You were born in the wilderness, but now is the time for God to fulfill the promise He made to
your ancestors over 400 years earlier. You reach the first city and conquer it with ease, by
following God’s plan to the letter. Jerrico has fallen and now you are ready to march on the city
of AI. You are emotionally charged and poised for battle, then it happens; for the first time, you
and your armies are driven back; for the first time, you see your fellow soldiers die. The question
of so many is “why?”
You return to camp where your fearless leader, Joshua, grieves and rends his clothes in
mourning for your fellow soldiers who died on the field of battle. At the dawn of the next day, you assemble with your family and kin from across the tribe. Joshua is looking for someone. The tribe of Judah comes before Joshua, then your family is brought before Joshua, and finally your household is standing in front of all the people. No one besides you knows the reason for God’s apparent withdrawal of mercy and protection. See, you stole from God! “And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel” (Joshua 7:15.) You thought you could hide your actions from God, the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God will judge our actions; even the actions we taken believing that no one is watching, Ezekiel 12:14.
Joshua asks for your confession, to give “glory to the LORD God of Isarel,” Joshaua 7:19. You
give your confession, maybe hoping that your life will be spared. Regardless, the LORD has
made it clear that He will no longer be with the people of Israel, until this iniquity is removed
from before Him. Your confession reveals four (4) sins, Joshua 7:21, “I saw, I coveted and took
them…, hid” the stolen items.
“I saw.” This is more than a chancing glance at the pile of plunder from the city of Jerrico. This is the lingering of the eye and the dwelling on, with the mind.
“I coveted.” Your thoughts and feelings stirred up lust within your heart to the point where you allowed yourself to be taken over by them.
“Took them.” In weakness, you took of the things dedicated to God. In so doing, you
singlehandedly brought shame and reproach to the people of Israel.
“Hid in the earth.” It is wrong to take what does not belong to you and it is foolish to believe you could conceal your guilt from an all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful God.
James warns us, (James 1:13-15) of what will happen when we give in to our lusts. The end for
Achan was death. If we refuse to repent, our souls will forevermore be separated from God.