Ecclesiastes 1:9 says - "That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun." We have already seen this to be true with the "captain of the host of Yahweh." When Yahshua came to this earth to give specific instruction to the first Remnant, His coming was nothing new under the sun. That which He did, He had already done before - just outside of Jericho. And as we also saw, what would be accomplished in both Remnants was also foretold by His triumphal entry into Jerusalem - the money-changer must be cast out.

But as clear as these evidences are, they are not the only testimonies Yahweh has given us regarding the covering of the bride. We wrote in One Thing You Still Lack that the mere example of the first Remnant holding all things in common was a strong testimony that this was in fact the covering over the Remnant. But, an even more persuasive and verifying evidence was what happened when someone got out from under that covering - Ananias and Sapphira. For now, let us concentrate on this testimony at Jericho in relation to what took place with the first Remnant regarding this important teaching of Yahshua. Even as the instruction of the "captain of the host of Yahweh" at Jericho and the teachings and example of Yahshua to the first Remnant bear common testimony, so were the remarkable and most significant consequences for those who violated that critical instruction.

Ananias and Sapphira took funds for their personal use that were devoted to the Remnant, and they died as a result. In like testimony, there was one who equally took from Jericho devoted items for his personal use, and he too died! This was Achan! Let us see what happened.

In Joshua 7, we read that the sons of Israel were entirely unsuccessful in their next campaign against the city of Ai; and upon seeking Yahweh found that someone had kept some of the devoted things in Jericho. By a process of selection, Yahweh revealed that this deed had been accomplished by a man named Achan. Upon being exposed, Achan confessed that he had taken from Jericho "a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight," and concealed them inside his tent. For this violation of the devoted things, he and all his family and all his livestock were stoned and burned, along with all he possessed. The wrath that came on Ananias and Sapphira was the same wrath that came on Achan and his household; in both cases they are like testimonies of one and the same truth - Remnant, do not validate the first fruits that are devoted to Yahweh as your protecting covering, or you will die!

We cannot examine here the great significance regarding this "beautiful mantle of Shinar" that Achan removed from Jericho, or the "two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight (the number of Pentecost)." There is much that could be addressed here though. Let us continue.

How does this affect us now as Yahweh's second-part first fruits Remnant? We had best learn from what we see. If Ananias and Sapphira had eyes to see, they could have looked back and seen their own parallel to that first fruits Jericho experience and avoided any part of an Achan-like response. But, they did not have that understanding. Thus, they perished!

Now in 2000, and in the days ahead, we, his second Remnant, do see, and what will we now do? We had best learn from what we see, and act responsibly, lest we be like Ananias and Sapphira, lest we be like Achan, or Lot's wife, or the Mount Ebal curse. We had best be responsible, for Yahweh has given us adequate warning and instruction.

Speaking of Mount Ebal, is it not most significant that immediately after the death of Achan and the then successful capture of Ai, that Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal as instructed by Moses, and most carefully carried out the proclamation of the curse and the blessing which were addressed in One Thing You Still Lack (Joshua 8:30-35)? Is there not great significance to this? Indeed there is, for what had just been testified to through Jericho, Achan, and Ai, was nothing less than the very testimony witnessed with these ensuing contrasting mountains. Remove the covering, and you will be cursed! Cut away the things of this world, and you will be blessed! The curse and the blessing! Achan, as well as Ananias and Sapphira, are two like witnesses Yahweh has provided of the consequences of removing the covering. And what was that covering? Devoted things!

If you want to be a part of Jericho, if you want to be first fruits unto Yahweh, then all you possess - your silver, your gold, your family, your clothing, your oxen, your sheep, and your donkeys, your tent, everything you possess, everything, everything you own, everything - must become "devoted." If you cannot do this, then you are not worthy to reign with Yahshua.