Shabbat Shalom family,
In Yoḥanan/John 17 when יהושע Messiah prayed for His talmidim and all who believe in Him, He asked that we be set-apart in His Truth and be one in unity in Him, in order that the world might believe that יהושע Messiah was the sent One. Understanding our need to be united as a body in Messiah, we recognise how each part must do its part, and that with that comes a great responsibility of ensuring that we do our utmost to live set-apart lives without compromise; for when one part is inefficient the whole body suffers harm or even loss!
In a message tonight called, ‘THE TROULE OF ONE CAN EFFECT THE MANY!’, I would like us to look into the clear mirror of the Word and assess how we are in being dressed in the fine linen of righteousness – which is the guarding to do all our Master and Elohim has commanded us, and guarding to keep our garments clean and unstained with compromise!
To do that please turn with me to Yehoshua/Joshua 7 (Read).
This is a well-known passage of Scripture, and it should be, as it should be a constant reminder to us to be on guard against defilement of the flesh, as we strive to walk according to the Spirit!
In this chapter we are given the account of a man who would only be remembered for his sin; sin that caused a great deal of harm to the entire nation of Yisra’ĕl! As we go through this chapter and understand some of the key Hebrew words, let us learn from these events, so that we are encouraged with the urgency of being able to walk together in unity and be led forth in the great victorious procession of our Messiah and King, who shall lead us to our promised inheritance!
עָכָן Aḵan – Strong’s H5912 means, ‘troubler’, which is from an unused root meaning, ‘to trouble’. The primitive root word associated with this word is עָכַר aḵar – Strong’s H5916 which means, ‘to trouble, stir up, disturb, cause disturbance’, and it reflects the social dimension of an individual’s action. An individual can ‘trouble’ another person or group of people, and bring man’s or Elohim’s judgement upon others, even upon the innocent! Yisra’ĕl had just defeated Yeriḥo in a great miraculous event that positioned them to go forward with great confidence and joy, and in unity as an obedient bride of Elohim, by following out the clear instructions of destroying the nations of Kenaʽan. Yet there was a slight delay due to the sin of one man! Aḵan’s clear ignoring of the commands given to the children of Yisra’ĕl regarding Yeriḥo, where it was strictly forbidden to take any booty from there for it was put under the ban, brought defeat upon an entire nation! In verses 24-25 we see a ‘play on words’ where עָכָן Aḵan – ‘the troubler’ would be brought with his entire family and belongings to the ‘Valley of Aḵor’ – עָכוֹר Aḵor – Strong’s H5911 means, ‘disturbance, trouble’, which was a valley on the border of Yehuḏah where יהוה would ‘trouble’ Aḵan, which is the Hebrew word עָכַר aḵar – Strong’s H5916 meaning, ‘stir up, trouble, disturb’. יהוה would ‘trouble the troubler in the valley of trouble’!!! This site is a geographical location of the execution of Aḵan, his family and all that he possessed, and this site is mentioned in reference to the restoration of a remnant bride that would be brought back to יהוה – a Bride who has been cleansed by the Blood of Messiah and is steadfast in seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness– as seen in:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 65:10 “And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Aḵor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me.”
Hoshěa/Hosea 2:14-15 “Therefore, see, I am alluring her, and shall lead her into the wilderness, and shall speak to her heart, and give to her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Aḵor as a door of expectation. And there she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Mitsrayim.”
Herein we see the clear promise of this place of trouble becoming a place of hope and rest! Herein also lies the powerful picture that we have in our Master and Elohim, יהושע Messiah, who took the punishment for our troubling sin, as we recognise the true delight we have in entering into His rest each and every week as we faithfully guard to keep His Shabbat, while being warned not to disturb the rest of the remnant bride through compromising the guarding of the Sabbath!
עָכָן Aḵan – ‘the troubler’, was the son of Karmi – כַּרְמִי – Strong’s H3756 which means, ‘my vineyard’, the son of זַבְדִּי Zaḇdi – Strong’s H2067, which means, ‘endowment, gift’, the son of Zeraḥ – זֶרַח – Strong’s H2226 – ‘rising’, from the tribe of Yehuḏah – יְהוּדָה – Strong’s H3063 which means, ‘praised’. What is interesting to take note of regarding Aḵan, is that we see in Yehoshua/Joshua 22:20 that he is simply referred to as the son of Zeraḥ:
Yehoshua/Joshua 22:20 “Did not Aḵan son of Zeraḥ commit a trespass in that which is under the ban, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl? And he was not the only one to die in his crookedness.”
The ‘troubler rising’, got what is due for sin, and lost the gift of access to the vineyard of eternal life!
Romiyim/Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the favourable gift of Elohim is everlasting life in Messiah יהושע our Master.”
As we consider the life and death of Akan, we are also reminded of the false accusation of the enemy toward the true set-apart ones of the Most High! When Ěliyahu went to confront Aḥaḇ and the nation of Yisra’ĕl, we see the words of the lawless fool to the wise servant:
Melaḵim Aleph/1 Kings 18:17 “And it came to be, when Aḥaḇ saw Ěliyahu, that Aḥaḇ said to him, “Is that you, O disturber of Yisra’ĕl?”
Aḥaḇ called Ěliyahu the ‘disturber of Yisra’ĕl’, and the word used here for ‘disturber’ is aḵar – Strong’s H5916!!!
אליּהוּ Ěliyahu – Strong’s H452 means, ‘Yah is Ěl, my Ěl is Yah’, and here this faithful prophet of יהוה was being called the ‘disturber, troubler’ by the wicked and lawless king who led the nation astray under the wicked laws of his father Omri! Why I am mentioning this is to simply highlight how the true set-apart remnant bride of Messiah will often be called or labelled as ‘troublemakers’ simply because we love Elohim through faithfully obeying and guarding to do all He has commanded us. The true troublers are the lawless who will face their fate in the end!
In this account in Yehoshua we find a historically rare occasion where all of Yisra’ĕl were united – or so it would have seemed! This being the case, the sin of one was counted as the sin of all; or rather, the effect or consequences of the sin of one was extended to all. We need to recognise the very sobering lesson we find in this chapter, in that we are our brother’s keeper, and are therefore responsible to look out for one another. We are to encourage one another to not neglect the gathering of the set-apart ones as some are in the habit of doing, all the more as we see the Day of יהוה drawing near! We are to encourage one another to remain steadfast in our set-apart walk of righteousness in Messiah, and even be bold enough to reprove one another and confront any sin and compromise that there may be in our lives, lest we find that the entire group or assembly suffer harm or loss!
Here in verse 1 we see how יהוה viewed the situation – He said that ‘the children of Yisra’ĕl committed a trespass’:
וַיִּמְעֲלוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מַעַל – ‘vayima’alnu b’nei–Yisra’el ma’al’ – ‘in trespassing/acting unfaithfully the children of Yisra’ĕl trespassed’
The root word used for vayima’alnu – is the verb מָעַל ma’al – Strong’s H4603 and means, ‘to act unfaithfully or treacherously, violate, break faith’, and the other root word translated as ‘trespassed’ is the noun מַעַל ma’al – Strong’s H4604 which comes from the root verb. The repetition of this word in this sentence gives great emphasis, as the second word here comes from the first and simply has different vowel pointings. The ESV (English standard version) translates this as ‘The children of Yisra’ĕl broke faith’. Both carry the meaning of being unfaithful or acting treacherously, while the application of the first carries the picture of deliberately committing that which is wrong and in a sense can mean ‘to cover up, or act covertly’, and the application of the second speaks of that which is covered up or done with wrong motive – and that is to ‘sin and be unfaithful’; hence speaks of being deceptively disloyal. The sin of one man was collectively attributed to all the children of Yisra’ĕl who, in the eyes of Elohim, had been deceptively disloyal! We recognise the truth that says to us in Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 18 that the soul that sins dies, yet we must be aware that all can be affected by the sin of others – they may not die, but can certainly suffer harm or loss! Yisra’ĕl had broken faith in the things that were put under the ban! The translated term ‘put under the ban’ is from the root word חֵרֶם ḥerem – Strong’s H2764 which means, ‘devoted thing, accursed, things devoted to destruction, something banned’, and comes from the root verb חָרַם ḥaram – Strong’s H2763 means ‘to ban, utterly destroy’ as well as ‘devote to Elohim, which (once given) must then be destroyed so there will be no human use made of it’, and carries the understanding of that which becomes off limits and is utterly destroyed. We must recognise that as we ‘take ground’ in our walk of obedience, we learn what is off limits to us and therefore those things that are off limits must be utterly destroyed, lest they ensnare us to compromise our obedience!
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 13:17-18 “And none of that which is put under the ban is to cling to your hand, so that יהוה turns from the fierceness of His displeasure and shall show you compassion, love you and increase you, as He swore to your fathers, 18 when you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard all His commands which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.”
That which is off limits must not cling to our hand – our hand speaks of our works and what we do, and we are to ‘cling to the Torah’ and not ‘cling’ to falsehood and lies, nor are we to find ourselves ‘doing’ things that are not permitted for the true set-apart ones of Messiah!
Because of this compromise to strict obedience to the commands of Elohim, the ‘displeasure of יהוה burned’. The Hebrew word translated as ‘displeasure’ is אַף aph – Strong’s H639 which means, ‘a nostril, nose, face, anger’, and this word is frequently used as a reference to the anger of both men and Elohim; and anger is often expressed in the appearance of the nostrils that dilate in anger. This word comes from the root verb אָנַף anaph – Strong’s H599 which means, ‘to be angry, become angry’. As one understands this language we are able to see the clear anger of Elohim being breathed out, and the word translated as ‘burned’ is חָרָה ḥarah – Strong’s H2734 meaning, ‘to burn or be kindled with anger, wroth, hot with anger’. What we must realise here is that compromise angers יהוה, a sobering truth that many simply fail to recognise today, as they do not take seriously the need to guard the Word of Elohim, thinking they can do as they please and He will still accept them!
Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 12:14-16 “Pursue peace with all, and pursue apartness without which no one shall see the Master. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the favour of Elohim, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, by which many become defiled, 16 lest there be anyone who whores, or profane one, like Ěsaw, who for a single meal sold his birthright.”
We are to pursue apartness and make sure that no one falls short of the favour of Elohim, which could cause many to fall – all for a single act of compromise!!!
Yehoshua did not know at this point that Aḵan had sinned, and in continuing in his obedience in conquering the land he sent men to Ai to spy out the land. The spies brought back the report that the men of Ai were few and therefore a small army would be all that would be necessary for Yisra’ĕl to take them out. עַי Ai – Strong’s H5857 means, ‘heap of ruins’, and it was next to בֵּית אָוֶן Bĕyth Awen which means, ‘house of iniquity, house of vanity’, which was east of Bĕyth Ĕl – בֵּֽיתְאֶל – Strong’s H1008 means, ‘house of Ĕl’, and this is not the Bĕyth Ĕl that Ya’aqob named and later became the Temple Mount, and so pictures for us a counterfeit Bĕyth Ĕl that Yaroḇ’am built up to bring about an institutionalised worship system of falsehood and perverted dogmas of man! Yehoshua’s commission was clear – go and conquer the land and destroy the ruins of iniquity and falsehood. Many have questioned whether he should have inquired of יהוה or not, yet we understand that he had clear orders to conquer the land and that everywhere his foot would tread, that would be given to him. At this point, as I mentioned, he did not know that יהוה was burning with anger, and would have expected Yisra’ĕl, who was seemingly united, to do the right thing, especially after having seen such a great victory at Yeriḥo! What we can learn from this is that we should never simply assume that all is ok, but rather we are to continually seek יהוה in every matter, never taking for granted that the next victory is assured, based on past victories, even if they have just happened! Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness!!!
Being very strong and courageous, Yehoshua sent fewer men to fight the small city of Ai, yet we see that despite the confidence of this seemingly united army, the enemy struck down 36 men and pursued them as far as שְׁבָרִים Sheḇarim – Strong’s H7671 which means, ‘the breaches, or quarries’ and is the plural of the word שֵׁבֶר sheḇer – Strong’s H7667 which means, ‘a breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, smashing’ and comes from the root word שָׁבַר shaḇar – Strong’s H7665 which means, ‘break in pieces, crush, shatter’. What we see happening here is that the enemy pursued Yisra’ĕl to its breaking point!!! Have you ever been so consumed in battle to the point of breaking? It may be due to a breach in the wall!
In יהוה’s mercy only few were struck down; and if the entire army had gone up to battle there may have been many more casualties. After this frightening defeat Yehoshua and the elders mourned, as the hearts of the people had melted and become exceedingly afraid. Yehoshua cries out to יהוה and basically was asking ‘why’, and in a manner of speaking was asking יהוה, ‘Is this Your will for us?’. How many times have you found yourself in this same place of crying out in a desperate plea for answers as to why you are facing severe defeat? In verse 10 Yehoshua receives a stern rebuke and is basically told to get up and stop crying! I think that many of us need to hear these words today, especially when we are sucked into moping around and sulking in a pity party of despair! This was not יהוה’s will, and He should certainly never have been blamed for the defeat – the fault was in the camp and not with יהוה!!! Today many want to blame יהוה for their circumstances, when their lives are riddled with compromise, or they may simply be experiencing the result of another’s compromise – compromise that has not been confronted and dealt with! The slackness of Yisra’ĕl was to blame and not יהוה! In verse 11 יהוה says that Yisra’ĕl has sinned – and the word translated as ‘sinned’ is חָטָא ḥata – Strong’s H2398 meaning, ‘to miss, go wrong, sin, error, fault’ and in essence means ‘to miss the mark or target’, and in the ‘qal active’ form it can be understood as, ‘miss the goal or path of right and duty’! They had ‘crossed the line’ and swayed from obedience to the clearly prescribed commands and instructions of Elohim, and this compromise affected an entire nation!
יהוה says that they had ‘stolen’ and ‘deceived’! The Hebrew word for ‘stolen’ is גָּנַב ganaḇ – Strong’s H1589 which means, ‘to steal, kidnap, be stolen, take without consent’, and the Hebrew word translated as ‘deceived’ is כָּחַשׁ kaḥash – Strong’s H3584 which means, ‘to be untrue, to lie, deny, disown, fail’, and we see this word being used in:
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 30:8-9 “Remove falsehood and a lying word far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me my lawful bread; 9 Lest I become satisfied and deny You, and say, “Who is יהוה?” And lest I be poor, and steal, and seize the Name of my Elohim.”
The Greek equivalent to this word is ἀρνέομαι arneomai – Strong’s G720 which means, ‘contradict, deny, reject, renounce, disown’, and Sha’ul warns Timotiyos to turn away from people who deceive and deny, people who have a form of reverence, yet deny the power of the Truth being fully functional in their lives:
Timotiyos Bet/2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of reverence but denying its power. and turn away from these!”
Turn away from who? Those who are untrue to the Covenant and do as they please, without seeking the clear guidance of the Word as being the prescribed standard for set-apart living! Turn away from those who claim to be righteous yet they claim that the standard of righteousness has changed!
As long as there was deceit in the midst of the camp of Yisra’ĕl, Yisra’ĕl would not be able to stand before their enemies!!! In fact we see the frightening words of יהוה in verse 12 where He says, ‘I am not with you anymore…’!!!
יהוה told Yehoshua that someone had stolen, yet did not tell him who it was, for it was up to the nation to find out, as they were responsible to confront and eradicate any stumbling blocks in the camp! This was some serious stuff!!! Until the leaven is eradicated, Yisra’ĕl would stand powerless and alone – unless they destroyed that which was put under the ban!
In verse 15 we see the severe sentence being given – the one who had stolen and deceived would be burned with fire, along with all that he has, because of sin and wickedness! Yeriḥo was burned with fire and so it would be done to anyone who had stolen from that which was to be burned up! If you brought something from Yeriḥo, you became part of Yeriḥo and would face the same punishment! We recognise here that death by burning was a very rare sentence, yet we are reminded that at the second resurrection, those whose names are not found in the book of life shall be thrown into the fire, and this is the second death! Blessed are those who have part in the first resurrection for the second death shall have no power over them! If you continue to hold on to things that should be destroyed in your life, you too may find that you will be destroyed as they should have been!
That which is from outside the camp is not permitted to enter into the camp, as that which does not belong in the camp may defile the camp! Do you not know that you (speaking collectively of us all) are the Dwelling Place (as one) of Elohim – therefore – make sure that you do not defile the camp by bringing in the junk of the flesh and the worldly things that can destroy and defile! Burning in Scripture, as I said, was not a common punishment. A priests daughter who had committed adultery was to be burned, and so here we are in a way able to see a parallel picture of how Aḵan had adulterated himself from the called nation of priests, and therefore would be burned with fire!
The entire nation was gathered and set-apart, lots were cast and Aḵan was brought forward and told to confess and speak the truth! He did confess and made it clear that he had coveted the goods from Yeriḥo, breaking the clear command to not covet that which is not yours! The Hebrew word for ‘covet’ is חָמַד ḥamad – Strong’s H2530 meaning, ‘to desire, take pleasure in, covet, lust’. It is the desiring of that which is of another house and is forbidden – we are to be satisfied with what we have in יהושע Messiah!
Romiyim/Romans 7:7 “What, then, shall we say? Is the Torah sin? Let it not be! However, I did not know sin except through the Torah. For also the covetousness I knew not if the Torah had not said, “You shall not covet.”
The Greek word translated as ‘covet’ is ἐπιθυμέω epithumeō – Strong’s G1937 which means, ‘desire, covet, lust, seek that which is forbidden’:
Galatiyim/Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you desire to do.”
How many of you have found yourself looking at or seeking things that you know you should not! This can cause sin, and bring a breach in the wall which can affect the entire assembly!!!
In verse 21 we are told that Aḵan coveted a garment from Shinar, silver and gold. The Hebrew word here for ‘garment’ is אַדֶּרֶת addereth – Strong’s H155 which means, ‘garment, robe, cloak, esteem’, and in Scripture we find that ‘robes’ or ‘garments’ often symbolise our works.
Ḥazon/Revelation 16:15 “See, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who is staying awake and guarding his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
Ḥazon/Revelation 3:3-5 “Remember, then, how you have received, and heard. And watch and repent. If, then, you do not wake up, I shall come upon you as a thief, and you shall not know at all what hour I come upon you. 4 “Nevertheless, you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. And they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. 5 “He who overcomes shall be dressed in white robes, and I shall by no means blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I shall confess his name before My Father and before His messengers.”
The garment Aḵan coveted and took was from Shinʽar – שִׁנְעָר – Strong’s H8152 – ‘country of two rivers’. This was the former name of Baḇel – בָּבֶל – Strong’s H894 which means, ‘confusion (by mixing)’, and this was the place where the tower of Baḇel was built by Nimrod, representing that which seeks to build up oneself and disregard the need to submit to and obey the Torah of Elohim. This represents that confusion that the mad made dogmas and false tradition bring, by clothing people in dirty rags of falsehood, while having the appearance of splendour – and this is what Aḵan desired!
He also took a ‘wedge’ of gold, and the Hebrew word for ‘wedge’ is לָשׁוֹן lashon – Strong’s H3956 which means, ‘tongue, language, tongue shaped’, from which we get the verb לָשַׁן lashan – Strong’s H3960 which means, ‘slander, accuse, to use the tongue’. This is a clear picture of one who desired the slanderous language of the world and the deceitfulness of materialism and wealth, as well as picturing for us the ‘tongue of falsehood’, that tries to keep hidden the things that they know they ought not to be doing, and using ‘rich’ excuses to justify their sin and compromise! In other words there are many who will always try to ‘buy their way out of trouble with words of falsehood’ and will even use slanderous accusations against the righteous in the process, by trying to steer away the focus on themselves and their lawlessness! The robe and gold were on top of the silver! Silver is often a picture of redemption in Scripture; and we are able to see how Aḵan pictures for us the many who take on a form or appearance of reverence, and claim that they understand the redemption price that has been paid for us by the Blood of Messiah, yet under all their vain and foolish reasonings, there is a clear choice to refuse to submit to walking in obedience to the Word and be dressed in the fine linen of our Master – which is the righteousnesses of the set-apart ones; and as we know – it is righteousness for us to guard the commands of Elohim! With the silver being ‘under’ the robe and gold we are able to see that this pictures for us those who ‘trample underfoot the redemptive work of Messiah’:
Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 10:29-31 “How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour? 30 For we know Him who has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I shall repay, says יהוה.” And again, “יהוה shall judge His people.” 31 It is fearsome to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.”
Aḵan represents those who claim to be redeemed by the Blood of Messiah yet continue to walk according to the flesh and cling to the desires of the flesh, being dressed in garments of compromise, as they count the things of this world as more valuable than the precious blood of Messiah, and in the process the deceitfulness of wealth chokes out the Word!
Aḵan represents those that worship Elohim with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him, for the garments that they desire are that which is of the world, having been dressed for centuries in lies, dogmas of man and countless vain traditions that have clearly rejected the true garments of righteousness!
Aḵan pictures those who will be rejected for being lawless, and his pride and selfishness caused many to fall! His sin cost him everything – his life, his wife, his children and even his animals – everything about him was ‘blotted out’ by the fire of the righteous judgement of Elohim. Aḵan’s name is only remembered for his sin and evil. When we hide stuff in our own ‘tents’ so to speak, thinking that no one can see, let us be warned by the clear example being given to us here, that we may in fact cause others to get hurt and suffer loss and defeat in their daily battles!
Aḵan pictures those who put self above all else, and put self before the rest of the assembly, and choose to ‘do things their own way’, while rejecting the clear rules of the house and refusing to submit to adhering to the prescribed standards of growing in unity with one another as they ‘will not be told what to do’, and will worship how and when they choose is best for them and not according to what the entire tent, house or assembly does! This kind of ‘troubling’ attitude may affect the entire assembly or group and cause much harm and grief, bringing in division as opposed to the much needed unity! We are to be peace-makers and not trouble-makers! Blessed are the peacemakers, because they shall be called sons of Elohim! Accursed, or put under the ban, are the trouble makers, who shall be called lawless and cast away from the presence of Elohim!
What, if anything, is there in your life that you have been hiding under the appearance of redemption? Many think that Messiah’s blood covers them to the point of them being able to do as they please, and claim that lawlessness is acceptable, under the falsified teachings of a confused garment of man-made theologies! They shall be cast out and burned! The place of his execution was called עָכוֹר Aḵor to remind us that we each have a responsibility to keep our tents clean from any defilement of the flesh, with the promised hope of this place becoming a place that will be called a door of expectation and a place of rest! What we need to realise from these events is that the effect of compromise and sin was only evidenced in the face of battle, and we need to guard ourselves against any compromise that may lead to others struggling in their future battles that they deemed were confident and courageous to face in the Master!
THE TROUBLE OF ONE CAN AFFECT THE MANY!
Our responsibility toward each other is great, and we must recognise this, by being awake, sober and alert; not allowing the desire for falsehood and things that appear shiny and nice, to distract our pursuit of set-apartness in the Master, as a unified body together!
Perhaps there has been some form of compromise in your life, and while you might not have even considered the consequences that your compromised thoughts or actions could have on others, it may just be the breach that has caused others to be in a greater battle in their stand for Truth! Let the example of Aḵan remind us not to be troublemakers in the body by letting our guard down and loosening the grip we ought to have on the Truth, but rather cling to the Truth!
Yehoshua/Joshua 22:5-6 “Only, diligently guard to do the command and the Torah which Mosheh the servant of יהוה commanded you, to love יהוה your Elohim, and to walk in all His ways, and to guard His commands, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your being.” 6 And Yehoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.”
In closing I too bless you in the Name of our Master and Elohim:
יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show you favour; יהוה lift up His face to you and give you Shalom!