Dear Customers,
Toy Wonders will be implementing an upgrade this afternoon. We will close our web site around 2:00pm (EST) and hope to re-open it around 7:00pm. Thank you for your patience while we attempt to approve our services.
A few shipments arrived this week. If you log into your account at www.toywonders.com, before clicking on any of the links below, approved wholesale accounts will see wholesale pricing.
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DIECAST Collectible
Model Cars And More
| Item# |
Description |
Stock
Status |
| 50784PK |
Highway 61 - Dodge Challenger T/A Hard Top (1970, 1:18, Panther Pink) 50784 |
New |
| 50839PR |
Highway 61 - Plymouth Cuda Concept Hard Top (1:18, Plum Crazy) 50839 |
New |
| 50840GN |
Highway 61 - Plymouth Cuda Concept Hard Top (1:18, Sublime Green) 50840 |
New |
| 50851YL |
Highway 61 - Dodge Challenger R/T Hard Top w/ Sunroof (2010, 1:18, Detonator Yellow) 50851 |
New |
| 50852YL |
Highway 61 - Dodge Challenger SRT8 Hard Top w/ Sunroof (2010, 1:18, Detonator Yellow) 50852 |
New |
| 50856 |
Highway 61 - Dodge Challenger R/T Hard Top w/ Sunroof (2010, 1:18, Furious Fuchsia) 50856 |
New |
| 50857 |
Highway 61 - Dodge Challenger SRT8 Hard Top w/ Sunroof (2010, 1:18, Furious Fuchsia) 50857 |
New |
| 99170 |
Highway 61 Wix Filters - Dodge HEMI Challenger R/T & Dodge HEMI Challenger R/T Classic 70th Anniversary 2 Pack (1970 & 2009, 1:24 & 1:18, Blue) 99170 |
New |
| 50829G |
Highway 61 - Hurst Hairy Oldsmobile Hard Top (1967, 1:18, Bronze) 50829 |
Restock |
| 53001 |
Highway 61 Texaco Dalmatian - International Model KB5 Fire Truck (1947, 1:16, Red) 53001 |
New |
| 18370 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Studebaker Hearse (1937, 1:43, Black) 18370 |
Restock |
| 18640 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Chevy Chevelle SS 454 Stock Hard Top (1970, 1:24, Black w/ White Stripes) 18640 |
New |
| 18646 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Ford Mustang Boss 429 Hard Top (1969, 1:24, Acapulco Blue) 18646 |
New |
| 18688 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Chevy Camaro Z28 Hard Top (1969, 1:24, Yellow w/ Black Stripes) 18688 |
New |
| 18693 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Dodge Charger R/T Hard Top (1970, 1:24, Cream w/ Black Stripes) 18693 |
New |
| 18695 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Oldsmobile 442 Convertible (1972, 1:24, Blue w/ White Stripes) 18695 |
New |
| 18700 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Chevy Bel Air Nomad Ambulance Hard Top (1957, 1:24, White) 18700 |
New |
| 18705 |
Phoenix Unique Replicas - Oldsmobile 442 Hard Top (1971, 1:24, Black w/ White Stripes) 18705 |
New |
| 5329D |
Kinsmart - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Hard Top (2008, 1:36, Asstd.) 5329D |
Restock |
| 5108D |
Kinsmart - School Bus Big Wheel (5", Asstd.) 5108D |
Restock |
| 5338D |
Kinsmart - Dodge Ram (Off Road) Pick-Up (1:44, Asstd.) 5338D |
Restock |
| 2540DF |
Kinsmart - Volkswagen Classic Beetle Hard Top w/ Decal (1967, 1:64, Asstd.) 2540DF |
Restock |
| 2542DF |
Kinsmart - Volkswagen Classical Bus w/ Decal (1962, 1:64, Asstd.) 2542DF |
New |
37675T |
RC2 ERTL Case IH - Tractor Series 6 (1:64, Asstd.) 37675T |
New |
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Thank you
Lu Su
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700
God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
Stop Stealing from God (part 3 of 4)
By Lu Su
In Joshua chapter 6, we have a historical account on how the city of Jericho fell and how the Israelites were able to enter the walled city.
1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”
So now we know how Jericho was defeated. The text tells us that the Israelites did a little paraded with some armed men, priests, and the Ark of the Covenant. They circled the city of Jericho a few times, gave a shout, the walls collapsed, and the army rushed in. Man, where can we get ourselves one of those Arks? You would think no army should leave home without one. But the inside scoop on how Jericho fell, wasn't due to a superior army, an Ark holding the two tablets of stone, or even priests with trumpets. God brought about the destruction of Jericho. God did it. God didn't need to use the Israelites. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, he just sent a couple of his angels. But because the Israelites were on God's side, He use them in His grand plan. So I think this is a very reasonable question to ask. In the adventurous journey called life, God desires to use you in his plan. Are you on God's side?
Allow me to make three observations. First, notice in verse 2, God doesn't say to Joshua, "I will deliver" (future tense), but says "I have delivered" (past tense). Whenever the LORD speaks, watch and observe how a timeless being uses His verb tenses -much insight can be gained. In Joshua's case, the LORD is saying that the battles has already been won. So what happens to us when our fragile bodies give out? Is there life after death? The LORD answers this question in a single sentence and all you have to do is observe the verb tense. When God appeared to Jacob and Moses and spoke about their forefathers who have long pasted away, did God say "I WAS" or "I AM"? Here, read for yourself.
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, -Genesis 28: 12-15, 18-19
Remember the name "Bethel", it'll come up again soon. Second observation, I was able to retell the story on how Jericho fell in two sentences; However, did you notice the amount of detail the writer of Joshua provides on what occurred before the walls of Jericho fell? Did you observe how frequent the number seven came up? What is up with that? This story that took place in the Promise Land is like the second act of a play. The first act took place in Egypt. Like Jacob, the LORD speaks to Pharaoh in a dream too.
When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream. -Genesis 41:1-7
In the Bible, the number seven is attributed to the concept of completeness; thus it is often a number attributed to God. From the beginning of the Bible where it says God created everything in six days and rested on seventh, to the end of the Bible where the Lamb opens the seven seals in heaven and the end of the world as we know it will be complete. In this particular Jericho event, we learn that on the seventh day, when they marched around the city seven times, and seven priest blew their trumpets; this signified that their marching was now complete. So if the number seven is attributed to God because of its completeness, it would make sense to me that God would have embedded the number seven into His creation for us to find. Three years ago, I had wrote an article on this subject titled Signature Seven and continues to be one of my favorites.
Third observation, in verse 18 and 19 the LORD gives us a warning. 1) Keep your grubby hands off the devoted things (He actually didn't use those exact words, so I'm paraphrasing) and 2) All of it, is sacred to the LORD. I think whether or not you believe in God or not, there is a common understanding that stealing something that has been devoted towards someone is more evil than stealing something which hasn't. Let me give you an example. Say someone mugs me and steals $1000 from me (of course in reality this event could never happen. What salesman with four hungry kids and a dog ever has $1000 in his wallet?) But lets just roll with this totally hypothetical situation. Now compare that event to someone who steals a $1000 collection taken to aid orphans in Japan. Same amount was stolen. Should the penalty be the same? Maybe in our courts of law the penalty for grand larceny would be the same, but isn't one more evil than the other? Wouldn't you agree that morally, stealing from a fund dedicated to help children is more evil? Now if the penalty should be greater for stealing from Japanese kids versus me, what should be the fair penalty for stealing from God?
In the very next chapter, we learn about the theft from God.
But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel. -Joshua 7:1
A few verses later we have Achan's confession.
Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”-Joshua 7:20-21
Notice Achan's reply. He didn't use the temporary insanity defense, a tough childhood story, or shift the blame (e.g. "that woman you gave me, she made me do it. She was nagging me for a new kitchen"). Achan gets right down to the heart of the problem: "I have sinned against the LORD." and identifies the two sins very accurately: "I coveted." and "took (stole) them". To covet something is to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others. Notice in almost all cases, you covet first, then you steal (in that specific order). But here is the weirdest thing, in our judicial system, coveting is not a crime -probably because it's too difficult to prove. But in God's judicial system, to an all knowing God, coveting is offensive. Anything offensive to God is sin.
So you don't even have following through on the second part, and actually steal something, in order to sin against God. Coveting all by its lonesome is a sin. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” are four of the ten commandments given to Moses (Exodus 20), etched onto stone tablets by God himself, and stored in the Ark. Later, the apostle Paul (Romans 13:9) would reiterate these same commandments. How many of us Americans who make up 5% of the world's population and consume 25% of the world's resources can honestly say that we do not covet?
A good way to remember the name of this nefarious character, is to remember the phrase, "My Achan heart". Notice only one man stole from God and yet the text says "The Israelites were unfaithful" and "the LORD's anger burned against Israel". Why can't the LORD's anger just be directed against one person and why the entire nation? Certainly God could do a surgical strike here. For reasons unknown to me, God views the Israelites as one unit (one body) and not as thousands of separate units. So when this happens, if the hand steals something, the entire body is made accountable.
Here is the nasty thing about sin: death ALWAYS follows. Either physical death or death of something and it's usually at the expense of the innocent. Drunk drivers, a physically abusive father, a lazy parent, a verbally abusive mother, and an unfaithful spouse comes to my mind. In Achan's case, innocent men physically died and wives and children saw death of relationship.
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water. -Joshua 7:2-5
Now some good news and bad news. The good news is that Bethel was the place where God gave Jacob in a dream. True to his word, God fulfills His promise: "I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Now the bad news is that thirty six men died an unnecessary death because of Achan. How many windows were made that day? How many children would never hug their father again on that infamous day?
Achan's theft was particularly offensive because the spoils from Jericho represented the "first fruits"; All of it was to be devoted to God. God had just brought them into the new land. In an agricultural society, giving your first fruits of your harvest is a much bigger step in faith than giving a portion of your paycheck. This is because as a farmer, you are never guaranteed more after your first fruits (i.e. locust could move in on your crops, wolves could devour your prized egg laying hen). I think one could formulate a very persuasive argument that the first fruits should be socked away for next year's seed or to help pay off the previous year's debt, but I have yet to come across a single passage in the Bible that suggests God should come second or that he doesn't care where in the priority queue you place Him. Wise old Solomon said this:
Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops; -Proverbs 3: 9
Next time, I'll show you how we are just like Achan. We know about the firstfruits mandate, but we fail to heed it; thus we steal from God. This is very dangerous to ourselves, our families, and those around us.
