Okay, this evening now we're
looking at a very, very somber, somber portion of scripture from
Joshua chapter seven. And I'm entitling the message
from the subject of this seventh chapter of Joshua, the sin of
Achan that is clearly defined. He did what God told him not
to do. We'll read that again in just
a minute over in chapter six. The sin of Achan and then the
judgment of God. The sin of Achan and the judgment
of God. What does sin deserve? Nothing
but punishment. God is right, always right, to
punish sin wherever he finds it. We see that clearly displayed
at Calvary, don't we? When God found sin on his son,
He spared not his wrath, but the Lord was baptized when he
was made a curse for us. The Lord baptized him in the
wrath of God. Now the Lord had given Israel
a glorious victory over Jericho. They not only marched through
the Jordan River on dry ground. But they marched around the city
of Jericho, and by the blowing of the trumpet and the shout
of the people, the walls came down. God gave them the victory
over that city. But the Lord had warned them
not to take of the accursed thing, lest they bring judgment upon
the whole camp of God. You remember that back in chapter
six? Turn over there, look at verse 17. And the city, verse
19 brother, verse 18, Joshua 6, 18. And he says, in any wise,
keep yourself from the accursed thing, lest you make yourself
a curse. When you take the accursed thing
and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it. But all the silver
and the gold, the vessels of brass and iron are concentrated
unto the Lord, and they shall come into the treasury of the
Lord. when they had taken and spoiled
the land, all the gold and silver and the brass, was to be brought
into the treasury of the Lord, but they were not to touch that
accursed thing, as it said there, or that devoted thing, whatever
that thing was with that Babylonian garment and that tongue figure,
whatever it was, it was devoted to false idol worship. And God said, don't you touch
it. Don't you touch it, don't you have anything, don't you
have anything to do with it at all. But Achan did not listen,
and he took of that accursed thing, he said, I saw it, I covered
it after it, and I took it. He took of that accursed thing,
he did not listen to the commandment of God, and it brought judgment,
not only upon his tribe and his house, but the whole nation of
Israel. As it says, the whole nation of Israel suffered
under this one man's foolish and sinful act. Now, look at verse one. But the
children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing
for Achan the son of Carmite, the son of Zabdiah, the son of
Zerah of the tribe of Judah. I think that's most interesting.
This man was of the kingly tribe, the tribe of Judah, took of the
accursed thing, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against,
not only against Achan, but against the whole family of Israel, all
the children against the children of Israel. The sin of Achan was
charged to the whole camp. What he did brought the Lord's
disfavor and judgment upon all of them. Moses said to the people
earlier in Numbers 32, when he said to the people concerning
the taking of the land of Canaan, that they were to fight in the
battle, that they would go to war for the Lord. But Moses said
this, but if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against
the Lord and be sure, be sure your sin will find you out. your sin will find you out. You cannot secretly sin against
God. Now, children can hide their
sin from their parents and so on and so forth, and we can hide
that from one another, but you cannot sin against God and not
be discovered, not found out by God. Psalm 139, for there's
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. You remember Hebrews chapter
four, neither is there any creature does not manifest in his sight,
but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with
whom we have to do. But there is also a great gospel
principle revealed in Achan's sin. Did you see it? Did you
miss it? There's a great principle, gospel
principle, revealed in Achan's sin. What he did was charge to
all Israel. And the anger of the Lord was
against the whole tribe of Israel, the whole people of Israel. Much
like the sin of Adam, by one man's disobedience, many were
made sinners. What Adam did as a representative
man was reckon to all Adam's race. By one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. But even in that, we see the
good news of the gospel. Do we not? Of representation
and federal headship. For by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, by the obedience of another shall many
be made righteous. Aren't you glad that the Lord
deals with us in our representative heads? Even in Adam all died.
So in Christ shall all be made alive in Him. God made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now here's the second thing,
in verses two down through verse five, when Joshua sent men from
Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-haven 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. How long they stayed, I don't
know, probably not too long, but they came back with a report
to Joshua and said, Let not all the people go up for the battle,
but let about two or three thousand go up and we'll just take Ai,
be no problem. They presumed, didn't they? They
presumed that they would take the battle, just 2,000 or 3,000
men would just go up and wipe out these people, be no problem.
You know, Jericho, the walls of Jericho just fell down. Ahi,
just to not to push over. See, they presumed, they presumed. Make all the people go up to
labor thereof, but just a few." So they went up, 3,000 men, and
they fled before Ai, and the men of Ai smoked them about 36,
and they chased them before the gate even to Shebarem and smoked
them into going down, wherefore the hearts of the people melted
and became as water. Here's 3,000 men, less the 36
who died. Here's 3,000 men coming back. And Joshua looked out, he sees
the dust. He sees a cloud and these men
running back and thinking. What is going on? What has happened? And when he hears verse six,
Joshua rent, the hearts of the people melted like water. Joshua
rented his clothes, fell on his face before the ark of the Lord,
before the presence of the Lord, till the eventide. And the elders of Israel put
dust on their head. Oh, they were brokenhearted.
The hearts of the people melted. The men of Israel were defeated
at Ai when Joshua received report of the spies and said, we'll
send 3,000 men, we'll take the city. To his sad and shocking
surprise, 36 men of Israel were killed and Ai had the victory
over them. Verse 5 says, when they were
defeated, the hearts of the people melted. Melted. And they became weak, weak as
water. Just poured out on the ground.
Now remember the promise Joshua had given the people. Turn back
to Joshua chapter three. Joshua chapter three. He promised
the people and given this solemn promise. verse 9 Joshua 3 verse
9 Joshua said in the children of Israel come hither and hear
the words of the Lord your God and Joshua said hereby you shall
know that the living God is among you and that he will drive out
before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Peribites,
the Gerizites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, behold the ark
of the covenant of the Lord the others passed over before you
into Jordan. God promised, Joshua reminded
them of the promise, God's going to give us the victory, God's
going to give us the land. Now it seems that the promise
of the Lord was in doubt, does it not? But not in reality, for
we know the rest of the story. The Lord is good to his word.
The Lord will make good on his promise. He said, I've spoken
it, I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I will do it. But
the Lord will also punish their disobedience as well. We read
in Hebrews 12, 6, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth
every son whom he receives. Now, what's Joshua going to do? Made a promise to the people,
God's going to give us the land. They took Jericho. They were
defeated soundly at Ai. The people melted like water. And Joshua in verse 6 down through
verse 9, Joshua falls on his face before the Lord and he pours
out his heart. Joshua rent his clothes. Rent
his clothes. His heart was broken. His heart
was crushed. Fell to the earth. upon His face. He put His face in the dust before
the ark of the Lord, before the presence of the Lord, before
the Shekinah glory of the Lord, until eventide. And the elders also, they put
dust on their heads. And I'm sure they bowed before
the Lord as well. And here's what Joshua says,
verse 7. Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God,
wherefore hast thou in all brought this people over Jordan to deliver
us in the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would the God
we had been content dwell on the other side of Jordan? It
seemed like his heart is just overwhelmed with unbelief, does
it not? Lord, we'd have been content
just to have stayed on the other side of Jordan. Well Lord, what shall I say when
Israel turned their backs before their enemies? It sounds a whole
lot like what the children of Israel said to Moses, remember? when they crossed the Red Sea
and were in the wilderness for a while and things got kind of
tough, no water and people getting hungry and complaining and different
things, and they said to Moses, you know, we'd been better off
if we just stayed over there in Egypt. We had plenty to eat. I mean, we were in bondage and
they whipped our backs, but you brought us out here in the wilderness
just to die. It seemed like the same complaint,
does it not? Look at verse eight, O Lord,
what shall I say when Israel turn their backs before their
enemies? For the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land,
shall hear of it and shall surround us and cut off our name from
the earth. What wilt thou do unto thy great
name? Now, Josh was brokenhearted. The elders
are brokenhearted. They seem to be in despair over
this event, and rightly so. But he cries mightily unto the
Lord, but he does not complain of the Lord, but rather he pours
out his complaint unto the Lord. And he does so before the ark
of the testimony, before the ark of the Lord. We are told
by the Apostle Paul to let our requests be made known unto God. You remember Philippians 4? Be
anxious, careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known
unto God. We studied Sunday from Luke 18.1. Men ought always to pray and
not to faint. Joshua says something in his
prayer as an argument unto the Lord. The enemy will cut off
our name out of the earth, but the greater thing is this, in
verse nine, Lord, what about your great name? What about,
you said that you're gonna give us the land. You said that you're
gonna give us the victory. You said that you'd be good to
your word, What about your name? Your name, your character's at
stake if you don't make good on your promise. Lord, what about
thy great name? Joshua was more concerned about
the name of the Lord and the glory of the Lord than about
his own name being cut off. You and I may plead with God
as Joshua did upon all occasions for the glory and honor and the
name of our great God, the Lord Jesus Christ. His faithfulness
to all that he has promised, he's promised to honor in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember from 2 Corinthians,
what if God doesn't fulfill all of his gospel promises? Oh, we
may be cut off, but what about the glory of his great name?
What about his honor? What about his character? More
at stake here than just us. All the promises of God in Christ
are yes, and in Him, amen, unto the what? Unto the glory of God
by Jesus Christ. If the Lord fails to justify
and glorify His people in Christ as He has promised, the glory
and honor of His name is at stake, and we know that will not and
cannot happen. Because God is jealous of his
glory. He's jealous of his honor, his
faithfulness. Great is that faithfulness. He
will honor every promise he has made, and he's made a lot of
them. Peter writes about the exceeding great and precious
promises that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's promised
his people that he would conform them and predestinate them to
be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said
those for whom he predestinated he called, and those for whom
he called he justified, and those for whom he justified he glorified. That's his precious promise.
Now what if that doesn't happen? Now, I'm going to suffer for
it, but what about the character of His great name? You see, the
bottom line in all that God does, remember, it's His glory. He
chose us through the praise of His glory of His grace. The Lord
Jesus Christ redeemed us according to the praise of the glory of
His grace. And God the Holy Spirit quickens and calls us according
to the praise of the glory of His grace. Here's the fourth thing we see.
Verse 10 down through verse 15, the Lord answered Joshua's prayer
and it must have happened immediately because it says in verse 10 down
to verse 15, the Lord said to Joshua, get up, get up off your
face. There's a time to pray and there's
a time to act. The Lord said, I've heard your
prayer, now you get up. Wherefore thou liest thus upon
thy faith. Israel have sinned. God spells
out the problem. Joshua didn't know what was going
on. Joshua didn't know why they were defeated, but the Lord said,
here's the problem. Israel have 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 they've lied about it, they've dissembled also. And they have,
they have, they have." I thought it was just Achan. God holds them all responsible.
They have put it even among their own stuff. Maybe Achan had some
other conspirators with him. Achan is spelled out, but he
probably had some other family members maybe that were lying
about it, covering up for him. Therefore the children of Israel
could not stand before their enemies. That's the problem.
But turned their backs before their enemies, because they were
accursed. Neither will I be with you anymore
except you destroy that accursed thing. Now God had always promised
Joshua, remember Joshua chapter 1? Remember what he promised
him? I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. I'll fulfill every promise you've
given to me. Has God gone back on his word?
No. Neither will I be with you anymore
except you destroy this accursed thing. God's made a provision
and a means whereby he will not forsake them. Up, he says, sanctify
the people and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, there is an accursed
thing in the midst of thee. What would Joshua do? Cast it out, O Israel, thou cannot
stand before thine enemies until you take away this accursed thing."
I'm going to tell you, my friend, you cannot stand before God with
an accursed thing and with a false gospel that God says is accursed. You cannot stand before God with
an accursed thing. You cannot stand justified before
God with a false gospel. In the morning, therefore, you
shall be brought according to your tribe, and it shall be that
tribe which the Lord taken shall come according to the families
thereof. and the family which the Lord
shall take shall come by households." The Lord identified the tribe
of Judah and the family in that tribe. And the household which
the Lord shall take shall come man by man. And it shall be 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."
God said two times here, you've transgressed the covenant. The
covenant of the Lord. And because you've wrought folly
in Israel. Verse 16, we see what Joshua
does. The Lord answered Joshua's prayer.
It was heard and it was answered. And the remedy the Lord revealed
was to deal with this accursed thing that Achan had laid hold
of. But notice the Lord said, Israel
has sinned, not just Achan, as it says in verse 11. They have
transgressed My covenant in robbing God of His glory. You remember what sin is described.
God said, you've sinned against the transgression. You've had
transgressed my covenant. You remember from our study in
1 John 3, sin is described as the transgression of the law
of God. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We have all committed the same
sin that Achan has committed. By nature, we have transgressed
the covenant of the Lord. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no,
not one. The Lord tells Joshua what the
sin is, what it was, and that their sin must be punished severely. The one who brought this guilt
upon them must be identified and destroyed. Unless the Lord
God reveals our sin unto us, and that's what God is doing
for Joshua. He's revealing who the culprit
is, who the guilty one is. Unless God reveals our sin unto
us and convicts us of it, we'll go right on in ignorance, the
ignorance of our guilt, and of our sin against God. God must
teach us that we are sinners or we'll never confess. Now,
we're going to see here in just a minute that Achan owns up to
what he had done. God must teach us. And that's
what God the Holy Spirit does in Holy Spirit conviction. In
Holy Spirit conviction, He reveals unto us that we are sinners. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. But when God in mercy shows us we are guilty, that we deserve
nothing but what we deserve. Judgment. Death. It is only then
that we own our guilt and confess our sin. Then the Lord is faithful
and just to forgive our sins because the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. Verse 16 down through
verse 21, we see Achan's confession of his sin. And this is good. Joshua rose up early in the morning.
brought Israel by their tribes and the tribe of Judah was taken
all the way down to, is whittled down to all the way down to the
family of Achan. And Achan is singled out and
Joshua verse 19 said unto Achan, my son, and that is tender mercies,
is it not? He doesn't call him a rebel.
He doesn't call him a cheat. He doesn't call him a traitor.
He said, you're my son. Give, I pray thee, glory to God,
to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and
tell me now what you've done. Don't hide it from me." And Achan
said unto Joshua, Indeed, indeed, I have sinned against the Lord. Now isn't that the problem with
sin? All our sin is against the Lord. We have transgressed the
covenant of the Lord. And our sin is against the Lord,
the Lord God of Israel. And thus, and thus, and thus,
he said, and thus, and thus, and thus, I have done it. What
is he saying? I'm guilty. I'm guilty. You know, grace is for the guilty.
mercies for the miserable, salvation for sinners. Verse 21, when I
saw among the spoils this goodly Babylonian garment, 200 shekels
of silver, this tongue of gold, 50 shekels weight, I coveted
them, I took them and behold, they're hid in the midst, they're
in the earth in the midst of my tent. He went to his tent,
dug a hole and buried him. Nobody's going to find it. Nobody
knows! Achan's confession of his sin
to God. Joshua said to Achan, glorify
God. Make a confession unto Him. And
Achan said, indeed I've sinned against the Lord. And all sin
is against the Lord. You remember Psalm 51, what David
said? For I acknowledge my transgression,
and my sin as ever before thee, against thee, and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when you speak, and clear when you judge." You
understand what David's saying there? He said, I'm guilty, and
if you sent me to hell, and condemn me eternally, that's exactly
what I deserve. And you're right to do so. You're
right to do so. This is where the Lord does business
with His people. It is their sin against Him. We are the guilty ones. We are
the ones deserving of judgment and wrath. The Lord would do right to condemn
us. He would do right. And He'd be
right, wouldn't He? We're guilty. Achan reveals the wickedness
of his heart. In verse 21, I saw, I coveted,
I took. The love of money is the root
of all evil. His lust conceived and brought
forth sin. Remember James chapter 1? When
lust is conceived, it brings forth sin, and when sin is finished,
it brings forth death. Death. Now you remember from
our study in 1 John 2.16. And what Achan says here is exactly
what John writes here in 1 John 2.16. For all that is in this
world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride
of life is not of the Father, but of this world. Isn't that exactly what got Adam
and Eve into trouble? the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life. God said you'll be like,
or Satan said you'll be like God. Paul describes covetousness
as idolatry. Colossians 3, mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry. for which things sake the wrath
of God, the wrath of God comes on children of disobedience. Now, the last thing is this,
in verse 22 down to verse 26, we see the wrath and judgment
of God upon Achan and his family. There is pleasure in sin for
a season, but judgment will come. Be sure your sin will find you
out. I'm sure Achan thought, I've
got away with this. He dug a hole in the middle of his tent and
buried it. Told his family, now you make sure not to tell anybody.
Joshua sent messengers to his tent and behold, it was hid. And they took them from the midst
of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua and all the children
of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua and
all of Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah, the silver,
the garment, the Babylonian garment, the wedge of gold, the tongue
of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his asses, all of his
livestock, his sheep, his tent, his house, his household, and
all that he had. And he brought them to this valley
of Achor, the valley of trouble. And Joshua said, Why hast thou
troubled us? Now the Lord is going to trouble
thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned
them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." Now,
judgment. Judgment was swift and sure. There is pleasure in sin for
a season, but judgment will come sooner or later. Because God
is holy, too holy to look on sin with favor. God will deal
with our sin either in us, or in our substitute. But God must
punish sin because God is holy. Thank God for substitution. Thank
God for the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. When the evidence
was found in Achan's tent and brought forth and presented before
the people, Joshua pronounced immediate judgment upon him and
upon his whole house. And he said in verse 25, you've
troubled us. You brought trouble upon us.
Now, the Lord's gonna trouble you. Achan's name, you know what
his name means? Troublesome. Troublesome, don't
ever name your son Achan. His name means troublesome, troublesome. I thought of this scripture in
2 Thessalonians 1.6, seeing it is a righteous thing with God
to recompense, it's a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them who trouble you. James 1.20, the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God, but the wrath of God
does. They judge them and condemn them
according to the will of God. Now, one last verse. And they raised over him a great
heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness
of his anger. This death turned and satisfied
his justice. And he turned from the fierceness
of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place
is called the Valley of Acre, the Valley of Trouble unto this
day. Now stay with me here, and I've
just got another thought or two. In the death and judgment of
Achan, we also see a picture and type
of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. being made sin
for us, being made a curse for us. And that's what happened
at Calvary. When all the sin of God's people were laid upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was made sin, made a curse for
us, and all the wrath of God fell upon him, the fierceness
of his anger fell upon him, and the Lord satisfied the judgment
and wrath of God, the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. The fierceness of the wrath of
God upon him, when his justice was satisfied, the wrath of God
ceased. And I thought of this scripture,
one of my favorites, in the book of Lamentations chapter 1 verse
12, Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by, behold and
see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done
unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger? That's what happened at Calvary.
It pleased the Lord to bruise him to put away our sin. And I kept looking and thinking
about that verse and I don't think this is stretching it by
any means because everything in the Word of God is relative
to Christ and Him crucified. Now those for whom Christ died
He redeemed us from the curse of the law. He redeemed us from
the accursed thing. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Now those for whom Christ
died have no sin. The judgment of God can never
fall upon those in Christ. For there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our hope and that is
our plea. Yes, we are sinners. Yes, we are guilty. Oh, but yes,
we have an atonement. We have a substitute. We have
a redeemer who took all those accursed things that we are. I think about that accursed thing. That's what we are. That's what we are. We're sinners, guilty, vile,
wretched, sinner. We are an accursed thing before
God. You say, well, that's too vile. No, it's not vile enough. Yes,
we are sinners. We are an accursed thing. Yes,
we are guilty. Yes, we have an atonement for
all our sin in our Redeemer. That's the lesson. It's not how
to cure an aching heart. That's the lesson. Judgment satisfied
in Christ. Sin put away.