Trouble in the Valley

Trouble in the Valley

Joshua 7  |  April 19, 2026

First Baptist Church Blairsville  |  Pastor Ricky Powell

Sermon Transcript

Will you join me again in giving God praise for our team that leads us in worship through music every week? You guys are amazing. If you can't preach after that, you should turn in your ordination. That's just amazing. Thank you for leading us so well today, team.

We're in a series of messages through the Old Testament book of Joshua. Today I want to take you to Joshua chapter seven.

Have you ever heard that phrase from the sports world — they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory? You've probably seen it or experienced it if you're a sports fan. Maybe your football team was up by 14 points with four minutes to go, and yet inexplicably they still lost the game. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They were this close to winning. And then — what happened? Sometimes we take the fundamentals for granted. Sometimes we don't keep doing what got us to where we were winning, and we end up losing. We let our guard down and we make mistakes that we otherwise wouldn't have made.

What's true in the sports world can also be true in the spiritual world. It is possible for us as followers of Jesus Christ to be walking with the Lord and then to presume upon His grace, to forget what He's done for us, to let our spiritual guard down — and to sin, to break the heart of God. It is possible for us to sin and then to hide it and want to act like everything is fine. But God sees what's in our heart. God sees what is going on in our lives.

In Joshua chapter seven, we find the ancient people of Israel coming off of an amazing victory that God gave them at the city of Jericho. But what we discover in chapter seven is a tragic loss — a defeat. And it was all because there was hidden sin in the camp. Hidden sin in someone's heart that created a problem for all the people of Israel. The consequences were far-reaching.

Now we can read this today and study it and leave it in the Old Testament and centuries ago in a culture separated from us. But I think God would have us learn lessons today that apply to our lives. Because if the ancient people of Israel could sin against God, I know I'm capable. And so today this is a message — I really wish that somebody else were preaching it, because all this week God has just convicted me. Ricky, keep yourself under discipline lest after having preached to others, you become disqualified. As the Apostle Paul said. And there's that song we just sang: "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it — prone to leave the God I love." If you're as human as these people, then you can relate to that.

There's a part of this message that is very convicting to me. But there's also the gospel of grace that is very comforting to me. I want us to see both of those as we look at Joshua chapter seven.

As is my custom, I just like walking through the Word of God. I'm going to encourage you to keep your Bible open. We're going to read from the English Standard Version.

I. The Consequences of Hidden Sin — Joshua 7:1–5

I want you to notice, first of all, what I would call the consequences of hidden sin, found in verses 1 through 5. Let's start there and I'll start and stop along the way.

Look at verse one, Joshua chapter seven: "But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things. For Achan, the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things, and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel."

Let's just pause there for a moment. Do you hear that phrase — "broke faith"? In the Hebrew it's a word that means to breach a covenant. It could be used in marriage, for example, of adultery — that literally breaks the marriage vow. What Israel has done, according to God's indictment, is they have broken faith with Him. He made a covenant with them: if they would trust Him as their Lord, He would lead them into the promised land, give them victory, and give them rest. But they needed to trust Him.

When we get to chapter seven, something tragic has happened. A man named Achan — and we're given his full family lineage — has taken some of the things that were devoted to God in Jericho for himself. You remember back in chapter six, God said: when you go into Jericho, everything is devoted to me. All the people, everything living, even the precious metals — it's all mine. Silver, gold — all mine. You cannot take any of this for your own personal enrichment. And yet we're told in verse one that Achan had done just that. He had taken the devoted things for himself.

Look at verse two. This is how we get to this point: "Joshua had sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, 'Go up and spy out the land.' And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they returned to Joshua and said to him, 'Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.'"

In other words, the spies come back and say, man, this is a piece of cake. We've got this. Look at how God gave us the victory at Jericho — now we can just send a few people up to Ai. It's not a very big city. We've got this. Do you notice what's absent here? Humility is absent. Prayer and seeking the face of God is absent. They are presuming upon yesterday's grace — yesterday's power, yesterday's favor from the Lord. And they are trusting not in the Lord, but in themselves.

Verse four: "So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people" — listen to this — "melted and became as water."

What a tragic turn of events. They had just experienced this amazing victory at Jericho by the power of the Lord. Now they've experienced a devastating loss. Thirty-six soldiers will not come home alive. Thirty-six families will never be the same. Thirty-six families will grieve tonight — all because of hidden sin.

And did you hear that phrase — that the hearts of the people melted and became as water? You've heard that phrase before in the book of Joshua, but only in relation to the pagans, never to the people of God. Rahab said in chapter two that the hearts of the people of Jericho had melted when they heard about Yahweh, the one true living God. We saw it again in chapter six. Now in chapter seven, it is the people of God whose hearts are trembling in fear. They've become like the pagans. Rather than men and women living by faith in God, they're running in fear.

There's something Joshua doesn't know about. This loss is because of hidden sin.

We know in verse one what happened. Joshua, the leader of Israel, doesn't yet know. Some of us are old enough to remember 1986, when NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger. I remember they brought us into a room at school and set up a television, and we watched the launch. We were so excited because the first teacher was going into space. And then, just a few seconds in, the shuttle exploded. We saw this terrible V-shape of smoke and debris in the sky. Later, an investigation revealed that Morton Thiokol — the company that designed and produced the O-rings — knew there were problems under extreme cold temperatures. But the decision was made at NASA to risk it and go forward with the launch, with devastating, deadly results. Something hidden had consequences.

II. The Confrontation with Hidden Sin — Joshua 7:6–15

Not only do we see the consequences — notice the confrontation with hidden sin. You'll see that in verses 6 through 15.

"Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads." In other words, they're expressing grief.

Verse seven: "And Joshua said, 'Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?'"

Joshua falls on his face in prayer, in lament, in remorse before the presence of God at the Ark of the Covenant. He stays on his face before God until evening. And notice what he's crying out: God, why did this happen? God, why did you bring us here to let the Amorites defeat us? God, it's Your name — Your reputation — that is going to be harmed. When the rest of the Canaanites hear about this defeat, they're going to overpower us and destroy us.

Joshua rightly looks to God with the problem. But notice how God responds to Joshua. Verse ten: "Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.'"

Usually God invites us to pray. Here He tells Joshua: stop praying. Get up. And He tells Joshua what's happened.

It was many years ago that I was a part of a revival meeting — not as the preacher, but as a participant. The music was amazing. The man preaching was preaching the Bible, preaching the Word, preaching with conviction, preaching the gospel. And when the invitation was given for people to be saved, for Christians to turn and get right with God — crickets. Nothing. No one saved. No one at the altar. No one moved.

A few services in, the pastor pulled me aside and said, "Ricky, talk to me about how you feel about this revival." And I said, "Pastor, just to be honest — amazing music, great preaching, the church has put a lot of prayer and planning and preparation into this, a lot of promotion in the community, attendance has been good — but something is off, and I can't put my finger on it." He said, "Ricky, I feel the same way. Something is going on here."

Fast forward — it wasn't until weeks later that we discovered that two of the men leading in worship every service were living in gross, unrepentant sin. We were quenching the Holy Spirit of God. We were grieving the heart of God. We were presuming upon the grace of God — that if we sang like we always did, if we preached like we always did, then God would just show up like He always did. And God says: nope. Not until you deal with some hidden sin in the camp.

And that is what God is saying to Joshua: get up. There's a reason you were defeated at Ai.

God speaks not just about Achan — He speaks about Israel. He speaks corporately. Why? Why doesn't God just call out Achan by name? God knows. Achan is the one who committed this sin. Why is He speaking about Israel in the plural? Because God had made a covenant not just with one person, but with the people of Israel. And God would be faithful to His covenant — including His promise that when you go into Jericho, everything there is devoted to destruction and belongs to me, not to you. And if you disobey me, you too will be devoted to destruction. God had already warned them. But they weren't willing to face their sin. So God has to confront them.

God comes up with these instructions for Joshua. Verse thirteen: "Get up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow.'" In other words, get your hearts ready. Get spiritually right. Get morally right. Get physically ready for tomorrow. "For thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you. In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans, and the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households, and the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. And he who is taken with the devoted things 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 an outrageous thing in Israel.'"

God says: get your hearts ready, because tomorrow we're going to deal with this, and I'm going to expose who is the culprit. Starting with tribe, then clan, then family, then man — God is going to narrow down who has sinned and brought this reproach on Israel.

You say — Pastor, if God already knew it was Achan, why doesn't He just cut to the chase? Why does He go through this long process, working down clan by clan, tribe by tribe, family by family, man by man? I believe one of the reasons is that He is giving Achan time to confess. He is giving Achan time to stand up and say: stop. Stop. It was me.

But is that what Achan is going to do? That leads us to our third observation.

III. The Confession of Hidden Sin — Joshua 7:16–26

The confession of hidden sin. You'll see that in verses 16 through 26.

I want you to go back in your mind to Jericho. In the previous chapter, Achan is part of that military force that had marched around the city once a day for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day. Trumpets blow. Walls fall. They go in. Achan is clearing house by house. And evidently, somewhere during this time in this city, something catches his eye.

He sees a garment — and it looks amazing. This isn't something you pick off the bottom rack at Walmart. This is designer-quality. It's from Babylon. This cost money. And I know our orders are that this has to be burned, but what a waste. I mean, my wife could use that. No one will ever know if I just take it and put it in my backpack.

And then as he's doing that, something shiny catches his eye. He looks over, turns over a table, and he sees silver and gold. And it's not just a little bit of money — in today's equivalent, it would be about $100,000 worth of silver and gold. He's never seen that much money in all of his life. He has been a wanderer in the wilderness until this time. And he takes it.

Go to verse sixteen. "So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe. And the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man. And Zabdi was taken. And he brought near his household man by man. And Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken."

In other words, the Holy Spirit says: this is the one.

Achan never confessed on his own. There is a difference between godly sorrow that says, "God, I'm wrong and I'm sorry," and confessing because you got caught. There's a big difference between godly sorrow and just saying, "Yep, it's me — I'm caught, I'm out of excuses, I can't lie anymore."

There's a reason the text of Joshua 7 gives us the full genealogy of Achan twice — here in verse 16 and back in verse one. Because he is of the tribe of Judah. Now, that may not mean a lot to you today, but remember — it was from the tribe of Judah that God was going to send Messiah, the Savior of the world. And Satan is again seeking to destroy the Hebrew people, and particularly the tribe of Judah, in order to keep the Messiah from ever being born. This is why this is so detestable to the Lord. The salvation of the world hangs in the balance. God's not playing tiddlywinks here. This is not trivial pursuit. Souls hang in the balance. And Achan has brought sin and destruction and judgment into the very people of God.

Look at verse twenty-one. And Joshua said to Achan — listen to how tender he is — "My son, give glory to God and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me." And Achan answered Joshua: "Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

I saw. I coveted. I took. I hid.

That is the oldest play in Satan's book. Go back to the Garden of Eden. It's the sin of Eve. She saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food. She desired it. She took it. She ate. She enticed her husband. He ate. And when they had sinned against God, they made their own camouflage and retreated into the woods to hide from God as if He were their enemy.

It's the same scenario in my life. It's the same scenario in your life. Whenever sin tempts us, we see something, we want it, we take it — and then, knowing what we've done, we hide. We hide from ourselves. We hide from others. We hide from God.

The half-brother of Jesus put it this way, in James chapter one, verses 14 and 15: "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death."

Achan did not set out to destroy his life. He didn't set out to destroy his reputation. He didn't set out that day to destroy his family. He didn't set out that day to break the heart of God and to break covenant with God. And most of us don't wake up in the morning saying, "Hey, it's a new day — let me ruin my life. Let me sin against God." But prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.

It is no small thing to obey God. And it is no small thing to disobey God in sin. So he buries it. He sleeps on it, thinking it is hidden. But friend, nothing is hidden from the eyes of God. Nothing.

St. Augustine, in his Confessions, would talk about how when he was a young boy, he and some friends went into a man's orchard and stole pears from him. He said, "I didn't even like pears. But we stole them — and we didn't even eat them. I threw them away. Why did I do that?" He said: because there's something in me that wants the forbidden. It's my sin nature, which I must be redeemed from by God's grace.

Verse 22: "So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. And behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel, and they laid them down before the Lord." And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep — with his tent and all that he had — and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor, the Valley of Trouble.

And Joshua said, "Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today." And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

It's a very difficult scene to read. But God judged sin, lest sin — like leaven — infect the whole lump of Israel and turn them into an unfaithful people. And by the way, we don't know anything about Achan's family. We don't know how old his children were. We don't know if they knew what he had done and were in on it. It's a small tent. There's speculation that maybe they knew, maybe they helped hide it. We don't know.

But the Bible says in verse 26: "And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remain to this day." So when Joshua's book is written, that first audience could go and look at that great heap of stones and be reminded of what Achan had done. "Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day, the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor" — the Valley of Trouble.

It was a testimony to Israel: sin is serious. That great country preacher Vance Havner used to say, "Sin first fascinates, then it assassinates. It first thrills, then it kills." He said, "Satan will promise you a feast — but then he'll choke you on the corn cob." So true.

I remember a Sunday morning at a church I pastored. I was confronted before the service began by a man whose wife was there getting ready to serve that day as a volunteer. He confronted her in front of me right there at the front of the church before the music began. He said she had just gotten out of bed with another man to come here and lead in worship.

"Of course I'm — excuse me. Why don't we take this conversation to my office?" I told the worship pastor: stall. Don't start yet. So I went to my office, and I said, "Is this true?" And I'll never forget the defiant look on her face. She looked at me and she said, "Yes, it's true. God wants me to be happy. And I'm happy."

And I said, "No. He wants you to be holy. And you can't lead in worship today with that in your heart."

The Valley of Trouble.

Now, as New Testament Christians, we say — whew, glad we don't live in that kind of culture, with judgment like that. Well, tell that to Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts. Tell that to the Corinthian church, to whom God said: the reason you've abused the Lord's Table is why some of you are sick and weak and have died.

The Gospel Answer

So what do we do as New Testament Christians when we have sinned? You know, there are some verses I work into sermons often, and you probably think those are the only ones I've ever memorized. No, I've memorized a few more than these three — but I've just found them to be precious. And sometimes I'll say, "You know my favorite verse" — and that's not really a good thing to say about the Bible. The whole Bible is my favorite. It'd be like saying, "My favorite child is here" — I love all my kids equally. But there are certain verses that have spoken to me in a particular way.

Like the first verse that helped me understand the gospel was John 3:16, when I was twelve years old: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Those are the first words my three children heard when they were born and placed in my arms. I whispered into their ears the words of John 3:16 — because I just wanted them to know the Lord loves them.

Another verse that's really become a life verse for me is Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live — yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Think about what Achan did in sinning against God. He sinned against and rebelled against and broke faith with the God who loved him — who redeemed him, who sustained him through the wilderness wanderings, who fed him with quail and with manna, who guided him with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day, who had parted the river Jordan and who had defeated Jericho. This God had done nothing but good. And Achan sinned against Him. Galatians 2:20 reminds me — He loved me and gave Himself for me on the cross. That's why I ought to live for Him. It's the least I can do.

But can I give you a third verse — one of my favorites, because I've needed it so often? First John chapter one, verse nine: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I have needed that verse. I'm a sinner. Does that shock you? Is that too bold to say on a Sunday morning? You go — No, we've talked to your wife. We already know. I'm a sinner, and so are you. The moment we get saved, when we put our faith in Christ, we are redeemed, we are saved, we're given eternal life. Romans 8:1 — "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Aren't you grateful for that? Amen.

But even as redeemed children of God, we can still wander from Him. We can still sin. We can still break His heart. So what do we do in that moment, as a child of God, when we sin? John the apostle said: confess it. Just come clean with God. He already knows. The word confess in Greek is homologeo — homo, same; logeo, word. To confess is to say the same word God says. He calls it sin. You need to call it sin, and come clean with Him.

And when you come clean with God out of a sincere heart, He is faithful. There will never be a time that you ask Him for forgiveness that He doesn't give it. He is faithful — faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us, to clean us up, to restore us, to renew us, to revive us. So that when He looks at us, He doesn't look at us like dirty sinners. He looks at us like His children, clean by His grace.

And how in the world can God be both faithful and righteous while forgiving us of our sin? Is He sweeping our sin under the proverbial rug? Is He doing what Achan did — trying to hide it? No. The reason God can be faithful to you in forgiving and cleansing you — and just and righteous in doing it — is because He sent His own Son, Jesus, into the world to become the devoted thing for destruction. And in your place, Jesus went to a bloody cross, not because He had sin of His own, but because of your sin and my sin that He took upon His own body on the tree, and He took our judgment. And when we place our faith in Christ, God the Father lets His justice and His mercy meet in Jesus. He can be faithful and righteous in forgiving you and cleansing you.

You don't have to leave today with your guilt and your shame and with it hiding in your heart. You can leave today forgiven and cleansed. Not to restore your salvation — you never lost it, if you're a true child of God — but to restore your fellowship with Him.

Application

I want to give you some homework. I'm going to dare you to do something. You don't have to — I'm just going to dare you. The reason I dare you to pray this prayer is because God will answer it. So if you don't want Him to answer it, don't pray it. It's Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24. You want to know what the prayer is? "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." That is a prayer He will always answer. Search me, God. Try me. Know my heart. And if You find wickedness, show me. And don't just show me my sin — show me the right way, God, and I'll give You praise.

Not only should you pray that prayer, but you need someone in your life who can serve as an accountability partner. Do you have anybody in your life who could say to you, "Hey, I love you — but what you're doing is not right"? What if Achan had had someone like that? Maybe there was no one. Maybe it was really hidden and his family didn't even know. I don't know.

I meet with a group of pastors on a regular basis — pastors not on our staff, because I need guys in my life who are not accountable to me for their next performance review, who can be honest with me. I asked one pastor if he would be an accountability partner. His response was, "I'm not impressed with you. I'd be happy to." And that was just his polite, humble way of saying: listen, you're Ricky to me. You're not Pastor Ricky. Absolutely. So I meet with about three guys on a regular basis, and we ask each other some hard questions.

How's your thought life this week? How's your work-life balance? Are you taking care of your family? Tell me what you're reading in the Word — not to prepare a sermon, but are you in God's Word for yourself? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you staying close and clean before the Lord?

And here's a question I hate it when they ask: "What question do you not want me to ask you?" Oh, man. So I'll lie. But it's getting harder to lie.

Do you have anybody in your life — anybody — that you can say, "Help me"? Because sometimes one of the ways God incarnates His love for us is through people. And we need each other. Amen. We need each other.

When you hide your sin from God, you'll hide God's blessings from your life. And I don't want that for you. I want God's best for you.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for this morning. I feel Your conviction in my own heart. Maybe no one else in this room needed to hear this sermon — but God, I did. And I pray that by Your Holy Spirit and Your grace, You would continue to help me walk in a way that would bring glory and honor to You.

Father, I pray that for my brothers and sisters here today. I pray it for our young people here today. We are all prone to wander. But God, we thank You that we can cry out to You. "Here's my heart, Lord — take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above." I just want to live for You, Lord. And even when we mess up, thank You for Your grace and Your mercy that is available when we confess our sin to You — because of Jesus and His sacrificial death and His resurrection life, we can be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Father, I thank You for every child of God here today. And I pray, Lord, that in this moment they would spend some time with You, letting Your Holy Spirit deal with them — not guilt and condemnation, but conviction, and the leading of Your Holy Spirit to repentance, to confession, to cleansing, so that we can be restored and blessed. We thank You that You promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Amen.