Wednesday Night Bible Study….(Announcements): www.ebcnc.com (calendar & information) The Sin of Achan Joshua 7:14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. The method of determining the sinner was ingenious. In the morning all Israel would be assembled by tribe, by family, by household, and man by man. The genealogies of the children of Israel were very strictly kept, as the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah indicate. With God’s guidance, it would be a relatively easy task for the sinner in the camp to be determined. Joshua 7:15 Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ” God always deals severely with sin because sin is severe. Just as He dealt harshly with the Canaanite inhabitants of Jericho because of their sin, He now deals equally so with an Israelite of Gilgal because of his sin. Joshua 7:16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. :17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. :18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. :19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” The task was not pleasant, but it was a necessary one. … How can we apply this to our walk of faith? As has been Joshua’s practice, he rose early in the morning to begin the survey of Israel. Tribe by tribe Israel was brought before him. The tribe of Judah was taken, and of that tribe the family of Zarhites. Of this family man by man, Zabdi was taken, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah was taken. What follows is a tender and passionate scene. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray you, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to him. Israel’s leader is not being hypocritical here; he genuinely is touched by the necessity of Achan’s confession. God’s glory will only be reflected back to Him when the life of God’s servant is cleared of guilt. Joshua 7:20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: :21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” Knowing full well that he was not permitted to take the beautiful mantle of Shinar which he discovered at Jericho, nor the silver and gold which he had confiscated, Achan deliberately sinned against God and took this booty back to his house to hide beneath his tent. In essence, Achan had made the same mistake Moses did when “… he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand” (Ex 2:12). Neither of them understood that you cannot successfully hide sin from God. Psalm 69:5 reminds us, “O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” The path to sin is now a well-established one. As Achan (1) saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and (2) coveted them, and (3) took them, he followed exactly the same path that Eve did “… when the woman ‘saw’ that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be ‘desired’ (coveted) to make one wise, she ‘took’ of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he did eat” (Gen 3:6). The similar pathway was used by David, as recorded in 2 Samuel 11:2–4, when one evening upon the roof of the king’s house he “ ‘saw’ a woman washing herself … ‘sent and inquired’ after the woman … and ‘took her’ ” (emphasis added). These and other examples illustrate the unbroken pathway to sin. Sin begins with innocent sight, degenerates into lustful desire or covetousness, and falls from there into participation. But the pathway to sin does not end here, as each example shows. The fourth step to sin is always involvement of others. Eve gave the forbidden fruit to Adam and he too partook of it. David’s sin with Bathsheba involved her husband as well, for David sent Uriah the Hittite to the head of the battle in order to be killed (2 Sam 11:6, 17). And Achan’s personal sin in taking of the accursed thing brought about the deaths of thirty-six innocent Israelite soldiers. 1 Digital Copies can be found at: http://bit.ly/19k0HFJ Perhaps the most terrifying thing about sin is that there is no such thing as private sin. All sin affects others; the personal sin of Achan kindled the anger of God against Israel. The personal sin of believers always affects the church at large. Every sin involves society; and since each of us makes up society, every sin affects us. Joshua 7:22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. :23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. :24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. Upon hearing Achan’s confession, Joshua sent messengers to his tent and removed all the accursed spoils of war and laid them out before the Lord. The offering to the Lord was the easy part; the punishment of Achan and his family was more difficult. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, … and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. Here Achan and his family, who apparently had participated in hiding the spoils of war, were to be severely punished for their sin. H. W. Robinson, writes “the concept of a single person representing an entire group was so common that it was not considered unfair in the Hebrew mind for a family to suffer because of its father’s sins (cf. 2 Sam 21:1–14).” What are your thoughts? Joshua 7:25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. :26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day. Because they had troubled Israel, all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. God could not allow unconfessed sin to exist in the camp of Israel. He could not use unclean vessels. The Holy God can never associate Himself with that which is unholy. But once sin was dealt with the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. From that day until now, the place where Achan was stoned has been called the valley of Achor. All who would live righteously before the Lord must be very careful to avoid sin. Gross errors tend to stigmatize those who otherwise have unblemished or near unblemished records. Living righteously consistently is the only acceptable life-style. The Fall of Ai Joshua 8:1 Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. :2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.” It was now necessary to inspire new courage in Joshua and the people. Therefore, God again prophetically pronounces that the city of Ai, its king, people, and land, have already been delivered into Joshua’s hand. All the man of God must do is claim it. Joshua 8:3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.