Sons of Encouragement

by Francine Rivers

  “Go!” Joshua gestured to two assistants, and they departed. Everyone waited until they returned with the beautiful multicolored, woven, embroidered robe; the silver; and the gold. The silver and gold were given to Eleazar and the priests to spread out before the Lord.

  Joshua turned to Caleb, his eyes filled with sorrow. “We must take Achan and all that belongs to him to the valley.”

  As head of Judah, Caleb obeyed the command. Achan did not go easily. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do it. I don’t know what got into me! It’s just a robe and some silver and gold. Is that reason enough to kill me and my entire family? Caleb, help me. My grandfather and father were your friends. The council will listen to you. Help me!”

  Grief and disappointment fueled Caleb’s rage as he backhanded Achan, who fell to his knees begging. Pity caught at Caleb, but he dragged him up. His son Ardon had died because of this man’s sin. So had thirty-five others! Caleb thought of their widows and children as he propelled Achan ahead of him. He would not listen to Achan’s excuses or his pleas for mercy. He closed his ears to the sobs of Achan’s sons and daughters as others pressed them along after their father. Even the man’s cattle, donkeys, and sheep were driven into the valley, and his tent and all he had were cast down around him.

  “Spare my children!” Achan screamed, weeping. “At least my sons so that my name will . . .”

  “Why have you brought trouble on us?” Joshua’s voice carried so that all those standing around the rim of the small valley heard. “The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” He took up a rock. Caleb did likewise, gripping it tightly, palm sweating, tears filling his eyes.

  Achan’s screams were abruptly silenced, as were those of his sons and daughters. The animals were not so easily killed. When everything that breathed was dead, the remains and all Achan’s possessions were torched. Then stones were piled up in a heap.

  Silent, the people dispersed.

  Caleb returned to his tent with his sons and grandsons. Some wept. Others were quiet. Some questioned.

  Caleb stood firm. “Achan had to die!”

  “Yes, but did his children?” One of the women wept.

  Caleb felt every day of his eighty years. “They knew. Don’t you understand? They all knew. Achan buried inside his tent what he stole from God. Do you think his sons and daughters didn’t know about it?” He swept his arms wide. “Could I dig a hole here and my family not see it? No! Achan’s sons and daughters saw what he did and said nothing. They forsook the Word of the Lord and followed their father. They were all guilty!”

  “He loved Ardon like a brother.” Shobab shook his head. “They were friends from childhood. You heard what he said. He wasn’t thinking clearly when he took those things. It all happened in the heat of battle. He didn’t mean to sin . . .”

  “Do not pity him!” Tears streamed down Caleb’s face. “Achan knew he sinned. It took time to smuggle those things out of Jericho. It took time to hide them. He thought he could steal from God and no one would know, and Ardon died at Ai because of him. To show him pity is to rebel against the Lord’s judgment. Think of Ardon and the thirty-five others who died because of one man’s greed. We grieve and suffer now because of Achan. He had herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. His sons rode on donkeys like young princes. God had given him wealth. Was he satisfied? No! Was he thankful? No!” He spit in disgust. “Your brother and the others died because Achan wanted a robe, a few silver shekels, and a wedge of gold!”

  For forty years, he had taught and counseled his sons and grandsons. Did they still not understand? “You must obey the Lord. Whatever He says, you must do. God gave us the Law to protect us, to teach us how to live righteously before Him. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are to be holy as He is holy!”

  “How can we do that, Father?” Hur, the only son of his beloved Ephrathah, leaned forward. “You know we love you and respect you.” He held his hands out. “We all strive to do whatever you ask of us because we know you live for God. But I want to know, Father. How is it possible to be holy like God? How can we keep every law laid upon our backs? I try. God must know I try. But I fail.”

  Caleb saw the anguish in his son’s eyes. He saw the others were troubled as well.

  “Yes.” He let out his breath slowly. “Yes, we all fail.” He banged his chest with his fists. “But inside, we fight to do what the Lord wills. We must fight our inclinations!” They listened more intently now than they had for a long time. “The battle is not over what’s out there. The battle is within us, always within us.”

  Achan had been judged rightly, and now they must forget their sorrow and their losses and move forward. With God!

  “If you can only remember one command, my sons, let it be this: Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. If you can do that, God will show you that all things are possible with Him.” Caleb spread his hands. “Say it with me.” And they did. “Say it again.” And they did, louder. “And again!” And they shouted it.

  “Say it every day for the rest of your lives, and live by your word.” Bowing his head, Caleb prayed a blessing upon them.

  “Hide in ambush close behind the city and be ready for action.” Joshua pointed to the map. Caleb studied the markings so he would know where he would hold the men. Joshua straightened. “When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. We will let them chase us until they have all left the city. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the Lord your God will give it to you.”

  “And when we have the city in our hands?”

  “Set the city on fire, as the Lord has commanded. You have your orders.”

  Caleb led the men by night to their position behind the city. They waited until early the next morning when a messenger reported that Joshua had mustered his men and was on the move. From his position, Caleb could see Joshua’s army approach the city and form in front of it, setting up camp north of Ai, with a valley between them and the city. With Caleb’s five thousand men to the west of the city, the men of Ai would be boxed into that valley with no escape.

  Shouting arose as warriors poured from the gates of Ai, chasing Joshua and his army toward the desert. Caleb snapped his fingers and several messengers ducked down beside him. “The men of Ai are in pursuit of Joshua. Alert the men!” The men of Ai raced across the valley, leaving the gates of the city open and unguarded. Spotting Joshua, Caleb waited, teeth gritted, for the sign.

  And then it came. Joshua pointed his javelin toward Ai.

  “Now!” Caleb shouted and rose up. Those under his command followed him up the slope and in through the city gates. People screamed and ran, but didn’t get far. “Torch the city. Hurry!” Fires were set and the buildings took flame, smoke billowing into the sky. “To the battle!”

  Caleb mustered his men. The warriors of Ai were in full retreat into the valley, but they couldn’t escape for five thousand Israelites blocked them. “For the Lord!” Sword raised, Caleb ran toward the warriors of Ai. “For the Lord!” Thousands responded.

  The valley became like a bowl of blood. Every warrior of Ai died there. Joshua took the king of Ai and hung him on a tree until evening, then ordered his body taken down and thrown on the burning city gate.

  They built two altars of uncut stones, one on Mount Ebal and another Mount Gerizim. “Gather the people.” When all the men, women, children, and aliens living among them were brought near, Joshua read the law God had given Moses to write. Not a word was left out.

  The blessings and the curses were heard clearly from one mountain to the other. No one would ever be able to say they had not heard the Lord’s warnings of what would happen if men failed to obey Him.

  “Who are you?” Caleb narrowed his eyes as he studied the ragged delegation of men, their donkeys loaded with worn-out sacks and cracked and mended wineskins. “Where
did you come from?” A long distance from their appearance, for their sandals were patched.

  “We are your servants. We have come to make a treaty with you.”

  Some of the younger men had gathered around to watch. “They might live near us. How can we make a treaty with them?”

  Eleazar raised his hands. “Let them speak!”

  Joshua looked them over. “Who are you and where do you come from?”

  “We are your servants. We have come from a distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. We heard reports about Him and all that He did in Egypt, and what He did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og. Our elders told us to take provisions and come and meet with you.” The speaker reached into his pack.

  Caleb drew his sword. A dozen others did the same.

  The man’s eyes went wide. “I only want to show you what has become of our provisions.”

  “Back away.” Caleb stepped forward and looked in the pack.

  “That bread was warm and fresh when we left our home.” The man put his hand on the wineskins. “And these new and filled.”

  Caleb tore off a piece of bread. After a taste, he spit it out. “Dry. Moldy.” But he still didn’t trust them.

  “We’ll make a treaty with you.”

  Joshua and most of the elders were in agreement.

  Caleb was not so easily convinced. “The Lord said to make no treaties.”

  “Yes.” Joshua grew impatient. “But we must not be too quick to judge and wipe out people. The Lord meant no treaties with those of the land. These men are from a distant country. We have no reason to be at war with them.”

  “Then why do I feel this unease in my gut?”

  Joshua slapped him on the back. “Perhaps it is the bread you just ate.”

  Others laughed, friends of old. Overruled, Caleb kept silent.

  The delegation left soon after the treaty was made. Three days later, Israelite warriors sent to scout out the land returned, red-faced and raging. “They’re Hivites from Gibeon! Those clothes they wore were a ruse. We did not attack because we signed a treaty with them.”

  Caleb exploded in anger. “They made fools of us!”

  “Of me.” Joshua was pale with mortification. “I did not inquire of the Lord. I did what I thought was right.”

  “Well, you had better pray now, my brother, because we are in trouble. The people are not happy about what we’ve done.”

  The people grumbled. “God said not to make a treaty with these people!”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “They’ll be a thorn in our sides from now on!”

  The leaders argued among themselves over what to do.

  “They lied!”

  “We don’t owe them anything!”

  The tribe of Simeon was eager for blood. “I say we march on their cities and kill every last one of them!”

  Those representing the other tribes were as eager for revenge. “That’s what the Lord told us to do in the first place.”

  Joshua shook his head. “We must keep our oath.”

  Caleb listened to the others all talk at once. They were afraid, and with good reason. The people were angry and casting blame. “Be still!” He spoke loudly, and the others quieted. “We made a mistake in not asking God who those men were. We must not make another. My heart cries out for vengeance just as yours does, but vengeance belongs to the Lord. Listen to Joshua!”

  They waited for God’s chosen to speak.

  “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. If we break our oath, we will bring God’s wrath down upon us.”

  “So what do we do about them?”

  Joshua called the people to order and told them the way of the Lord.

  And then he summoned the Gibeonites. “Why did you lie to us?”

  “We did it because we were told that the Lord your God instructed his servant Moses to conquer this entire land and destroy all the people living in it. So we feared for our lives because of you. That is why we have done it. Now we are at your mercy—do whatever you think is right.”

  Whatever you think is right. Caleb seethed. These people knew the oath could not be broken without incurring God’s wrath. The Gibeonites had counted on it.

  The people grumbled. A wave of fury could be felt until Joshua reminded them that the Lord would hold the nation to their oath. He faced the frightened Gibeonites. “You are under a curse. From this day forth, you will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” They bowed before him and departed.

  The camp was quiet that night.

  God’s enemies would now retain a toehold in the land for generations to come.

  Summoned by messenger, Caleb hurried to Joshua’s tent. One look at Joshua’s face and Caleb knew something was wrong. “What’s happened?”

  “The Gibeonites have sent word they need our help. The Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Kiriath-arba, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon have moved against them.”

  “It’s bad enough that we have to allow those people to live. Now we have to defend them?”

  They gathered the entire Israelite army and marched all night to rescue Gibeon. In the morning they took the attacking armies by surprise.

  “Look,” Caleb cried out. “The Lord is with us!” The enemy was in confusion, bumping into one another in their haste to flee. The battle raged.

  “Joshua! Joshua!” A young warrior panted before him. “The kings! I saw all five of them go into a cave.”

  “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of it and post guards. Don’t stop fighting! Pursue your enemies. Attack them and don’t let them reach their cities.”

  Frustrated, Caleb assessed the numbers and the lay of the land. There were not enough hours in the day to complete the work God had given them. He sought out Joshua, who stood on the highest hill overlooking the battle, and voiced his concern. “We won’t have the time to finish them. The sun is already overhead!”

  Joshua shared his agitation. “We need more time! More time!” He raised his hands and cried out in a loud voice, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, Lord, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon!”

  They joined the battle. As Caleb swung his sword from the right to the left, Amorites fell before him like stalks of wheat before a reaper. He kept on, cutting down any man who came against him, until he could no longer number those he had killed. His arm did not weaken, and the sun seemed to remain overhead! But how could this be? Hour after hour, the sun remained in the middle of the sky, blazing down upon the battlefield.

  “The Lord! The Lord, He is with us!” Exultant, Caleb let the fire within him blaze. Surely all the nations would see that the Lord God of Israel had power not only over all creation but over time itself. No one could fight against God and win!

  The Amorites fled, and Caleb and Joshua raised their swords. “After them!”

  The Israelites pursued the enemy up to Beth-horon, but before they caught up with them, the Lord cast hailstones the size of a man’s fist from heaven. Caleb saw men struck in the head and back, crashing to the ground. Battered and bloody bodies lay along the road. So many were strewn along the way that Caleb knew the Lord had killed more by hail than he and the others had killed by the sword.

  The army camped at Makkedah, and reports began coming in from the captains. “The Amorites were destroyed. Only a few managed to make it to their cities.”

  Thankful that God had given them one more full day of sunlight during which to fight, Caleb was still not satisfied with the outcome. “And those few who escaped will be a thorn in our side if we don’t hunt them down and destroy them.”

  “We have the kings in the caves,” Joshua reminded him.

  The order was given to open the cave and bring the kings out. When a contingent obeyed, the kings appeared, blinking at the bright sunlight. For all their grand apparel and lofty plans to annihilate Israel, they were thrown to the ground before
Joshua. He called for the commanders to come forward. “Put your feet on the necks of these kings.”

  Caleb motioned for Mesha to put his foot on the neck of Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem.

  “Do not fear these men.” Joshua drew his sword. “They fled the battle and hid in this cave.” One by one, he struck and killed them. “Hang them on the trees until evening,” he ordered. “Then throw their bodies into the cave. Tomorrow we take Makkedah!”

  Swords were raised, and the sound of triumph rang.

  But Caleb wondered why nothing much was said about what the Lord had done for them that day. Joshua could talk of little else, and Caleb’s own heart sang praises. But what of the younger men, the captains and those in their charge? God had provided the people with manna and water in the desert for forty years. In all that time, their clothes and shoes had not worn out. God’s presence and protection had been with them in the cloud and pillar of fire. Had they all become so accustomed to miracles that the Lord’s stopping the sun seemed a small matter?

  Caleb wondered about the days ahead. Victory sang in the air. The Promised Land smelled sweet with the blossoms of fruit trees, fields of grain, vineyards, and olive trees. But was taking the land their only goal?

  Lord, don’t let us become complacent. Don’t let us become so used to miracles that we fail to recognize and give thanks and praise for what You do for us. Sometimes You are so vast, Your ways so incomprehensible, that we fail to see You at all. And You are here. You are over us and behind us. You go before us and are our rear guard. You breathe life into us.

  Let us never forget that we are but dust without You, only chaff to be blown away by the lightest breeze that may come against us.

  Makkedah fell and the Israelites left no survivors. Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Kiriath-arba, and Kiriath-sepher met the same fate. The Lord’s command to destroy all who breathed was carried out. But some fled to the north and to the coastlines.