New Hope Daily SOAP: Joshua 7

Pastor Vicki Harrison

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Joshua 7:20-25, Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 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.”

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

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. Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

The Israelites were doing so well.  And then...Achan decides to steal some of the devoted things.  The devoted things included gold, silver, and a beautiful Babylonian garment.  All the plundered goods were to be dedicated to the Lord.  Instead, Achan decides to keep some for himself and hide it.  As a result, God becomes angry with the Israelites and allows them to experience defeat in battle.  Joshua is extremely distressed and goes before God in humility and submission.  He has no idea what's changed.  Why the defeat and loss of life?

God tells Joshua about the sin.  God has Joshua devise a purging process to find the guilty party.  He splits the Isrelites into tribes, then clans, then families, and then individuals to find the offender.  It turns out that Achan from the tribe of Judah is the one who has stolen the devoted things.  He admits the sin but doesn't express any kind of remorse.  Because Achan's sin brought trouble on the whole Israelite community, for he deliberately disobeyed God resulting in the loss of thirty-six Israeli lives in battle, he is killed, as is his family. 

The pattern of Achan's sin was this:  he saw, he coveted, he took.  We see this pattern throughout Scripture, with Eve in the garden and with David and Bathsheba.  Maybe Achan tried to convince himself it would be okay.  No one would miss those items.  Plus, they were so beautiful.  How could he help himself?  But God demonstrates to Israel, as he does over and over again, that sin can't be rationalized. 

Let's pray...God, Forgive us for our sin.  Change our hearts.  More of you, Jesus, and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.