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Joshua: Pass Over and Possess • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Introduction
Introduction
The passage in chapter 7 gives us a darker view of the Holy War in Canaan. While we have seen devotion, obedience and victory to this point, we now come to a chapter that shows us the nature of sin’s defeat in the life of the Christian. How terrible is the effect of our sin!
We need to be looking throughout the book for our theme for 2025. The central focus of the book of Joshua is that God wants us to move forward and take ahold of the blessings of our salvation.
Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.
As we saw in our study of Ephesians, God has blessed us with spiritual blessings. All the saved have access to these blessings. Do we share them with the lost? Do we live them faithfully in our lives? Do we thank God for them daily? The book of Joshua leads us along the path of living the victorious Christian life. All we need to live victoriously, we already have in Christ. We must just cross over the river of fear and take ownership of the land of Promise!
As we think of victory in the Christian life, we also need to consider how to deal with defeats. Though it would be wonderful to always be winning the victory over trials and temptations, there are times in the life of each believer that we succumb to the effects of our sin nature. We give into desire and sin as we will see in the passage this morning. How do we handle these situations? Is there mercy for the child of God? Is there any lasting effect of the blood of Christ on our sin?
Take a look at our first verse in chapter 7. The beginning of our passage this morning brings us directly to the heart of the action in the camp of Israel, “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing…” Such is the truth of our daily lives. What do we know about the undedicated parts of our lives?
Declaration
Declaration
Sometimes the absence of God's work is directly connected to sin in the camp. Have we any sin in our hearts that we need to get right with God? The story of Achan is a warning to all that desire to see the free and powerful working of God. Three challenges are found regarding the undedicated choices of our lives.
1. Undedicated Choices are Felt by All
1. Undedicated Choices are Felt by All
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
Sin begins in the heart. We desire something that we ought not to have. We do something that we are commanded not to do. We choose to react in a way that God does not want us to. The story of Achan began with direct disobedience of the clear command of God. In chapter 6, we see the command of Joshua
And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
Achan chose to take several items that were destined for the Tabernacle for the work of God. He must have thought that they would not be missed. But God knew what he had done. God knows our hearts and each action and reaction that we make each day.
Joshua sends spies to see the city of Ai. They tell him to send only 2,000 or 3,000 men to fight against it. This was not worth the entire people going. After a defeat by the small city, the camp is filled with dread and fear. The undedicated choice of one man was felt by all.
There are several descriptions in this chapter of the act of Achan. The first description we receive of the act that is the central to this chapter is found in verse 1. The writer of Joshua says that the people had “committed a trespass.” Sin here is pictured as unfaithfulness of Israel to God. The image of a Husband and wife, found throughout the Scripture in this way, is now harmed by the choice of Achan. Speaking of the sin with the Moabites, Moses uses this same word.
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
As we saw last week, the city of Jericho was wholly consecrated to God. Everything in the city was either to be destroyed as in the case of living things and buildings or taken into the Tabernacle for the use of the worship of God. This is the meaning of the word translated as “accursed thing”. Achan disobeyed the clear command of God. Because of the undedicated choice of one man, all the people knew defeat in the land of Victory. One preacher pointed out,
Preaching through the Bible: Joshua-1 Samuel 18 Joshua 7:18
It was very unlikely that any man would escape who took such a risk as Achan took.
So why do we take those risks? Why do we risk sin when obedience is how God blesses? Undedicated choices are Felt by All.
2. Undedicated Choices Stop the Work of God
2. Undedicated Choices Stop the Work of God
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man. 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.
The headline of the Gilgal Gazette reads “ISRAEL HAS SINNED”. Below the byline reads, “Israel Could Not Stand Before Their Enemies.” The article continues to tell about the conversation between Joshua and God. One of the elders is anonymously quoted as saying that it was, “a terrifying event in his life to see the anger of God toward the people”. Why would this be the headline after the great headlines from the past few weeks. There had been “FAITH MADE SIGHT” and “TUMBLING DOWN”, and now there is defeat. Who could have changed so much?
Joshua comes into the presence of God and brings his concerns to Him. God begins to speak in verse 10. He tells Joshua to get up and get to work on making things right.
In verse 11, the writer gives us a second description of the act that had been committed. He uses the word “sin”. Here we see an image of violating a law. Sin was the choice to disobey the command to keep the accursed thing for destruction or donation. Moses had told the people,
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
The third description of the act is found in verse 11 as well. The people have “transgressed”. This is a conscious choice to go away from the plan and will of God. God had made a covenant with the people that was contingent on obedience for blessings. Daniel, many years later, uses this same description for the acts of the people.
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
What Achan had done was to take the items that were not his and then keep them hidden. God condemns this act in the words “stolen” and “dissembled”. Sin begins with an act and then continues to a hiding of that act. What do we do with something that is undedicated? What do we do with a sin in our life? We destroy it as God commanded in verse 12. Get rid of sin!
The sin of Achan held up the leadership of the spiritual man that God had selected to orchestrate the Conquest. The sin stopped the spiritual work of God. In speaking about this event at the end of the Conquest, Joshua reminds the people that sin stopped everyone.
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
The final description of the act in the chapter is found in verse 15. The choice to take and hide the treasure was “folly”. This was the intentional act by a person to do what he had known not to do. In preaching on this passage, Joseph Parker gives us a glimpse of the severity of unconfessed sin in the church today,
That criminal misrepresents Christ, travesties the holy character, plays impiously with the ineffable morality; and thus Christ in the very heavens is kept out of his throne by men who have no name, by obscure Achans, by sinners who within their own circle are exposing the Saviour to continual shame.
Speaking to Joshua, there was hope for the people. There is a command again to sanctify the people in verse 13. This allowed the people to confess their sins, wash themselves and put on new clothing as a picture of the renewal of their relationship with God. During the night, Achan had every opportunity to come and confess his sin as part of his cleansing.
Our undedicated choices Stop the Work of God. When we allow sin to stay unconfessed in our lives, the moving of God is hindered through us. Get rid of sin!
3. Undedicated Choices Require Desperate Measures
3. Undedicated Choices Require Desperate Measures
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family 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: And 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. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
What is to be done about the sin? Can the person be found? Will there ever be victory again? It is a curious thing that in the Bible the anger of God is connected with a fire. Fire is in fact a picture of the Presence of God. His holiness means that He is angry at sin which is a violation of that purity. The person who has sinned is commanded to be “burned with fire”. The idea of burning someone for their sin is connected in Gen 38:24 and Lv 21:9 with the immoral sins of a woman. Here, we see the echo of verse 1. When we sin, when we reject total dedication to God, we are living as an unfaithful spouse. Whether in the image of Israel or in the image of the Church, God wants His people to be faithful to Him! The command of Moses for the Conquest was to utterly destroy everything with fire not given to God’s worship.
And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
Despite the obvious truth that every person in the nation had sinned that day in some way, it was the direct disobedience of Achan that caused the victory to be delayed. Joshua follows the process given by God. Achan is found. Now confronted with his sin, Joshua asks him to confess to what he had done.
When Achan confesses, he gives us the Biblical pattern for the occasion of sin.
“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight,”- Sin begins with encountering something that is not appropriate or necessary to the person.
“then I coveted them,”- Sin occurs with the desire for that thing encountered. We see this same pattern in the Garden of Eden.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
“and took them;”- Sin continues with action to do or get or think the undedicated choice. Achan took what was not his but God’s alone. God freely gives but man must not freely steal.
“and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” - Sin finishes with hiding the evidence and realizing the temporariness of the pleasure. Achan could never use what he had taken.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
There is nothing binding upon God but character. Love God, and all the rest will follow; and by “the rest,” we mean beauty of character, sweetness of soul, nobleness of conduct.
The chapter ends with a glorious truth, God showed mercy to the obedient people of Israel. Achan is stoned and burned along with his family and possessions. The accursed thing is destroyed as God commanded. God is angry at the sin. God is merciful to the sinner. When we allow these truths into our hearts, we will more quickly confess and forsake our sin to him.
Gospel
The name of the valley is Achor or “trouble”. We see it twice more in the prophets Hosea and Isaiah. One day the “Valley of Trouble” will be a “Door of Hope” through the working of God. Sin will become salvation when God does the work of glorification in the life of the believer. One day we will see the Millennial Kingdom where we will walk in the new, sinless bodies God has prepared for us.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence,
And the valley of Achor for a door of hope:
And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth,
And as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Undedicated choices require desperate measures because the alternative is destruction. Sin prepares us for the fires of hell. Jesus offers salvation and cleansing forever to those who call on Him. The message of Achan is that mercy is offered when we come freely to Him for forgiveness.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Sometimes the absence of God's work is directly connected to sin in the camp. Have we any sin in our hearts that we need to get right with God? The story of Achan is a warning to all that desire to see the free and powerful working of God.
The story of the sin of Achan is more about delaying communion with God. The sin of Achan was to take what was not his but God’s. Every time we sin, we take what is not ours. We need to restore that relationship to communion with God. Achan had opportunity to reject temptation, confess his sin, and forsake it. He chose to wait until the sin was right in front of him and he was condemned to death. The key feature of a victorious Christian life that we see here is the close communion of the believer with the presence of God.
That close communication is directly damaged by the sin that we commit. The application of chapter 7 is to confess and forsake our sin to God. The choice of Achan to hide his sin was ultimately the cause of his death. We all sin, but do we all continue to hide it and hold onto it? Confess it and make it right with God today! Be ready for God to work in your life and our church!
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 There is sin in the camp, there is treason today!
Is it in me?
Is it in me?
There is cause in our ranks for defeat and delay,
Is it, O Lord, in me?
Something of selfishness, garments or gold,
Something of hindrance in young or in old,
Something why God doth His blessing withhold;
Is it, O Lord, in me?
Is it in me?
Is it in me?
Is it, O Lord, in me?
2 I come in my need to the life-giving Word,
Is it for me?
Is it for me?
By faith in its pow’r let my soul be restored,
Is it, O Lord, for me?
Pardon and purity Jesus will give,
Life everlasting to all who believe;
Oh that His pow’r I might fully receive!
Is it, O Lord, for me?
Is it for me?
Is it for me?
Is it, O Lord, for me?
3 There is peace in believing, whatever betides,
Is it for me?
Is it for me?
There is rest to the soul that in Jesus abides,
Is it, O Lord, for me?
Surely the work of redemption is done,
Surely the Father is pleased with the Son,
Surely the saved and the Saviour are one;
Surely ‘tis all for me.
All for me,
All for me,
Surely ‘tis all for me.
There’s Sin in the Camp by PP Bliss
