We cannot hide our unrepented sins from God who sees the hearts of all who walk the earth.  Our sins that we think are kept hidden, locked up behind closed doors, beyond the reach of our children and their children are known by God and will soon be known by all.  When we sin against God by doing exactly what God told us not to do; we affect the lives of everyone who knows us and relates to us daily.  God, in His timing, will reveal the sin that enslaves the sinner.  God’s plan is not meant to harm us but to give us a future filled with hope.  God loves us. God’s desire to rescue, save, help, and counsel us is blocked by our attempts to thwart His Plan of redemption—designed for our good and His glory! 

When sin is found out in God’s church; everyone suffers from the shock. Sins revealed shatters and shakes our trust in people but it should not dismantle our trust in God who is the reason for our faith.  Our Hope is in Jesus sent from God to save us.  How firm is our foundation of faith?  How strong is our trust in God whose love and faithfulness never fails us?  Pause, pray, respond to God.

There is sin in the camp of Israel.  Achan saw the greatness of God as God caused the walls of Jericho to fall flat before them.  All God’s Chosen had to do was march around the city seven times in worship to God alone.  God is the Commander. We get our marching orders from God.  “Do not take the spoils for your own—put it in the treasury of God” was the second order to be obeyed after the walls fell.  But one man decided the “devoted things” of beauty was his for the taking. You had one job, Achan and you decided to steal from God and then lie about it by hiding it under your tent? 

Joshua 7

Achan’s Sin

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.

² 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.

³ 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.” ⁴ So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, ⁵ 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.

⁶ Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸ Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? ⁹ The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. ¹² That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

¹³ “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

¹⁴ “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵ Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”

¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. ¹⁷ The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. ¹⁸ Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹ 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.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. ²³ They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

²⁴ Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. ²⁶ Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

TAKE NOTE:  In our passage today the Hebrew term “devoted things” refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. The term appears first in verse 1 to explain the disobedience of Achan as one who turned against God. You will also see the term in verses 11, 12, 13 and 15.  The Valley of Achor was named appropriately and translated as the Valley of Trouble.

After dreaming of a homeland for forty years and tasting victory in Jericho, Israel suffered a stunning defeat at Ai. One man, Achan, stole plunder from Jericho and brought God’s judgment on all the people. God helped Israel conquer Ai after the sinful man and his family were destroyed. 

When we sin, we affect everyone around us.  We cause our family to join in our sin by asking them to hide it, too!  The results are the same.  Hiding our sin only gives birth to more sin!  At this point, the enemy of God, the evil one, has us right where he wants us.  We sinners grow weary of carrying our load of lying which we should not be carrying around!  We are putty in the hands of evil who manipulates our thinking in our tiredness and uses us in his evil schemes before destroying us completely.  He is called the Deceiver, The Prince of Lies, by Jesus Himself.  Jesus knows him well. Satan and his demons know Jesus well—and tremble.

Why do they tremble?  Jesus, is the One and Only Way to turn our lives around.  Repenting, (coming clean to be cleaned) to Jesus is the Only Way to reconcile (reconnect) us fully and completely to God.  God resumes His role as The Master Potter, who with delight molds and shapes us back into his image for our good and His glory. God wants nothing less than His best for us!  

Life or death—our choice! One is a blessing the other is a curse. But it is up to us—we choose.

James talks about how our desires, left unchecked, gives birth to all that is not good for us and leads to death after sharing how to be blessed in persevering in our faith in God—

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1: 12-18

Don’t hide what God already knows—that’s fruitless!

So, how will we respond?  Do we choose blessed perseverance with the hope of glory?  Or do we just keep trying to hide the evil desires that entice and addict us to death?  Don’t be deceived…Choose wisely!  I have learned that our best choosing is done daily…as an “offering to God”.  (See Romans 12:1-2) With each new day that God allows us to live on earth; we must decide who we will follow all day long and into the night.  I choose Him because He chose me.  We love Him because He first loved us.

“Choose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua declares to God’s People.  He follows up with; “As for me and my house, we will serve our Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Lord,

Sin has no bounds in the destruction of our relationship with you and with each other.  However, because of your love which has no limits, demonstrated on a cruel cross to save us and forgive us our sins; we have victory over death! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen