By Bill Petri

It is important for us who are in the Body of Christ to remember that God gave to us a Bible which has 66 books and not just the 13 books that Paul wrote. He gave 53 other books so that we can learn, and receive patience and comfort through the Scriptures. While reading the book of Joshua, I came upon a startling fact, and it sparked a greater understanding of the Old Testament shadows, which made my hope far more real and personal.

Jericho was a city that had been “devoted” to God.

The KJV says the city was accursed – but this is a very poor understanding. The Hebrew word that Young’s translates as “devoted” and the King James translates as “accursed” is defined by Brown-Driver-Brigg’s Hebrew Dictonary as:

חרם  /  חרם

chêrem  /  cherem

BDB Definition:

1) a thing devoted, thing dedicated, ban, devotion

2) a net, thing perforated

Part of Speech: noun masculine

God’s Law on “devoted” fields is found in Leviticus 27:21.

Matthew 13:38 records the following truth for us:

Israel shall have her Jubilee; but so shall the created world. How these two great Jubilees relate is found in Jesus’ parable of Matthew 13:44.

God told Israel in Exodus 19:5 that they were a “peculiar TREASURE unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” In other words, Israel is the treasure in the field, or the world. The fact that Israel was “hidden” is found in Psalm 83:3, where they are called “Thy hidden ones.”

Jesus sold all that He had, veiling Himself of His glory and beauty (Phil. 2:7), and came to earth -- not to buy the treasure, but to buy the field containing the treasure.

The treasure is the particular object of His attention, but in order to obtain it, He purchased the whole field. He died not only for the sins of Israel, but for the sins of the whole world. In Greek philosophy, the kosmos is the “world order” and refers to the universe, including the stars of heaven, which were seen to be “ordered”.

And so, the “field” in Jesus’ parable is said to be purchased by God. In other words, it was to go into His treasury. It was, in effect, “devoted” to God. This process therefore is done by the law of devotion in Leviticus 27:21 (as we have seen).

A more generalized law of devotion is found in verse 28. This is applicable to the fields as well as other things.

All devoted things must go into His treasury (i.e., to the priest). The former owner has no rights of redemption. This world has come into the hand of the kingdom of darkness[1], purchased by Adam’s sin. But Jesus purchased it back with His own blood. Thus, the Adversary cannot ever again reclaim the creation as his, once it has passed into God’s treasury by “devotion.” Pay close attention to Lev.27:28’s words. “…no devoted thing … shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh.”

Property is either redeemed or devoted. Devoted things cannot be redeemed. A deeper meaning here is that it refers to two classes of people. Believers are redeemed; the world is devoted, given to God by means of judgment. Jesus came as a man to redeem Israel[2] and to devote the kosmos (the created universe) to the Father. His work on the Cross devoted the unredeemed creation (“Jericho,” or “Babylon”) to the treasury of God.

The book of Joshua records an additional unfortunate detail about Jericho.

Achan tried to take possession of a devoted thing. This brought judgment upon him, and his family. The Achans of this present time attempt to take most of the creation away from God. They do this by teaching that men devoted to God shall be buried under his tent. They are attempting to deny God His right to the devoted thing. This is done in spirit by the doctrines of eternal torment and annihilationism. Like Achan this is done to create more wealth for them at God’s expense. Yet there is another side to this as well. In another sense, Achan can be seen as attempting to “take back” (redeem) a portion of the city. This, I believe, also stands as a lesson to those who would have God redeem the world without judgment. Thus, the Achan doctrine may include the lawless as well as those who would judge the world by eternal torment or annihilation. Neither doctrine will stand. They cannot stand. They cannot stand because they violate God’s laws of redemption and devoted things. The day of reckoning shall come just as it did for Achan.

Those of us who understand the truth of “Ultimate reconciliation” need to function as the “ambassadors of reconciliation” God has made us. Let us not fall to the Achan doctrine. Let us help those who are ensnared in the Achan doctrine recover themselves from their day of reckoning.