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Joshua 7 Commentary
“The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the LORD. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. [18] But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. [19] Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the LORD. It is to be put in the LORD’s treasury.””
Joshua 6:17-19 GNB
In Joshua 6, the Israelites followed the Lord’s instruction before marching around Jericho. We do not find out until the beginning of Joshua 7 that one person within their camp was disobedient. Unaware of this, Joshua sends scouts to survey Ai, a small city near Bethel. The scouts suggest sending only a few thousand men to attack, but the mission ends in disaster as the Israelites are defeated, losing 36 men and fleeing from Ai.
This demoralizes the people. Joshua and the elders fall facedown before the ark of the Lord, mourning and seeking God’s guidance. Joshua laments their defeat, questioning why God brought them across the Jordan only to face destruction, fearing that Israel’s enemies will hear of their weakness, surround them, and destroy them, ultimately bringing dishonor to God’s name.
Get Up Joshua!
The Lord doesn’t pull any punches. He tells Joshua to get up and quit lying on the ground. Israel has sinned! Corporately, all of Israel is responsible for this poor decision, and it has breached the covenant with God.
The Lord had given specific instructions for the purpose of keeping Israel holy and pure. Going back to Joshua 6, God’s anger burned upon Jericho for their obscene corruption, and His desire was to both judge Jericho and protect Israel. In other words, it wasn’t just the taking of their items – a simple theft – that most angered the Lord. This went far deeper, and we know that because of how the sin is described by God.
“Israel has sinned! They have broken the agreement with me that I ordered them to keep. They have taken some of the things condemned to destruction. They stole them, lied about it, and put them with their own things. [12] This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take!”
Joshua 7:11-12 GNB
The verses here in Joshua 7 say, “the people of Israel ‘broke faith’ in regards to the devoted things.” The Hebrew word for ‘broke faith’ is used multiple times over the sweep of Joshua and is even used in Joshua 22 to describe the construction of an altar used to worship false gods. If the theft had been the primary issue it seems the text would have used a different Hebrew word translated as “steal” or “stole.”
The breach of faith on Israel’s part may have seemed like only a petty theft to the one who committed it, but to God, it represented a fracture of His holy covenant. This, by the very nature of how it was established, guaranteed that the Lord would not fight their battles for them.
Achan Confronted
God commands Joshua to purify the people and identify the guilty party through a process of selection. The next morning, the tribe of Judah is chosen, followed by the clan of Zerah, the family of Zabdi, and finally Achan. When confronted by Joshua, Achan is urged to confess his wrongdoing before the Lord.
In verse 21, we read Achan’s reply when confronted…
“Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did: [21] When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing a pound and a quarter, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under the cloak.””
Joshua 7:20-21 CSB
I saw them. I coveted them. I took them and I concealed them.
God knows that when left to our natural desires, our flesh will compromise and sin. Much later in the New Testament, Jesus would speak along these same lines when talking about sin.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. [30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Matthew 5:29-30 CSB
What is Jesus saying here? Of course, He knows that gouging out your eye does not stop you from lusting just as much as cutting off your right hand does not stop your mind from having impure thoughts. The point Jesus is making is that a small compromise can lead to death. It only takes one part (Achan) to corrupt the entire body (Israel), and that corruption leads us down a path of slavery that ends in death.
“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. [15] Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.”
James 1:14-15 CSB
Just like Achan’s sin prohibited Israel from overcoming their enemies, our small, secret sins can prevent us from experiencing all that God has for us. In Jesus’ words, a repeated pattern of continual sin can lead the heart away from Christ and into hell!
The Ripple Effect of Sin
The story here in Joshua 7 sends a strong message that our decision to compromise also affects others just like it did for Achan.
As the rest of the chapter unfolds, Achan and his entire family were led out to a place called the Valley of Achor, which will become known as the Valley of Trouble, where they would be destroyed. It’s hard to wrap our minds around this dire act of God and consequences that led to death, but the reason was made clear. This sin affected the entire nation and it violated God’s law. God said they had acted unfaithfully and they must follow the law in order to rectify the problem.
“If one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. [28] The priest will then make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who acts in error sinning unintentionally, and when he makes atonement for him, he will be forgiven. [29] You are to have the same law for the person who acts in error, whether he is an Israelite or an alien who resides among you. [30] “But the person who acts defiantly, whether native or resident alien, blasphemes the LORD. That person is to be cut off from his people. [31] He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the LORD’s word and broken his command; his guilt remains on him.”
Numbers 15:27-31 CSB
In short, Achan’s sin of taking the robe, the gold, and the silver was like stealing from God Himself and it was punishable by death.
Jesus takes sin seriously. The Holy Spirit brings conviction into our hearts, but conviction alone is not enough. We need the power to change. That power will not come from trying harder to follow God’s law as we can never meet that standard. It is found through faith in God’s redemptive plan of grace. Through faith, we can experience the joy and gratitude of a new identity which gives us the power to change and be more like Christ. I am so thankful we no longer live under the curse of the law and can experience the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit!