All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter seven. Joshua
seven. Jericho has by the grace and
the power of God been taken. God has brought the walls down
And all the people in that city, except for Rahab and those in
her family, have been utterly destroyed. The city has been
burned. God has wrought victory. Verse 1 of Joshua 7 says, but, 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. Now, here we see that one man
according to the scripture of the tribe of Judah, has committed
a trespass concerning that which was declared by God to be a curse,
devoted, devoted to destruction. It belonged to God. It was God's. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against the children of Israel. Lord had given explicit directions
concerning what was to be done with the spoils of that city. He said in chapter 6, verse 17,
19, this is exactly what God said. And the city shall be accursed,
that is devoted, devoted to destruction, even it and all that are therein
to the Lord, only Rahab the harlot shall live and she and all that
are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that we
sent. And ye, in any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed
thing lest you make yourselves accursed when you take of the
accursed thing and make the camp of Israel accursed. Trouble it. But all the silver and gold and
vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord. They shall come into the treasury
of the Lord. Now, I want us to notice something very carefully. Who took of the accursed thing? Achan actually took it. Achan,
that's what scripture says. For the guilt. Israel. The sin of Achan was
that he disobeyed God. What did he do? He took something
that belonged to God. The whole nation suffered the penalty
of it. Now let's just see what happened.
Verses 2 to 5. And Joshua sent men from Jericho
to Ai, which is beside Beth-Avon, on the east side of Bethel, 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 labor thither, for they are but few. So there went up thither
of the people about three thousand men, 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." Now the nation of Israel, a nation chosen of God, a nation
which is a type of all God's elect. That's what the nation
of Israel represents. All of God's elect represents
the nation that was delivered by the hand of God out of Egypt. That nation that went through
the Red Sea and spent 40 years in the wilderness. That nation
that went through the River Jordan. That nation that was used of
God to destroy Jericho. Now they've turned from a city,
a little city, a little city called Ai, and they've been defeated. Their hearts have melted and
scripture says their hearts became like water. And they considered
themselves to be so capable and they, how many should we send
up? Oh, it's just a little town,
don't worry about it. Let's don't bother all the people.
Let's send about two or 3,000 men to handle the job. And they got whipped because of one man's disobedience. nation bore the guilt and the
consequences. Beloved, here we see in picture
and type what happened in the garden. Achan is a type here
of Adam. The Lord had given Adam explicit
instruction. What did he give to Joshua concerning
the spoils of Jericho. Don't take them. Don't take them. They're mine. They belong to
me. They're devoted. They're mine. You put them in the treasury.
What did the Lord tell Adam? Adam did not misunderstand what
the Lord said. Of all of the trees of the garden,
you know this, you can eat. except one. Out plain was the Lord's word
concerning Adam. And he disobeyed. And there were
consequences. Not only did Adam die, but every
person that has ever come from Adam's loins suffers the consequences
of Adam's disobedience. Achan here is a type of Adam,
concerning Adam, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for all have sinned. Well, back in Joshua chapter
seven, Israel has come back, They've run, running away from
Ai, about 36 of them have been killed. Verses 6 and 7 says,
And Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face
before the ark of the Lord until the even tide. 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 hands of the Amorites to destroy
us? But to God we've been content
and dwelt on the other side of Jordan. Think about that message
I preached the other day, how soon we forget. Here we see Joshua,
as a type of Christ, entering in and interceding with and for
the people. But while there's doubt and confusion
in Joshua's heart, unlike that which would be found concerning
our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, here's Joshua,
he's a type, he is a type of Christ. But boy, do we not see
ourselves, our humanity, our fear. Here he is, bearing his
heart before God on behalf of a broken people. That's what
we're praying for. And then the scripture says in
verses eight and nine, 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? Here now, Israel has suffered
this defeat because of sin, and though Joshua didn't know, he
didn't know what it was, he didn't know why they'd been whipped,
but he knew whatever the reason was, it was just. He knew that. Joshua knew that God had promised
to bring Israel into the land of Canaan. He knew that he had
promised to give them the land. He knew that it was going to
be to God's honor, God's glory. And God's praise that Israel
got the victory, he knew that. So Joshua asked, he said, Lord, all this that you've promised,
all that's been set forth concerning Canaan is ours, that you're gonna
give it to us. Lord, if our sins are the reason
for us to be defeated before our enemies, after, Lord, what
you've promised. We're weak people. Lord, if we're
going to run and hide and be defeated after what you've promised,
what will the nations of the earth say? How will the promise
of God to conquer this land Be secured. Lord, you promised that
we, your people, would inhabit this, would conquer this. He's
gonna give us all of this. And if our sins, and he knew
he was wrong. He knew something was wrong.
And Lord, if our sins, if our sins conquer us, if our
sins, we're guilty. He's not questioning God. He's
just being honest. He's just asking the Lord. Lord,
what you promised, what's gonna happen? Lord, if we, because
of our rebellion against you and we're defeated, Lord, what
will happen? How will your faithfulness and
honor be secured? He says, what wilt thou do unto
thy great name? Here's what he was asking. Lord, if our name, the name of the
children of God, the name of the people of God, Israel, a
prince with God. Lord, if our name is cut off
because of our fault, if we're cut off after what you said,
our name that's only honored because we're your name, you
named us, that's the only honor we got. Lord, what will become
of your name? If we're cut off and you promised
us What's gonna be concerning your name? Now you know what
he's concerned about? He's concerned about the honor
of God here. That's all he's concerned about.
Whatever reason that we got whipped today, we deserved it. But Lord, I'm asking you something.
What will be concerning your honor? What's this earth gonna
say? What's this world gonna say?
When we say our God is in the heavens, he's done as he will.
He rules in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
earth. Lord, what about your name? That's what I'm wondering.
Boy, what a lesson. The Lord has brought Israel through
trials. He's proven his faithfulness
to them. Has he not proven his faithfulness
to us? Just put yourself in their place. caused by the Spirit of God,
by the purpose of God, the will of God, to go through something.
They have to suffer something. Trials, tribulations, problems. Lord, don't let me be an embarrassment
to you. Lord, whatever I get, I deserve.
But Lord, what about your name? And Lord, who has magnified his
name above all the earth, all his word, magnified his name,
his words. His name's gonna be honored.
I want you to hold your place here. Turn over to Ezekiel 20. Hold your place there in Joshua.
Turn to Ezekiel 20. Ezekiel 20. I want you to listen to what
God has to say. Ezekiel 20. Look at verse five
to nine. Here's the Lord speaking through
Ezekiel. And say unto them, thus saith
the Lord God, in the day when I chose Israel and lifted up
mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob and made myself
known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine
hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God, In the day
that I lifted up mine hand unto them to bring them forth of the
land of Egypt into land that I aspired for them, flowing with
milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. Then said
I unto them, cast ye away every man the abomination of his eyes,
and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the
Lord your God, but they rebelled against me. and would not hearken
unto me. They did not every man cast away
the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the
idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out
my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt. But I wrought for my namesake
that it should not be polluted before the heathen. among whom
they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing
them forth out of the land of Egypt." Look at verses 12 to
14. Moreover, also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between
me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that
sanctified them. But the house of Israel rebelled
against me in the wilderness. They walk not in my statues.
They despise my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live
by them. In my Sabbaths they greatly polluted.
Then I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness
to consume them. But I wrought for my namesake,
that it should not be polluted before the heathen in whose sight
I brought them out. Look at verses 19 to 22. I am
the Lord your God. walk in my statutes, keep my
judgments, do them, and hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be
a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord
your God. Notwithstanding, the children of Israel rebelled against
me. They walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to
do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them. They polluted
my Sabbaths. I said, I will pour out my fury
upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
Nevertheless, I withdrew mine hand. wrought for my namesake,
that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen,
in whose sight I brought them out. That's what Joshua was asking.
Lord, we're the rebels. You told us,
you warned us, instructed us, you've been so kind, so merciful
to us. Lord, we're guilty. We have rebelled against you.
We've not kept your Sabbaths as you instructed. We've not
walked as you instructed. But Lord, if you cut us off justly,
we deserve it, but if you cut us off, Lord, concerning what
you've promised, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you.
Lord, what about your name? I thought, what honor, what honor
that a man or woman will stand and say, listen, for the sake
of God's name, the sake of the Lord, for the
sake of his name, Lord, have mercy, have mercy. Joshua pled Israel's case before
the Lord, and the Lord answered him. Verses 10 to 12, and the
Lord said unto Joshua, back in Joshua 7, the Lord said unto
Joshua, get thee up. Get up, get up. Wherefore liest
thou thus upon thy face? Israel has 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
disassembled what they lied about it. 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 anymore, except you destroy the accursed from
among you." The Lord's name is going to be
magnified. The children of Israel possessing
the land of promise. I'm going to give you what I
said I'm going to give you. Even in the midst of your transgression. But Israel's transgression must
be dealt with. It must be dealt with. The accursed
thing. Who took it? Achan took it. Who bore the brunt of it? Israel.
One man. Everybody's going to be bearing
that brunt. What's the accursed thing? Babylonian
garment, a wedge of gold. God said it must be destroyed
from among the people. In God's eyes, Israel transgressed
His covenant. Israel took of the accursed thing. has stolen from God. Israel lied
about it. Israel has put it among their
stuff. And you're going to pay the penalty
for it. So the Lord set forth the way in which He was going
to expose this accursed thing. Verses 13 through 18. Oh, sanctify the people. Say, sanctify
yourselves against tomorrow. 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 he take away the accursed thing from among you. In the morning, before you shall
be brought according to your tribes, 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. 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 took the family of the Zarhites, and he brought
the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdai was taken,
and he brought his household man by man, and Achan, the son
of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah, the tribe of
Judah was taken. Now here we behold the way in
which the sin of Israel, the transgression of Israel was exposed. From the tribes to the families
to the household to a man named Achan. Achan. One man. One man from the tribe
of Judah. One man. took that which was
forbidden of God. Verse 19 to 21, 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 of goodly Babylonish garment 200 shekels of silver
and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and
took them. And behold, they're hid in the
earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. Making a type of atom. He said, I'm
the one. I'm the one that took that Babylonian
garment, the silver, the gold, 50 weight. I'm the one that hid
it in my tent. He had stolen that which belonged
to God. And that was the sin of Adam. He stole that which
God declared was his and discovered and was discovered. And he had
to make confession of it. He said, I'm guilty. God exposed
the transgression of Israel through one man's sin. God exposed it. Achan was exposed and he confessed
as Adam confessed his transgression. God found him in the garden.
Adam, where are you? He said, I was afraid. What did you do? Have you taken
of the fruit or the woman? Achan coveted that which was
forbidden, a Babylonian garment, all the stuff that was with it.
But is that not the transgression of mankind? To steal God's glory,
that Babylonian garment, that stolen garment with all the gold
and precious stuff. Man desires to possess a garment
of wealth that will clothe him in the beauty that man thinks
will be accepted of God. Wealth that will answer for his
debt before God, and God exposes it, and Achan, truly a type of
all man by nature, is deserving of the penalty of his sin. Verse 22, 23. 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 all all the children of Israel and laid them out before the
Lord. Now, here's the proof. Here's
the proof of Achan's transgression, his confession. He laid it out. He laid it out before the Lord.
And then we behold here how we are. We confess before the Lord.
We confess we're sinners against thee, David said, and thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. And being exposed,
that guilt that's laid to the charge of Israel will realize
there's a penalty. The Lord told Joshua, this penalty
is gonna be death. Israel is gonna have to die because
of your cursed thing. Joshua, verse 24, 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
asses, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought
him unto the valley of Achar. And Joshua said, Why hast thou
troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this
day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned him with
fire, and after they stoned him with stones. Now, beloved, Right
here, it's got to be one of the most glorious pictures of hope. I entitled this message today,
Achen, a type of Christ. Achen is without a doubt, I can
see him. This is a two-fold picture here. I see Achen as a type of Adam,
no doubt, no doubt. He did it, he did it, he did
it. Now we behold that this one man,
one man that caused all of the nation of Israel to fall into
transgression. All of Israel before God was
guilty because of one man's disobedience. Right here, God's going to put
away the transgression of Israel in one man. a man that was found from the
tribe of Judah. A lion, what a type, what a picture. Here we behold in type and shadow
the amazing truth of our Lord. Achan, you say, was guilty. Yes, he was. And the scripture
says that Christ was made sin. He who knew no sin, But I will
tell you this, when he bore the guilt of all God's elect, he
before the law, he who knew no sin and was not a sinner, he
wasn't a sinner, but he was made sin. He was made, that word is
guiltiness. He was made the guiltiness. He
bore the debt. And here, Achan, as a type of
Christ, is gonna bear the transgression, he's gonna bear the guilt, and
he is a type of our Lord who was made a curse. He was made a curse. Here, we
behold Achan as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. by the obedience of one. Many
were made righteous. One man, one man, the God-man
mediator who suffered the penalty of the law for the entirety of
his elect, his bride, his chosen, his remnant. Achan was guilty,
but our Lord made to be sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. One man has got to bear the iniquity
of all God's people, because there was only one that could
put away the guilt of his people. When Christ bore the guilt of
his people, he who was innocent in himself was guilty before
the law, where sin was found Justice must be done. God said, I'm a just God. Achan,
his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his asses, his sheep, everything
that belonged to Achan was in that transgression. That's
what scripture says. Why have you done this? They
had taken his oxen, his asses, his sheep, his tent, All that
he had. And he brought him. And he stoned
him. And he burned him. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. Don't think that it was unjust.
It was just. God said, I'm a just God. They
said, well, he didn't really deserve that. When he was made
sin, he made himself chargeable. He made himself chargeable. All that stuff that was Achan's,
everything that was associated with Achan and his transgression
holds your place. Turn with me as I wrap this up.
Colossians 2. Colossians chapter 2. Colossians
2 verse 13, 15. And you, being dead in your sins
and the circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it." Everything, everything,
everything was associated with us. Nailed it to his cross. Verse 26, back in Joshua 7, and
I'll close. 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 Achar unto this day. Joshua and the people Aiken, a type, the judgment of
God upon our Lord, on our behalf. And a memorial was established
over Aiken, a great heap of stones, the scripture says, called the
Valley of Achor. It said until that day, it was
right there. You want to know where the transgression
Israel was put away. You want to know where it is?
Look at that heap of stones right there. What do you call that?
We call it the Valley of Achar. That's what we call it. You want
to see where God was just and justified a people? Go look at
that heap of stones right there. That's where it is. I want you to turn in closing.
Hosea, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea. Hosea chapter 2. Little quick history and I'll
bring this to a close. There was a prophet named Hosea. Hosea was a type of Christ. And
God told him, he said, I want you to go take a wife. Look at verse 2, Hosea 1, verse
2, beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea, by Hosea. And
the Lord said unto Hosea, go take unto thee a wife of Hortums,
children of Hortums, for the land hath committed great Hortum,
departing from the Lord. I want you to take you a wife.
And he did. He took a wife. And he married
this woman She was a woman, a wife of whoredoms. It's what we've done. We as God's people, we've rebelled
against the Lord. Here is a type of God's elect
falling into the bondage of sin. We're unfaithful, we're born
unfaithful, born unfaithful. We're rebels against God. We're
spiritual harlots. Hosea married Gomer. Gomer's
a picture of the church. God told him, said, don't you
take this woman, you marry her. You think God Almighty saw our
fall before the foundation of the world? You think he knew
what we would do? You think Adam's fall in time,
you think that came as a surprise to the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you think he knew that we
would be rebels against him? You think he knew we'd play the
part of a harlot? You marry her. We were betrothed unto him everlastingly. Gomer played the harlot, went
after her lovers. All the while, while she was
having her food, garments, everything, Hosea was the one that kept bringing
that. She kept saying, that's my lovers doing that for me.
Her lovers wouldn't. They didn't care about her. Hosea
loved her. He loved her. The scripture says concerning
Gomer, a picture of us. This is us. We're the heartless. We're the rebels. We're the unfaithful
ones. And there's a great Hosea who
loves us, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to listen to the
promise of God concerning our hope in his mercy and compassion. The scripture says in Hosea 2,
verse 13, and here's the Lord speaking, beautiful type, but
oh, what a type and what a beautiful promise. Hosea 2, verse 13, I will visit
upon her the days of Balaam wherein she burned incense to them and
she decked herself with her earrings and jewels She went after her
lovers and forgot me, saith the Lord. Now here, just rest assured,
that's us. That's us. Therefore, verse 14,
behold, I will allure her. Bring her into the wilderness
and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards
from thins and the valley of Acre for a door of hope. And
she will sing there in the days of her youth as in the days when
she came up out of the land of Egypt. You know what the Lord
just said? I have a bride. A bride that is born to play
in the heartland. But I love her. I love her. And I'm gonna keep her. And I'm
gonna care for her. And I'm gonna draw her I'll lure
her unto myself. I'm gonna make her willing in
the day of my power. And she's gonna realize in that
valley of Acre, that's where I put away her transgression.
That's where I myself was made sin for her. That's where I myself
paid her debt. And she's gonna remember. She's
gonna remember the mercy. Oh, I pray that God bless our
hearts to remember, cause us to remember the mercy and grace
and compassion that God has shown us for his namesake, for his
namesake, for his namesake.