Living in the Promised Land: A study in the book of Joshua
A 24-week series given in 2021
To view this online as a video:
Chapter 7: Getting it very wrong: Achan and his mistakes
A. Introduction
1. Greetings
2. Overview. [For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqJlFF_eU )
B. Under the Ban
Last week we studied the battle of Jericho and saw the obedience of the Jewish people as they made their way into the Land of Promise and began the conquest of it. Jericho’s conquest is a high point in Israel’s history and as you might have read elsewhere, going from victory to victory is what you would expect from a hagiography. The hero of ancient books wins a battle then goes to the next town, wins the battle there, takes a wife, starts a farm, then goes to the next village and wins again, ad infinitum.
But the Bible is not such a novel. It’s the real account of real people who win and lose, who fail God and then turn and trust him again. It’s a story of God’s relentless love for his people and his desire that they should represent him well.
Francis Schaeffer wrote, “God is not mechanical but personal. He is not going to deal with every situation in a mechanical way, and we must not reduce him to a series of mechanical acts, as though because God acts one way in one moment, he will act the same way in another…God uses many methods. At Jericho there was a miracle, at Ai, none.” (page 112)
Thus, in today’s episode, the scene after Jericho and the trumpeting announcement of Joshua’s hero status, we see Israel’s first failure under the new leader.
Verse one says it all:
But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
One man did wrong, took ‘some of the things’ and God was angry at the entire nation of Israel. That synecdoche is something we saw previously and will see again and again throughout Jewish history and we will probably often be among those who argue about equity and fairness and such. All the while, God is unreservedly just in his dispensing of his righteousness.
There are some points we will make today, borrowing from FB Meyer, and the outline will frame our conversation.
1) We should grieve more for sin than for its results
2) We should submit ourselves to the judgment of God
a. Be willing to know the worst
b. Be willing to trace the genealogy of the sin
c. You should muster the clans of heart and life
3) We should hold no parley with discovered sin
4) Whatever else this trouble brings, it’s also a Door of Hope
So, let’s unpack this section by section.
1. First, we should grieve more for sin than for its results
Achan is a fellow of no significance, not the leader of the tribe, not the representative of the nation, but as a result of his misstep at the village of Ai (Ha-ai in Hebrew), the nation loses a battle. It’s the only battle we will lose in 7 years!
Look at verse 1, we see a term used before, “under the ban.” It’s the Hebrew word “Cheirem” We also get the word ‘harem’ from this same word and means ‘dedicated’ or ‘belonging to’ someone (else). A harem of a sultan is a group of women who are dedicated to him and thus belong to him, and therefore under the ban of anyone else.
We first see that word in Moses’ writings in Deuteronomy chapter 7.
You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned. (verse 26)
The warning is clear, and the response required is clear. You bring in something wrong, it will infect your home. So, detest it detestingly and abhor it abhorrently for it is cheirem. The verbs of detest and abhor are doubled which shows the amplification of emotion we should have.
In the notices given by Joshua to the people as they were going to take Jericho, he said,
The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 “But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. (6.17)
Joshua had made it clear that when God gave us Jericho, that we should keep away from banned substances, as they belonged to the Lord and the new local treasury. The warning was that if we took things, if we coveted things, we would cause a curse to fall on Israel
וַעֲכַרְתֶּ֖ם אוֹתֽוֹ
We would make the place Achar, troubled.
Back to verse 2 of our text, Joshua 7.
Joshua sent spies to check out the next town. It was only about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jericho, the site of our most recent conquest, and the spies came back with a report about how easy it would be to take the small military forces of this non-fortified town. Joshua listened to them and followed their wrong advice. He sent only 2 or 3,000 men to battle. As a result, we were turned back, failed, 36 men of battle died, and Joshua’s faith faltered. The people of Israel were afraid. (verse 5)
Joshua then tore his clothes in a sign of mourning, throwing dust on his head along with some other leaders. And Joshua prayed, “Lord why did you start this campaign if it were only going to end in failure?” (verse 7)
In verse 9, Joshua cleverly says, “If we go down, it’s on you. It’s your name which will be dishonoured.” In most Bible readings, then you would expect, God would take Joshua’s advice. He would agree with Joshua and make something happen. But not here.
Look at verse 10. “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?”
Oswald Sanders says, “God was saying in effect, ‘you speak as though it were I who should act. It is not I; it is you! Stand up! Consecrate the people. Search out the sin and deal with it.’ God would not be saddled with the blame for this reverse.” (page 80-81)
Verse 11: Israel has sinned. There you go. It’s not one man, it’s not you Joshua. It’s not a family group. It’s Israel which is guilty and thus the defeat at Ai.
Verse 12: Root out the problem or else a curse will stay on Israel. That carries a double meaning. 1) The curse is going to involve loss of life and failure to win territory and 2) The curse is removable. The door of trouble can also be a door of hope.
Israel failed in presumption in taking Ai.
Now Israel should not fail in removing the sin from itself.
God wanted Israel to weep for failing him, not for the consequences of that failure, which was the 36 who died and the embarrassment of the loss. We often get it wrong in regrets about our sins. Meyer reminds us that we should grieve more for sin than for its results.
Verse 16 introduces a new section… the detective work
Sure enough, the taking of the tribe, the family, the household, etc… it’s fascinating and it’s not really disclosed how this took place. Albert Barnes wrote,
“The LORD TAKETH i.e., by lot. The Hebrew word for lot suggests that small stones, probably white and black ones, were used. These were probably drawn from a chest (compare the expressions in Joshua 18:11; 19:1). The lot was regarded as directed in its result by God; and hence, was used on many important occasions by the Jews and by other nations in ancient times.”
1. for apportionment, as of Canaan among the twelve tribes (Numbers 26:55); of the Levitical cities (Joshua 21:4 ff); of spoil or captives taken in war (Joel 3:3).
2. For detection of the guilty, as in the case if Achan, Jonathan (1 Samuel 14:42), and Jonah (Jonah 1:7).
3. For determining the persons to undertake a dangerous or warlike enterprise (Judges 20:10).
4. For making appointment to important functions (Leviticus 16:8 ff; Acts 1:26); or for sharing the duties or privileges of an office among those concerned (1 Chronicles 24:31; Luke 1:9).
Verse 19, Joshua implores Achan to ‘give glory to God, give praise to him, tell me now what you have done. Do not hide.’
Anyone familiar with psychiatry or counselling by personal experience will tell you that secrecy is a prison and that revealing our past is the most liberating of realities. Confessing of sin brings light and preserving of our sin is a darkness that is worse than a black hole.
Katie Gallagher from Wollongong Baptist Church wrote last year of her youth experience in the Catholic church:
“Catholic confession was helpful for me in some ways. By having a designated time to reflect and confess my sins, it made me really think about where I was falling short and how I could be improving. I often felt a sense of relief after admitting my sins, knowing that God had forgiven me.” (https://wollongongbaptist.org/2020/06/30/the-freedom-of-confession/). (See also: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-dont-have-to-hide)
Listen to these verbs of Achan’s speech: “I saw… I coveted… I took… I hid.” (7.20-21). The base problem was coveting. Seeing was not the sin. Coveting was the sin. And isn’t that what Joshua warned the people before taking Jericho?
2. We should submit ourselves to the judgment of God
a. Be willing to know the worst
b. Be willing to trace the genealogy of the sin
c. You should muster the clans of heart and life
God was angry, and Joshua was convinced that he was required to correct the situation. That’s wonderfully healthy. Proverbs says, “open rebuke is better than love concealed.” (27.5)
He chose to know the worst, to confront the worst, to expose the worst and that might have included some major players. Like a parliamentary commission on sports rorts or financial mismanagement, we should be willing to find the problem. Without finding the one little hole in a pipe, we will have to live with leaky drains and wet floors. Trace the problem, call it out, name it, define it, and mobilize to remove the problem.
What happened to Achan?
3) We should hold no parley with discovered sin
4) Whatever else this trouble brings, it’s also a Door of Hope
The penalty for Achan was death and he was stoned. (v. 25) Permanent markers were set up involving stones again as happened at the Jordan and at Gilgal. The sacred history was not to be forgotten.
This story is very similar to the one in Acts chapter 5. There Ananias and Saphira are carried out, dead, killed by God, for lying to the community of faith. They pretended to be generous, in fact, more generous than they really were. No one required generosity from them, but they made the setting worse by pretence and lying.
Both this story of Achan and that story of Ananias and Saphira remind me that at the beginning of a new season, a new venture, God wants to have us start right. Get the beginnings right and the growth of the people is set in good location. Think of a tree that is planted in town and they set poles near it to guide it straight and upward. If the tree veers even a bit in the beginning, it will end up being very much growing wrong.
Was Achan’s family and livestock killed? Probably not. Alfred Edersheim argued that it does not necessarily follow that his children were stoned and burned with him. The plural “them” of verse 25 could refer only to the animals and other possessions of verse 24. In fact, the word is “oto” (him) and not them. The stones were piled over him. It’s odd to imagine that the family should not have been implicated in the crime, but it appears that only Achan was judged.
What’s annoying is that later, after we go in and conquer Ai in God’s economy, we are allowed to take spoil. Again, the sin was coveting, and that’s the heart of the matter. A secondary sin was that of timing, about which we might speak again in another lesson.
Some of you will know about the quote from Hosea the prophet.
“I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope, and she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.” (2.15)
The question of Achor representing hope is a tough one. But remember when we deal with sin, it’s painful at first, but hopeful at the last.
Rabbi Hertz says of Israel’s door of trouble, that God is “wooing of the misguided spouse so that she seeks Him again.” (Hosea 2.16-17) and again, “the valley in which Achan was punished for his sin that brought down punishment upon Israel on entering the Holy Land, shall become a Door of Hope and shall bring deliverance. The punishment of exile would carry its hidden blessing; it would purge and purify the nation and prove the door of hope leading to a better national future.”
Invitation
Dear friends, do you have such hope today? Have you been caught in sin, and know your sin is ever before you? There is one door of hope for us and that’s the door, Yeshua, himself, who said, “I am the door of the sheep.” If you have never asked Yeshua to be your Saviour, today as we keep learning from Joshua, would you choose to believe the Lord of life? What does it mean to be strong and courageous in light of learning about Yeshua? Would you be willing to take a stand for him who took a stand and died on a Roman cross for you?
Without that kipporah (sacrifice) we would be hopeless, but because Yeshua died in our place on Passover, as the sacrifice lamb, and his blood was applied to the doorposts of our hearts, we can be forgiven.
If you’d like to receive that today, just now, join me as we pray.
Say something like this: “Father in Yeshua’s name, forgive me my sin, I was wrong to dismiss you and to disbelieve in you. I need your mercy. I deserve punishment but you are kind and merciful and I receive your grace. I repent. I receive Yeshua as my saviour and Lord. I will live because of my faith in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.
If you prayed that, please let us know of your profession by writing straightaway, won’t you?Bob@JewsforJesus.org.au We’d love to hear from you.
Conclusion
We are delighted you have joined us today. Please join us next week and learn with the others how you can stay on track in 2021 and beyond. I hope to see you next week as we continue our studies in Joshua. You will certainly see yourself in the readings and in the lessons. It will be worthwhile! Next week we will look at chapter 8 and see what lessons we can draw for ourselves from what I call Combat and Covenant.
Hope to see you then… until then, Shabbat shalom!
Bibliography
Butler, Trent C., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 7. Joshua. Word, Waco, 1983.
Davis, Dale Ralph, Joshua: No Falling Words, Christian Focus, Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland, 2019.
Hertz, Dr. J.H., The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Soncino Press, London, 1978.
Hess, Richard. Tyndale Commentary Complete.
Meyer, F.B., Joshua and the Land of Promise, Christian Literature Crusade, Ft Washington PA, 1977.
Sanders, J. Oswald, Promised-Land Living, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984.
Schaeffer, Francis, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove IL, 1975.
Toms, Paul, This land is your land. Gospel Light Publishing, Glendale CA, 1977.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Strong: Putting God's Power to Work in Your Life. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs, 2010.
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D-Groups for this week
1) Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse
2) Monday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White
(Contact our office for zoom details)
If you’d like to host a D-Group either online or in person, please contact bob@jewsforjesus.org.au for further details. It’s time to step up. Ponder this—who will be in your D-Group?
The Book of Joshua: Outline. (This is the current plan for the series)
I. Entering the Land (Chapters 1-4)
a. Chapter 1: A funeral and a promise (Leadership Lesson 1)
b. Chapter 2: A harlot saves the day
c. Chapter 3: Go against the flow (Part 1)
d. Chapter 4: Go against the flow (Part 2)
II. Taking the Land (5-12)
a. Chapter 5: Roll away iniquity: a study in sacraments
b. Chapter 6: Joshua fit d’battle ob Jericho
c. Chapter 7: Getting it very wrong: Achan and his mistakes
d. Chapter 8: Combat and Covenant
e. Chapter 9: Common sense is not so common
f. Chapter 10: Southern dominance
g. Chapter 11: How not to win
h. Chapter 12: God is faithful
III. Possessing the Land (13-21)
a. Chapter 13: Inheritance lessons
b. Chapter 14: For example
c. Chapter 15: Geography lesson
d. Chapter 16: Trends of note (Part 1)
e. Chapter 17: Trends of note (Part 2)
f. Chapter 18: Apportionment (Part 1)
g. Chapter 19: Apportionment (Part 2)
h. Chapter 20: Provisions (Part 1)
i. Chapter 21: Provisions (Part 2)
IV. Retaining the Land (22-24)
a. Chapter 22: Can an altar alter anything?
b. Chapter 23: Staying on edge
c. Chapter 24: Three funerals and Renewing the covenant
Josh. 7:1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
Josh. 7:2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “1Go up and spy out the land.” So, the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 They returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled 1from the men of Ai. 5 The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them 1from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the ahearts of the people melted and became as water.
Josh. 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7 Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 “O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their 1back before their enemies? 9 “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”
Josh. 7:10 So the LORD said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? 11 “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. 12 “Therefore the asons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. 13 “Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.” 14 ‘In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes by lot shall come nearby families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come nearby households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man. 15 ‘It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”
Josh. 7:16 So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by 1tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 He brought his household near man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “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. Do not hide it from me.” 20 So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and 1this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”
Josh. 7:22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it. 23 They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the LORD. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his 1oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. 26 They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore, the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day.
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