Joshua 7 - Unbeknownst to Joshua
,someone among the Israelites violates
the ban and keeps goods for himself. A similar offense
will later cause problems for Saul.
Because
of this, the Lord forsakes the people at Ai and they are defeated there. Joshua is told he must find out the
perpetrator and let him be destroyed by the fire of the Lord, because by his
act, the people have violated the covenant.
The guilty man is a man named Achan
of the tribe of Judah. Achan confesses
his guilt and says that he did what he did because of greed. As punishment, Achan and all that he
possesses including his family are sent to the Valley of Achor and there he is
stoned by the people to appease the anger of the Lord. It is not said that everyone in his family is
stoned too, but the implication is that all he possesses is somehow
incorporated into him and incur God’s wrath as well.
Reflection: Sometimes we get into the habit of thinking
that the Lord is pretty much of a pushover, that whatever we do, he can
ultimately accept in us. But these old
testament stories bring us back to the reality that God has no tolerance for wrong-doing and especially lack of integrity in matters
of faith. For the Israelites, faith
consisted in a commitment to follow Yahweh, and observe the commandments Moses
gave the people from God. In addition to
the law, the Israelites were exhorted to
be led in all things by the Lord and here we see the results that come from
not observing the path the Lord sets out for us to follow. Not only is there a natural consequence, the
loss of the battle; but, there is a taint upon the entire community which
ultimately must be lifted before God’s blessing can return. Help us see, Lord, that our faithfulness or
lack of faithfulness has ramifications far beyond what we conceive. We do
not only affect our own selves, but bring misery upon all who are linked to us,
either by family tie or community relationship.
Let us walk with a sense of our being part of a covenanted community
with a calling to please our creator.
Origen (185-254 AD)
De Principiis (First
Principles)
Book II - On Christ
10 - In this section,
Origen examines the second phrase: that “Wisdom
is the purest efflux of the glory of the Almighty.” He starts by looking at
the “omnipotence of God” which he sees as an assertion that “those things by
which He receives that title must also exist.”
He
seems to be saying the creative ‘”flow” from his power was ALWAYS co-existent
in Him, so that this Wisdom – Christ -- was also from the beginning.
I am not sure I understand what he is saying here. He seems to be
saying that if someone is “omnipotent,” there must always be “that which is
subject to Him.” It isn’t the “creation” because that has a beginning in time
in the Scriptural understanding; but the “efflux” he’s referring to here seems
as if it must be the Word or Christ. The philosophical nature of Origen’s
methodology is very hard to follow and unrelentingly in its analytical nature;
it is not hard to understand how some in the Church resisted this kind of
approach to the narrative. He always starts from Scriptural pieces but swims
through them with his intellect.
11 – And now he goes into
the words “splendor of eternal light” –
the third phrase Wisdom uses to explain the nature of God. The first was
“breath of the power [omnipotence] of God.” The second was “the purest efflux
of His glory” and this is “the splendor of eternal light.”
“It
is properly termed everlasting or eternal which neither had a beginning of
existence, nor can ever cease to be what it is. And this is the idea conveyed
by John when he says that ‘God is light.’ Now His wisdom is the splendor of
that light, not only in respect of it being light, but also of being
everlasting light, so that His wisdom is eternal and everlasting splendor. If
this be fully understood, it clearly shows that the existence of the Son is
derived from the Father but not in time, nor from any other beginning, except,
as we have said, from God Himself.”
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