THE DAMAGE DONE BY SIN



Joshua 7         

            In Joshua 7 we have the account of Achan who broke the command of God about taking booty from the city of Jericho.  All the treasure of Jericho was meant to go into the treasury of the Lord as firstfruits from the land of Canaan.  But Achan stole from God and hid his treasures in the ground under his tent.  The ramifications of his sin are significant!

            Achan’s sin led the people of Israel into more sin!  I have people argue so often, “Look, what I do is my business!  Even if I am hurting myself I’m not hurting anybody else!”  We discover that this just isn’t true.  When people sin it has a great affect on others!  Joshua sends more spies up to the next city they were to conquer, Ai.  The spies checked out the city and came back with the report found in verse 3, “Not all the people will have to go up against Ai.  Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there.”  Where’s the sin here?  They have already forgotten the lesson learned at Jericho that the Lord is the one who fights the battles and the battles have to be fought according to God’s direction!  They have concluded they will be able to take Ai easily on their own with only a few of their soldiers!  There’s yet another sin here.  Joshua listened to the spies and agreed to send about 3,000 men!  Joshua failed to seek the Lord and he acted on his own and that led to defeat!  When only a part of the army was sent to Ai the body was divided.  We need to always remember that sin leads to division and division leads to weakness and failure!

            Achan’s sin led directly to defeat and death.  The spies led Joshua to act apart from the guidance of the Lord so the Lord did not go up before them to fight against Ai.  Just as God had warned Israel in 6:18 they had made “the camp of Israel liable to destruction.”  So Achan, who may have thought that his sin would not affect anyone else, brought disaster.  It brought defeat and death, the first deaths of Israelite soldiers in Canaan!  What a huge difference there is between fighting in our own strength and having the Lord fight for us!  Jericho, that great fortified city, went down like a pile of children’s blocks while the dinky city of Ai with just a few men sent the Hebrew army scurrying back with their first defeat and their first experience of death. 

            Here’s something stunning!  Achan was the only one who had sinned by stealing the things devoted to God but the sin of Achan was attributed to all Israel!  Joshua tore his clothes and fell on his face and began to beseech the Lord.  He was discouraged by the defeat and he thought God had abandoned them into the hands of the Amorites (Joshua 7:6-9).  I love how God addresses Joshua in verses 10, 11, “Stand up!  What are you doing down on your face?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep.  They have taken some of the devoted things…they have stolen, they have lied…”  God was telling Joshua the people had sinned while Achan was the only one who stole.  So even though only one sinned they all suffered.  Thirty-six soldiers were killed.  The hearts of the people melted and they lost faith.  Joshua fell on his face and grieved.  All because of one man’s sin!  This is so similar to the sin of Adam.  Only Adam sinned but the sin of Adam affected the whole human race!  All humanity inherited guilt and punishment and death because of the sin of the one man!

            When I think about the sin of Achan I can’t help but see lessons for all of us!  Achan’s sin was a secret.  Most of our sins are secret, right?  Most of the time nobody knows about the sins we commit.  We keep them in our hearts and minds.  Or we’re very careful that we aren’t seen or caught in the act.  Achan’s secret sin affected the entire nation and our sins affect the entire church.  We are familiar with the concept of the church as a single body.  No part of the body is independent of the rest of the body so when one person sins that sin has a negative effect on the health and strength of the church!  Israel went into battle in this weakened condition and suffered defeat without knowing why.  A church can go on and on, struggling and failing, without ever knowing why.  That’s why each one of us needs to take care of our own lives so we don’t bring God’s judgment on our church family!  We need to be close to one another and encourage one another so we can build each other up in the strength of obedience and holiness!  So be careful never to think that your own secret sins are hurting no one but yourself!