ACHAN'S SIN

Joshua 7:1-26

Key Verse: 7:12 

“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.”

Today we would like to think about one of the most painful things in life: "sin." After the U.S./Canada Staff Conference at Wheaton College in Chicago we visited the Billy Graham Museum. There they had all kinds of good information about Billy Graham, one of the best evangelists of Jesus' gospel. In each section, there was also a video presentation showing Billy Graham delivering powerful messages. But one thing I kept finding in this video presentation was Billy Graham's emphasis on sin. He always began his sermons by bringing up the painful topic of "sin": “Christ died for your sin and for my sin!!” or "Repent of your sin!" etc. And he always ended his messages by inviting people to come up and pray a sinner’s prayer. He talked about sin at length. As you study the Bible, you will quickly recognize that it is not only Billy Graham’s practice but also God's practice to talk about sin. In the Bible God is never silent about sin. He is always vocal about man's fundamental problem called "sin". Such is the case in today’s passage. Let us not ignore sin which persists in man's life. Rather let us deal with it squarely! With this in mind, let us think about the passage in five ways:

First, Achan's sin - what is it? 

Look at v. 1. "But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, 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." Here we see that to sin is to act unfaithfully. We know the kind of sin Achan committed. But in the eyes of the Lord it is to act "unfaithfully". Here, the word acting "unfaithfully" indicates that Achan’s sin, as cunning and crafty and sneaky as it was, had something to do with being unfaithful. In fact sin has a direct relationship to faith in the Lord. 

In many places, we find the Bible defining the problem of sin in terms of faith. For example, in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve first sinned against the Lord, Bible scholars commonly say that they sinned when they began to doubt the love of God. In other words they sinned because they lost full faith in the Lord. Similarly in Romans 14:23, the Apostle Paul goes even to the point of saying, "Everything that does not come from faith is sin!" How surprising! 

In v. 11, we find the same conclusion. Look at v. 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.” Here we see the Lord God saying that the Israelites violated their covenant with the Lord. Achan took the items which the Lord had prohibited him from taking. So what had been committed is not just a matter of the balance in the Lord's bank account decreasing, but the entire loss of their relationship with the Lord. The Israelites did not trust the Lord as much as they should have. By specifically violating the covenant the Israelites did not honor their relationship with the Lord as honorably as the Lord deserved. Characteristically speaking what Achan did was no different than a husband finding his wife not as attractive as his secretary so, behind the eyes of his wife, he is having an affair with his secretary. 

Again every sin is not just a sin, but in fact a breaking of faith in our relationship with the Lord. Putting sin in the context of a relationship with the Lord is thus the key to avoiding sin. And we must put every sin in this perspective. Otherwise we will not perceive sin as accurately as it really is. This then tells us that when we take care of our faith in the Lord, we can take care of our sin problem as well, for absolute faith in the Lord is the key to setting oneself free from sinning; it is also the key to obeying God’s will no matter what. 

Second, who is liable for sin?

Now let us turn our attention away from the sin itself and focus on the sinner. Who is Achan? Look at v. 1. ^"But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things ^[1] ; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, ^[2] the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel." Here, Joshua bothered to trace the tribal origin of Achan all the way back to Judah. As I have mentioned a number of times in the past, the Lord God never does what is unnecessary. When he does anything, he always does it for a reason. This is no exception. The Lord God bothered to point out Achan’s genealogy for a reason: that is, to send a message to us. What is the message? When you think about it, especially when you think about the tribal position of Judah, the answer is quite obvious. Judah is the finest of all the twelve tribes of Israel. Achan, who was a member of the finest tribe of all, nevertheless committed the sin.

Does this ring a bell? To me, this reminds me of what the Bible says about the condition of fallen men. What does the Bible say? The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). What does "all" mean? All means all. Actually, in order to allow no one to mistake this point, the Apostle Paul goes a few steps further and elaborates this point. For example, let us go to the Romans and read 3:10-18. "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes."" Here the expression "not even one" is repeated twice. Words like "together" or the expression "all have turned away" likewise stresses the fact that there is no single person who has never sinned. 

Maybe from a human point of view, there might be some differences in who has sinned and who has not sinned, from person to person. But from God's point of view, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This is why when one person, Achan, had sinned, the Lord God continually called the Israelites to account. This then teaches us that there is no room for anyone to be proud. There is no one who can rightly feel superior to anyone morally, ethically, and/or spiritually. For this reason one pastor always says, "Each time I see others committing sins, I am always reminded of my own weaknesses." If you think otherwise, you are already in danger of committing sins which are worse than that of Achan! So watch out! Watch out for your own selves all the time. And always recognize that you are worse a sinner than all others.   

Third, how is the sin committed?

The Bible says that we must fight against sin even to the point of shedding blood against it (Hebrews 12:4). This exhortation indicates that fighting against sin is never an easy thing to do. But as the maxim goes, no problem is without a solution. Every problem has one solution or another. And one of the ways to fight against sin and stay away from sinning is to study the history of sin. We say "history" of sin, for every sin has a history. And anyone who does not learn anything from history is condemned to repeat the failures of the past. So let us stop for a moment and think about the history of sin as Achan committed it. 

Look at v. 21. “When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath." This passage shows that there are three critical steps in sinning which are expressed in three verbs: “saw”; “coveted”; and “took.” First he “saw” the items, then he “coveted” them, and finally he “took” them. 

What Achan did was no different from what the first sinner Eve did. What did Eve do? It is recorded in Genesis 3:6. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” She saw the fruit. She coveted it for the fruit looked good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took. She ate it. Seeing is seeing. Coveting is lusting after. And taking is taking. But seeing always comes first, then coveting next, and when coveting continues, taking results. This is just like clouds gathering in the sky, and with all other conditions being equal, sooner or later rain will come down. 

This then makes us to stop and ask: "Well, I can see that coveting is wrong. What is wrong then with seeing? After all the fruit was there in the garden. And wasn't it for Adam and Eve to see?" Well, that is true. In fact according to Genesis 2:16, the Lord God prohibited man from eating it. Eve was allowed to see it; she was allowed to even touch it. But she was not supposed to eat it. But when we think about it, it is not difficult to understand that “seeing” is actually good; but in seeing anything or anyone, how we see anyone or anything is what is important. So we have this maxim: there is always something wrong with the type of "seeing" which leads man to coveting and then to taking. What is wrong with the type of "seeing" that leads man to committing sins? 

We can find the answer to this question from one Bible verse, that is, Hebrew 12:2. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." This is the answer. But let us take a look at the answer more closely, for one may ask, "Well, if I fix my eyes on Jesus, and do not see anything or anyone else, how can I possibly survive?" Well, here the call to fix our eyes on Jesus does not mean that, while driving on the 405 freeway, we should not look around. Rather while driving we must look straight at where we are going. Every once in a while we also need to look into the mirror – both the side mirrors as well as the rearview mirror. What the call to fix our eyes on Jesus really means is that we must see everything from a certain perspective. In fact we must see everything and every one with one perspective and one perspective alone, that is, the perspective of Jesus. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." 

When we fix our eyes on Jesus what will we get? Well the answer is found immediately after the call to fix our eyes on Jesus. And we must do so for Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. When we see everything and everyone with Jesus' eyes, then we gain faith in God, not any faith but the right faith, the faith that Jesus lived by and even died with, and his faith is absolute and perfect. Jesus is the author and perfector of faith. He never doubted the love of God. Even though God's will for Jesus was for Jesus to die on the cross for sins which he never committed, Jesus still did not doubt God's love. And in absolute faith in the love of the Father he obeyed. In other words, he did not sin. Speaking of this truth, Hebrew 12:2 says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

Coming back to Achan's sin, we can see that Achan saw the goodies not with Jesus' eyes, but with his own eyes. He lost Jesus' perspective. Then he went crazy for what he had seen. The same was true of Eve. Eve was tempted by the devil. The serpent deceived her into doubting God's love for her. So having lost Jesus' perspective, she lost faith in God. Then as she saw the fruit, she began to go crazy. She coveted it and she took it. Let us turn to our neighbor and say, "Fix your eyes on Jesus." Then let us say, "Have Jesus' perspective." 

Fourth, what are the consequences of sin?

Every sin has a consequence (or consequences). And so too in Achan’s case. What were the consequences? The passage itself shows us the dire consequences of his sin. First of all let us look at v. 1b. There we see the Lord becoming angry. This may sound strange to you. But this is what the Bible says. As surprising as it may seem, the truth is that the first dreadful consequence of sin is the Lord becoming angry. The Lord is not visible. The Lord is not man. He is the Creator God. And sin makes God angry. "The Lord's anger burned against Israel." Let us notice that the Lord's anger burned against "Israel" not against "Achan" alone. But this first consequence is invisible. It occurs in an invisible (or "spiritual") realm. Because it occurs in an invisible realm, we do not sense it so we do not recognize it. 

This does not mean that there are no visible consequences. The visible consequences that are manifested in the physical world will soon follow, and indeed they are sure to follow. Look at vs. 2-3. There we see Joshua and, of course, the entire army remaining on their own. They were without the Lord's council. Because the Lord remained angry, and therefore remained silent (meaning the Lord refused to talk to Joshua), Joshua was clueless as to what had occurred. (In other words, even though Joshua waited on the Lord, staying close to the ark of the Lord, the Lord remained silent.) Joshua did not know what to do with the enemies in front of the Israelites. So at his wits’ end, he figured out what he needed to do. He turned on and ran his own computer. So according to his past experience he decided to spy out the city of Ai. Then one thing led to another, and behold! What was the result? He was defeated, and defeated ever so shamefully. He lost thirty-six soldiers. His heart completely melted! 

Again v. 12 says that Israelites could not stand against their enemies. Verse 13 says that as long as the sin remained in the camp, the Lord was not going to be with the Israelites. Verses 25-26 describe the final fruit of Achan's sin: the judgment. This dire consequence of Achan's sin remind us of the dreadful judgment which the Bible so persistently warns us about: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Fifth, what is the remedy for sin? 

Verses 12 and 13 show us the remedy for sin. Look at vs. 12 and 13 again. "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. Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it." The remedy is this: "[D]estroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction." Verse 13 expresses this remedy with two words: “remove it.” So the word to remember is this: “remove.” Remove it! The only remedy for sin is to remove it. This is just like a man with cancer going to a medical doctor in order to remove it. In the case of the Israelites, we see the Lord God putting the Israelites through painful procedures by having each tribe and clan come out, one by one, until Achan was selected. Even after having been selected, Achan did not voluntarily accept the remedy; he did not voluntarily repent of his sins. Since he did not repent even at the last minute, he left his physical body along with his sin. 

When they indeed removed the sin what did the Lord do? Look at v. 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." The Lord turned from his fierce anger. The Lord began to work with the Israelites. As we will see in the next chapter, the Lord helped the Israelites to win a smashing victory over the enemy Ai. This transaction then reminds us of the messages we have heard thus far: the message of repentance and the message of the gospel. In Mark 1:15 when Jesus came he said, "The time has come! The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Here Jesus did not say just "believe the good news!" He first said, "Repent and believe the good news." Achan had ample opportunities to repent. His family members also had ample opportunities to repent, for it seems that they also knew what Achan had done. Yet, even till the last minute, they kept their mouths shut. 

This makes us stop and ask, "Why was it that they did not repent at the last minute?" Again the answer goes back to where we began. Look at v. 1. "But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, 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." The word "unfaithfully" indicates that Achan failed to repent at the last minute because he lost faith in the Lord. The Lord is good. He is quick to forgive us of our sins. In doing daily bread from the book of Second Kings, I was amazed by the way the Lord treated King Manasseh. He was a terrible king. He committed all kinds of sins. Yet at the last minute he repented. He prayed to the Lord for forgiveness. And immediately, the Lord forgave him. This episode is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33:10-13. In his absolute love and mercy, God the Father sent Jesus, his one and only son, to die for our sins on the cross. When we look at Jesus on the cross, and hear his pleas to God saying, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," we will then beat our breasts, and ask God to forgive us of our sins. We can then repent of our sins, accept Jesus into our hearts, and live by faith in him, serving him as our Lord and Savior. Then he not only graciously forgives us of our own sins but also leads us from victory to victory. 

One word: Repent and believe the good news!