Humanity's History in Two Words

Joshua 7:1 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things;
Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

     "Were Unfaithful." There are two intertwining themes in our lives a human beings. The one we love to talk about. We talk about the great things that we accomplish, the buildings we build, the discoveries we make, the technologies we invent. These all reflect the creative potential instilled in us as image-bearers of the Creator of the Universe. We create, build, discover and invent because we are created to be like our Great God.
     But there is another side of us that we don't like to talk about. We also fail miserably at caring for each other, being stewards of the world in which we live, being faithful to our commitments, being true to our Creator's design. We all fail to one degree or another to rise to our full potential.
     Right after entering the Promised Land through a miracle from the LORD and capturing a city through unlikely means, one person disobeyed the simple, direct command of the LORD. The LORD had said certain things in the city belonged to Him and Him alone. Pretty simple, right?
     Achan thought he could get away with disobedience. He thought he wouldn't be noticed. He thought his sin wasn't so bad. It was only a few small things, after all. And the consequences of his sin cost the lives of thirty-six fellow Israelites! Their deaths were clearly laid at Achan's feet.
     The people responded by getting discouraged and turning to fear. Not the best attributes for those who will fight the battles.
     So Joshua pleads with the LORD. Not his best moment! He blames the LORD for what has happened. But the LORD puts the blame right back where it belongs. They had violated the terms of the covenant. So Joshua obeys the LORD and sorts through the people, tribes to clans to families to man. Achan is selected.
     Achan comes clean and suffers the consequences for his disobedience. His sin is so dangerous that the only solution is his complete elimination. Sin MUST be dealt with; it can't be tolerated in God's people.
     And there was a pile of stones to remind future generations of the consequences of disobedience. (See Stones To Remember)

Stones to Remember

Joshua 4:5b-7 Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.

     Our nation's capitol has some beautiful monuments, buildings made to help us remember our history. We place plaques on walls with names on them to remember the people who were foundational to the building of the buildings. We carve quotes into the stone. We erect statues of important people. We dedicate land, assigning people's names to it. We do all these things, and many more, to help future generations remember that past.
     Remembering the past, both the good and the evil is important. And we have to find ways of passing along the lessons learned from the past to future generations.
     Joshua, the new leader of the people of Israel, was told when they were about to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land to pick twelve men to pick up twelve stones from the riverbed right where the priests stood when the LORD stopped the Jordan River's flow. There were to each pick up a stone that would later be piled up to help the twelve tribes remember this miracle.
     This pile of stones would prompt a "Daddy, why" question in future generations. Kids would see the pile of rocks and ask "Daddy, why is there a pile of rocks here?" This would give the parents the opportunity to answer the question by telling the story of deliverance from Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land.
     We seem many memorial stone piles in Scripture, many opportunities to tell the history of our Great God. How do we tell our 'next generations' about our Great God? How do we share what the LORD has done for us in our lives? Do we take time to do this? Do we have "Daddy, why?" memorials in our lives to trigger the questions?
     Maybe it is time we stacked some stones to remember what the LORD has done.

In the Tomb

Mark 15:42-47

      Wealth and influence can be a positive thing, when it is used to serve others. But so often these two commodities are used for selfish ends. Oh how I do admire someone who gets it right, who serves others with their wealth and influence. They are connectors, connecting people with needs with people with extra resources. One of the greatest testimonies a person could have as a wealthy person is that they died poor, having purposely enriched many others. They didn’t act as the reservoir of wealth, but as a conduit of wealth. They owned the wealth. The wealth didn’t own them.

      Joseph was both a wealthy individual and someone with influence at the highest levels. We know he had wealth for a couple of reasons. First, he served on the Jewish ruling council. This is the same group from which Nicodemus came. Members of this group had to have a vast knowledge of the Scriptures. They were often prominent business people with family connections that went back generations. You had to ‘be someone’ in order to serve on the council. Membership was closed.

      But Joseph also had enough money to have a tomb cut out of the rock for burial use. This was a common practice in those days. A family with money would have a tomb carved in the rock to house the family remains. His was fairly new wealth, since the tomb had never been used prior to Jesus’ body. Tombs were often used for generations. Separate shelves could be carved in the sides of the cave like structure for different individuals. Often after the body had decomposed, the bones would be gathered and placed in a special burial jar and placed in the floor or in a spot cut in the walls. This gathering of bones freed the space to be used by the next generation of occupants.

      But Joseph also had influence, at least enough influence to be able to approach Pilate on short notice and get permission to receive the body of Jesus from them. Jesus’ body was the property of Rome at that point. They had to release the body for burial. If Joseph had not stepped up and asked for the body, Jesus’ remains would have been disposed of in an unmarked grave, along with other criminals whose bodies remained unclaimed.

      And then the tomb is sealed, the normal practice. You didn’t want animals coming to eat the body prior to its decomposition. The tomb would often be left sealed for a year to allow decomposition to take place.

      And since this was a hasty burial, the women follow and see exactly where Jesus is laid so that they can finish the body preparation after the Sabbath. A proper Jewish burial required that the body be washed and prepared. They didn’t have time to do this on that afternoon. They would pay their respects on Sunday morning.

      In Glasgow, Scotland is the most wonder Necropolis, graveyard. It is filled with thousands of impressive grave markers, everything from simple plaques to large, roomed monuments. On the highest point of the hill is a memorial to John Knox, the man who founded the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. He is not buried there, but probably under a parking lot. But His marker stands at the highest point of this hill.