Joshua 7:1 “Achan took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.”
Observation: The consequence of Achan’s sin highlighted by this verse refers to his duplicity after Jericho was sacked. The ban referred to was stated clearly in Joshua 6:17, “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord…” “But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban lest you covet them and take some of the things…so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.” God had supernaturally defeated Jericho so all the spoils were His to dispose of. Silver and gold along with articles of iron and bronze were to be added to the Lord’s treasury, (v. 19) but everything else was to be destroyed.
Application: Achan’s sin wasn’t in looking at forbidden things; seeing them could hardly have been avoided. Rather, like Eve in the garden, his sin was in the taking. He compounded it by burying the spoils within his tent which surely would have required his immediate family to join the deception. Once he was exposed by God, his confession was generous and complete. (v. 20-21) He called it what he was, confessed what had been taken, and admitted to burying it in his tent.
I can imagine the outcome for Achan, but I’m most struck by Joshua’s tenderness in confronting Achan. He said, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord the God of Israel and give praise to Him and tell me now what you have done….” (v. 19) A less Christ-like but far more common approach would have been to hurl angry accusations. After all, after the great victory at Jericho their next battle was against the easier target of Ai, but there they suffered defeat. In humility, Joshua pled with God to know why He had abandoned Israel. God’s response was to itemize how His instructions at Jericho had been disobeyed, saying “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.” (v. 12, 13)
Israel’s entire advance into the Land of God’s covenant would be thwarted. Joshua’s leadership would be ruined until he dealt with this. Some of his select warriors had been killed in a battle none could have won. Yet he approached Achan as a loving father, not as an angry disciplinarian. My son, I implore you…what have you done? Joshua knew very well what Achan had done. He had cooked the books so he could embezzle from the company. He had cheated on the test to better himself in comparison with his peers. He had committed a foul while the referee wasn’t looking. Cheated on his taxes to gain supposed financial advantage. Oh wait…Achan didn’t do all those things. But if he had, would I have been so tender, so gracious as Joshua addressing such offenders?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, the conviction that comes results from remembering times when grace was so lacking in my accurate yet harsh response to sin. You are a just God and your judgments are righteous and true, but for my part, teach me to be consistently gracious even to those who would bring harm to the nation, to the people I love, and to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.