Achan Joshua 7

Joshua 7:10-11 "And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up, wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, an dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff."

When Jericho was conquered, the command was to put the precious metals in the treasury of the LORD's house and burn every thing else. Jericho was not to be rebuilt.

Achan succumbed to temptation.

In verse 18 of the previous chapter a warning is given not to take of the accursed thing. It was not that it would just hurt the individual but that what one does hurts the whole nation.

Chapter 6 v18 "And ye in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the cap of Israel a curse, and trouble it."

We also know that the LORD had told them to keep the camp clean for He walked in the camp. From other readings, we know that God and sin cannot co-exist. Sin was what separated God and man in the first place.

Not knowing of the sin in the camp, Joshua sent men to Ai to take what seemed an easy city to take but Israel was soundly defeated and people were killed. It was then that Joshua prayed to God thinking their cause was lost. God revealed to Joshua that it was sin.

So Achan is tempted. He sees some stuff and just has to have it. He obviously knows that he cannot enjoy what he took from Jericho for then everyone would know what he did. So he hid it in his tent.

v20-21 "And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them: and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."

In one weak moment, Achan broke a good many commandments. He stole because the precious metals belonged to the treasury. The garment should have been burned. He coveted. He tried to hid his sin. In essence, he lied about the whole thing until he was caught and also dragged his family into the deceit.

The punishment for him and to clean the camp of sin was the death of himself, his family and all that the owned. Achan was stoned in a valley and it is known as the valley of Achor unto this day. v26.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

We could all have been justifiably stoned for our sin. We would have paid the debt we owed. Christ, however, paid the price for sin and so we go free.

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 1:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one;"

Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Psalms 123:1 "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens."

Key words: Bible Study, Old Testament, Joshua, Achan, Milton Southerland, sin