace, God still takes what is said to be His seriously. As Peter said, it was his to do with as he please but when he said it was God’s, well, judgment day came early. And yes, for his wife also.
This again is an example of exemplary judgment and may not have the same instantaneous consequence as either with Achan or Ananias but ‘touching’ what is devoted to God still has consequences even if not immediate. Likely, ongoing dis-use of that which is devoted to God still has long-term results. Yes, repentance is possible but the heart set on deliberately taking what is rightly God’s has the risk of hardening the heart of the deceiver against repentance. Justification of ourselves is an enslaver of the conscience against God.
FOOTNOTES:
1 Joshua 7:10-13 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jos/7/10-13/s_194010
2 Joshua 7:15-19 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jos/7/15-19/s_194015
3 Deuteronomy 7:2 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/7/2/s_160002
4 Deuteronomy 13:17 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/deu/13/17/s_166017
5 Joshua 7:19-21 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jos/7/19-21/s_194019
6 Acts 5:1-5 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/act/5/1-5/s_1023001
7 Isaiah 48:11 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/48/11/s_727011
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able
“… Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
Glory to God “…and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light…”Editor’s Note: this is
“… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and