AIDS
“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.” - Joshua 7:1, 11-13, 20-26 ESV
Yesterday, for my college class, I watched a video documenting the start of the AIDS epidemic from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s (I know, some of you think that was a long time ago). I was an actuarial student working for a multi-line company (Horace Mann) that was a subsidiary to a much larger company (CIGNA) so most things were decided with CIGNAs perspective in mind. Our CEO wanted to report what our division’s exposure to AIDS was (after all, our division sold group health and disability products). I got charged with analyzing the situation. For my division, and at that time, the exposure was minimal. I found the developing information that showed that, once AIDS was measurable, there really wasn’t a lot medically that could be done, and the death rate was almost certain 3 - 4 years out (this sounds cruel, but it really was the situation at that time).
The documentary was about this group of infected people called ACT UP (didn’t remember this), and how they organized protests to encourage additional funding for research and provided analysis of developing experience for medical research studies. During this historical documentary, one segment was about when a Cardinal in NY declared homosexuality a sin and ACT UP organized a protest. Some of the signs carried showed that these people wanted to go to heaven too. In other words, they wanted to be accepted. I thought that the priests interviewed did an excellent job of explaining that all people should be loved but that the Catholic Church was never going to condone homosexuality as not being a sin (I found myself wishing that he had said that God had declared homosexuality a sin but close enough).
I was thinking about that video as I read my devotion this morning (above) from the Book of Joshua. My sinful nature aches to argue that it isn’t fair for God to punish all people for the sins of one person and, besides, the sin wasn’t that bad compared to other sins. But then I stop and remember
“I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:19-23
And, in my opinion more important, God is sovereign. Who am I to tell God how he should be?
“Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.” - Psalm 77:13-15
One of the most common sins, at least for me, is the desire to make God who I want him to be and not praise him for who he is and what he has done. The creator of the universe doesn’t need me, but I desperately need him. Maybe that is the real lesson God was trying to teach the people of Israel.
