Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury." (Joshua 6:17-19, NLT). Sounds like pretty clear instructions. Verse 8 tells us that Joshua spoke to all the people. They all knew God's instructions and commands as well as the consequences of not doing as God had said. Joshua and Israel defeated Jericho because they did just as God instructed.
But one man, Achan, thought he was beyond God's vision and when no one else was looking, in the middle of the chaos of the battle, took a Babylonian robe he fell in love with along with silver coins and a bar of gold. He then went to his tent, likely in full view and knowledge of his wife and children, buried them to keep them hidden so that later he could use them. I can hear imagine what he may have been thinking. "We are going to go to war with other cities and someday I can bring out the loot I got and say I got it as spoils from a different battle. No one will ever have to know. Besides, God was so busy watching the battle and everything else he watches, I am sure he missed me, or if He didn't, He will forgive me and overlook this small amount of loot I took. I know my family won't tell anyone. It will benefit all of us, and my wife will look stunning in that Babylonian robe."
A problem soon arose as Israel attempted to attack another city, Ai, and was defeated. All Israel was shocked! How could this happen!? Wasn't God on their side? Or did He bring us hear to make fools of us so that we will be destroyed? Joshua fell on his face before God and asked Him what happened? I am sure Joshua thought it was something he had done wrong. But God spoke a very clear message: "But the LORD said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen the things that I commanded to be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them; they have also lied about it and hidden the things among their belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.'" (Joshua 7:10-12., NLT). So Joshua told the people what God had said.
The next day Joshua and all of Israel went before God tribe by tribe, until Achan's tribe was chosen, then that tribe came clan by clan, until Achan's clan was chosen, then that clan came family by family and Achan was exposed. As a result, Achan finally told what he had done. As a result, he and his entire family as well as their belongings and herds were destroyed. Afterward, Israel was able to defeat Ai with no problems.
The problem here is God's commands were very clear, and yet Achan chose to sin. Then after the defeat at Ai, and God pointed out a sin, and then Joshua telling all the people what was going to happen next. Achan had 2 days to confess his sin. Joshua gave the people instructions and Achan still hid his sin. Then God chose His tribe, and Achan remained silent. God chose his clan, and Achan remained silent. God chose his family and he remained silent. It wasn't until after Joshua asked Achan what he had done did he confess. It may have been that he was embarrassed for his disobedience, it may have been he was hoping, someone else would be blamed, or any number of excuses. He knew the command and chose, along with his family, to disobey and deliberately hide his sin. His sin affected the entire nation through the defeat at Ai, but it also destroyed him and his entire family.
But are we any different? Don't we often do the same thing? We make excuses for our choices to sin and hope that it will not be found out. We hope those who know will remain silent. We hope God really didn't see what we did. But God always sees.
Like Achan, we know what God's commands are, what his instructions are. They are spelled out in His Word; sin is anything that goes against His instructions and commands. We are without excuse if we say we are of the body of Christ because we have the Holy Spirit helping us and showing us what is right and what is wrong. But we ignore His voice. We hope we can get away with it. We become embarrassed for our actions or choices. We claim we make bad choices or a bad mistake, but in reality we KNOW what we did. We know we deliberately choose to disobey God. But, like Achan, we are given chances to confess and come to God for forgiveness. We too often allow our embarrassment to stop us from turning to God for forgiveness. Sometimes we are only sorry that we got caught, not for what we did.
Also like Achan, our sin affects the entire Church, not just our lives or our families. What could God be doing through the Church, through our family, through us, if we only would choose to stay away from sin? But the truth is we all sin, but God always offers a way out, a way of forgiveness. In
1 John, the Apostle John writes:
"My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments. If someone says, "I belong to God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth. But those who obey God's word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did." (verses 1-6, NLT)So I must ask, is there a secret sin your hiding? If you do, God is offering you a chance to go to him and ask forgiveness. Do no delay, do not compound your sin by staying silent and adding others to your list and by hurting not only your own walk and testimony and what God could do in and through you, but you are affecting the entire camp, the entire Church.
John writes later in 1 John 1:9 the following: "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." Turn to God, confess your sin and make yourself right in His sight again. God promises if you do, He will forgive, He will cleanse you. You may or may not have severe consequences of Achan, but you can know that you heart is once again right before God.
Don't delay. Move past your embarrassment. Learn from your disobedience and go to God. God longs for you to come clean before it's too late. Achan waited too long. You don't have to wait. God is waiting to forgive and restore you.
