The Great Exchange

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Key Passage: Psalms 30 NKJV

1 ¶ I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.

3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

6 ¶ Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved."

7 LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

8 I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:

9 "What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?

10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!"

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

It is often at the place of our greatest failure that we realize our greatest hope.

It is called the bottom of the barrel principle. (When we are at the bottom of the barrel of life there is no way to go but up!)

Joshua 7 – The Story of Achan

Joshua 7 NKJV

24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

God wanted the Children of Israel to dedicate all the spoils of Jericho, the first city conquered in their promised land, to Him. God wanted the first city --- all the gold, all the silver and all the vessels of bronze and iron --- to be given into the treasury of His house. They could have the spoils of all of the other the cities in Canaan, but the first belonged to God.

When God claims something, it becomes consecrated to Him. When man takes something consecrated to God to use for himself, it becomes accursed.

* Consecrated

Joshua 6:19 "But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."

* Accursed

Joshua 7:1 ¶ But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

Achan coveted and took what belonged to God for himself.

Now remember the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

The lesson God is teaching us from this story is a revelation of His plan for mankind.

Achan was of the Tribe of Judah, a trusted servant of the Lord, perhaps a member of the Praise Team of Israel, among those who went first to battle, maybe he even played one of those horns or led others in the shout that brought down the walls of Jericho.

I don’t think he actually went in to Jericho specifically intending to keep whatever he found and fancied, but nonetheless, presented with the temptation, he coveted, stole from God, and sinned.

Joshua 22:20 ‘Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’"

Achan’s sin did not only cause a rift between him and God, but angered God with the whole nation and brought about division and destruction to everyone whom God had included in His plan.

You see it is the same story told over and over in the bible in different ways. It is the story of Adam who sinned and caused sin to fall upon all mankind and separated them from God’s plan.

Here in this story of Achan, we see that God would not let His children go into the Promised Land, our present day heavenly eternity with God, before they dealt with sin.

Just as Eve put forth her hand and partook of what God had consecrated to Himself, (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), Achan partook of something which belonged to God.

In today’s terms we all, from time to time, are presented with temptations and even though we may not actually be going around looking for things to steal or partake of in defiance to God, nonetheless we all sin and fall short of the expectations and commandments of God. (Romans 3:23)

What is the course for one who sins? The only payment for sin is death. In Eve’s day it was the sacrifice of some animal. In Achan’s day it was his own life. In our day it is the blood of Jesus.

Joshua is a type and shadow image of Jesus. He was the leader and it was to him and through him that God spoke. Seeing the defeat of the Children of God, Joshua interceded and was ultimately told to get up off his face and engage himself in the process of remedy. God did not want to see His Children continue to live in defeat. God wanted to get rid of the sin and get on with His plan.

Joshua 7:18 … man by man …

Every man came before Joshua, man by man, just as every person comes before Christ, individual by individual. He sees the sin and applies the remedy.

Joshua 7:26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

We read in Joshua 7 that Achan was brought to the valley of Achor and killed there. Then the Lord turned the fierceness of His anger from the Children of Israel. The name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

Achor = Trouble; or to cause or stir up trouble.

When we sin, whether by keeping something for ourselves that belongs to the treasury of God or by disobeying the Word of God in some other way, it has the potential to cost us but not only us, it can also cost others and even the whole Body of Christ as well. These sins must be dealt with.

How?

Following the Bible pattern, we must come before Jesus personally and present ourselves to him, confessing our sin to Him remembering that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

Jesus will judge us, as only He can, and then He will step off the bench as Judge and take our place as the condemned and give His life for our sin. This is known as the Great Exchange.

Jesus takes your place and you go free.

There is another Great Exchange spoken of in the bible in reference to the story of Achan.

From the time of Achan and for the generations who followed, the Valley of Achor became a proverb for those who caused trouble, those who failed and as a result were found lying at the bottom of the barrel of life … guilty, condemned and worthy of death.

However, God in His infinite mercy, following His plan of reconciliation, salvation and restoration, spoke through prophecy first by Isaiah and then through Hosea.

Isaiah 65:10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.

Sincerely seeking God in the time of trouble will make all the difference. The wages of sin is death but there is a gift of life for all who will call upon His name. (Romans 6:23 & 10:13) Furthermore:

Hosea 2:15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

You see, God never intended for our failures to remain failures. He never considered that we would go to the bottom of the barrel of life and remain there. Our trouble can be turned into hope of a better tomorrow.

Often the place of our greatest failure becomes the place of God’s greatest hope in us.

How do your turn your Valley of Trouble into your Valley of Hope?

Bring it all to Jesus. Confess your failures to Him and He will pardon.

God has turned your mourning into dancing … put off your sackcloth and be girded with gladness … (Psalms 30)

Isaiah 53 NKJV

4 ¶ Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Call upon the Lord in your Valley of Trouble and let Him turn your trouble into hope. He will lift you up out of the miry clay and set your feet on a rock and put a new song in your heart.

Call upon Him now! He alone can save.