Blatant Sin Against God

INTRO

How do you pick a movie to watch? Action? Drama? The book of Joshua has all that. Yesterday, we looked at Joshua 6 and the Israelites taking over Jericho because it was the Lord’s plan. There was plenty of action involved in the story. Today’s passage brings drama. The Israelites knew they were in God’s hands as they went into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, they didn’t always remain faithful to that knowledge.

TEACHING

Joshua 7:1: Verse 1 points out that unfaithfulness. God had commanded the Israelites to destroy everything in Jericho except for Rahab and her family and the things that were to be dedicated to God (Joshua 6:17–19). However, one of the Israelites did not follow those instructions and instead chose to keep some of the silver, gold, bronze, and iron objects from God’s treasury. Achan, the guilty man, was from the tribe of Judah, so he shared his lineage with Christ. God’s “anger burned,” not just at Achan but against all the Israelites. Why did God’s anger burn against them all? Wiersbe explains that “Israel was one people in the Lord and not just an assorted collection of tribes, clans, families, and individuals.”¹Achan’s name means “trouble,” and, according to verse 25, he was known as the man who troubled Israel. Nelson’s Commentary explains that the phrase “committed a trespass” (NKJV) can be understood as “committed a treacherous violation.”²

Joshua 7:2–5: After the victory at Jericho, Joshua sent out men to Ai as scouts. The name “Ai” means “ruin,”³and was a small city (12,000 people; Joshua 8:25). The word for “spies” in the Hebrew contains the idea of feet in its meaning,⁴bringing us again to the idea of feet moving forward. The spies reported there were so few people that Joshua didn’t need to send a large number of troops, only 2,000 or 3,000. Remember that 40,000 soldiers went into Jericho to take that city (see Joshua 4:13). However, the smaller army of 3,000 fled from Ai. This is evidence of man’s plan rather than God’s plan (Proverbs 16:18). Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed as they fled, and the entire Israelite people's “hearts melted and became like water” (v. 5). Note how the people of Jericho lost heart over the power of the Israelite’s God (Joshua 2:11). Now, the same thing happened to the Israelites as they faced their first defeat in the second battle they ever fought.

Joshua 7:6–9: Joshua and the elders tore their clothes, put dust on their heads, and fell face down on the ground in mourning (Genesis 37:34; Judges 20:26; Psalm 6:6; Isaiah 32:12; Lamentations 2:10; Ezra 9:5). Joshua didn’t understand why they had lost the battle (v. 7). The Israelites had questioned what they were doing while they were in the wilderness (Exodus 16:3; Numbers 20:3–5). Now, Joshua complained as well, even questioning what this would do to God’s reputation (vv. 8–9). Daniel had this same concern when he was in prayer and fasting and called out to the Lord to listen and take action without delay (Daniel 9:16-19).

Joshua 7:10–12: In response, God asked why Joshua was on the ground (v. 10). God explained, “Israel has sinned” and “violated” His covenant. They had stolen from God the things that had been set apart for Him (v. 11). Each sin God reported, He blamed on “they”—all the Israelites. Nelson’s Commentary explains, “God had consistent standards for both Israel and the Canaanites. . . . He could not allow Israel to accommodate corruption, even that of one man, especially when the instructions concerning the infraction were so clear.”⁵God explained that this was the reason the Israelites could not stand against Ai (v. 12). God would not be with them unless they took care of the guilty.”

Joshua 7:13–15: God told Joshua to consecrate the people and get them ready to come before Him in order to take care of the sin that had separated Israel from Him (v. 13). They were to present themselves before the Lord, tribe by tribe, family by family, and then, based on the one God called out, man by man (v. 14). The guilty would have to be burned in retribution (v. 15). Nelson’s Commentary says the guilty person had “a blatant and senseless disregard for God’s will.”⁶

When we put this into New Testament context, it means when we choose to sin, we are saying the cross isn’t good enough for us to live for. Achan was being deceitful and got caught!

Joshua 7:16–19: The tribes came forward, and the tribe of Judah was selected (possibly determined through the priest’s ephod (1 Samuel 23:6, 9; 30:7–8). The clans of Judah came forward and the Zerahite clan was selected (v. 17), and then Zabdi was selected. Then, Zabdi’s family was brought forward, man by man. Achan was selected (v. 18). Achan confessed what he had done (vv. 19–21). Joshua sent men to Achan’s tent to get the things he had stolen, and put them before the Lord. Then they took Achan and his family to the Valley of Achor, stoned them to death, and burned their bodies (vv. 22–26). Achan said that he saw it, he coveted it, he stole it, and he hid it. We always try to hide sin.

CLOSING

God always knows our sin. We cannot hide it from Him:

• Psalm 139:7: “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?”

Jeremiah 16:17: “For My gaze takes in all their ways. They are not concealed from Me, and their guilt is not hidden from My sight.”

But we have good news. Because of the New Testament, we are guaranteed God’s forgiveness for our sins.