God Judges Sin
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Last week as we left Joshua, he was prostrate before the Lord in prayer, halfway blaming God for all the calamity that had come upon Israel in Ai. Un be-known to Joshua, was the fact that Israel had sinned a great sin in Jericho, along with overconfidence of Joshua and the people, and this caused their defeat in Ai. God now reveals the problem of sin and it’s judgment.
Text; Joshua 7:10-26
10 So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”
14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man.
15 Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken.
18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.
23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.
24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So 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.
1. Achan’s Sin Named; 11
1. Achan’s Sin Named; 11
When we sin it’s not a general sin, it is always specific/named. God named the sin! Taken Accursed things, Stolen, Deceived and Hardened Heart.
Taken Accursed Things- Direct Disobedience to God’s specific instructions.
18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
When we are in rebellion against God, it is Sin. Sin not only affects the sinner but also those he associates with. When a christian sins it affects the whole body of Christ, the church!
Stole- Achan didn’t steal from Jericho, he stole from God!
19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”
When we do not give to God what has been devoted to Him, then we are stealing from Him! [Tithe, time, talents]
Deceived- Achan went on like he did nothing. He probably celebrated after the victory at Jericho and was probably mourning with the people after the defeat at Ai. Knowing that he was the cause!
18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
Hardened heart- Achan counted what he had stolen from God as his own
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
2. Achan’s Sin Exposed; 16-18
2. Achan’s Sin Exposed; 16-18
God went through an elaborate, time consuming process to expose the sin of Achan.
Why do you think God did it this way when he already knew who had sinned? To give Achan an opportunity to confess his sin.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot hide our sin from God.
23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
3. Remorseful not Repentant; 19-21
3. Remorseful not Repentant; 19-21
Achan confessed to Joshua when he was finally caught that he had sinned. He said “he saw, he coveted and he took”. The same way Eve fell in the garden.
The problem is that Achan was remorseful not repentant.
Remorse- Regret or sorry that you got caught
6 He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.”
11 He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see.”
Repent- Godly sorrow for your sin, change of heart
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
4. Consequences of Sin; 24-26
4. Consequences of Sin; 24-26
Sin has a high cost, “death!”
Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, ...
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Achan and his whole family was stoned so that lets us know that the family was in on the sin as well.
16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
Achan sinned and died for nothing because he never got to enjoy what he stole!
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Close;
Never underestimate the power of sins influence and the amount of damage one person can do outside the will of God.