Word of Salvation – Vol.32 No.30 – August 1987

 

The Sin Of Achan

 

Sermon by Rev. B. G. Aldridge on Joshua 7

Reading: Joshua 7

Singing: 282; 387; BoW.S.56; BoW.H.402; BoW.H.804;
Bow.S.48; BoW.H.804

 

INTRODUCTION:

Brothers and Sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

There are some stories that I wish were not in the Bible, and if it were left up to me, I would probably have left them out.

But they are there.

One of these stories is the story of the sin and punishment of Achan.

It’s much easier to explain God to unbelievers if this story were not there.  As well, many children have lived in fear of God, because of stories like these.  Stories such as these seem to show God as cruel and vindictive.  After all, did a man have to pay for a few bars of gold with his life?

Did his wife and children have to die as well?

And what is the real meaning of this story for us today?

THE SIN AND PUNISHMENT OF ACHAN:

Let us recall what happened.

We are told by the writer, but Joshua did not find out until much later.  Joshua had employed good military strategy when after the fall of Jericho, he sent spies to spy out the city of Ai.  It appeared there would be no problem.  It was to be a snap.  But Israel had been totally defeated; fear took hold of the whole camp.

Joshua was totally devastated.

He began to complain to God.  He showed how little he understood of God’s words.  How pathetic it was of Joshua to say for instance, “If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan.”  Joshua blamed God for what had happened.

God was not pleased.  After all, He hears enough unbelievers complaining about His doings without Joshua adding to the stream of complaints.  “Stand up,” God says, “Who are you?  Who do you think I am?  You are the problem, Israel has sinned.”

So God gives the order as to what is to be done.  The judge of all the earth passes judgement.  Death to the one who has done this, and to all his household.

Joshua calls a solemn assembly and the lot is cast.  Firstly, according to tribe, Judah is taken.  Then according to clan, Zerah is taken.  Then according to family, Zimri is taken.  Then according to the individual, Achan is taken.

Then we have those troubling words where Joshua faces Achan and says, ‘What have you done?”

Achan tells Joshua the whole sorry tale.  He confesses his sins.  They go and search.  The tale is confirmed.  Proof is given and so judgement is carried out.  They are all stoned, the family, the goods, everything.  For this was the valley of Achor, this was the valley of disaster.

THE CONTEXT OF THIS STORY:

It is very important to understand what is happening.  Later on we will ask, in what way this applies to us.  Some would say that it applies directly.  If this is so, well, perhaps the treasurer should tell us how many dollars you are behind in your contributions.  How much of the Lord’s money are you keeping back?  Let’s cast lots to see who has been keeping back from the Lord, and then let’s go out-side to where there are plenty of stones.  Is this what it means for us?  But before we do that, we must ask what did it mean for the Israelites?

This was the “ban”.  God had put certain things under “ban” when the Israelites attacked Jericho.  Listen to chapter 6 verses 18 and 19.  “But keep back from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them.  Otherwise, you will make the whole camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring disaster on it.  All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.  The “ban” applied to things especially devoted to the Lord.  Things which belonged to him in a special way.

This “ban” was a feature of the Mosaic Covenant, not found in other covenants.

Abraham lied; he could not wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
Sarah laughed at God and lied about it.
Jacob, his name is synonymous with deceit and deception.
Judah had children by his daughter-in-law,
but none of them were destroyed.
The “ban” did not apply under the previous covenant.

Nor was it always applied under the Mosaic Covenant.  In ISamuel 15 we read the record of Saul and the Amalekites.  Saul had been told to destroy everything.  But he did not destroy it all; Agag and the sheep he left alive.  Samuel did not order Saul to be destroyed.

There is no provision like the “ban” in any other covenant except the Mosaic.  We should not find this strange, for there are many provisions of the Mosaic Covenant that we recognise no longer apply.  For example: The wearing of cloth woven of two kinds of fabric, all the feasts under the Old Testament laws.  All these were special provisions.

What would we say about Leviticus 13:47?  There it says that if any clothing is contaminated with mildew, any woollen or linen clothing, any leather, knitted material, or anything like that, it has to be shown to the priest.  The priest is to examine it and isolate it.

If it is still there after 7 days it is unclean and the priest must destroy it.  Now, if that provision were true today, then you would all have to bring your mildew things to me and maybe I would use some “wipe-off” or whatever.  But you see the point.  There are many special provisions under the Mosaic Covenant that do not apply to us today.

Under the covenant of the New Testament we hear nothing of the “ban”.  Some have tried to equate Joshua Chapter 7 with Acts chapter 5, that is, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  But the situation is quite different.  There was no direction from the Lord in Act 5, setting aside anything as specifically belonging to him.  In Acts Chapter 5 the families and goods of Ananias and Sapphira were not involved.  In Acts chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira were not directly killed by Peter and the apostles.

So, what does all this indicate?  It tells us that what happened in Joshua 7 was a special provision of the Mosaic Covenant which did not apply, before, to Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, and which does not apply to us under the new covenant.

This is also made clear by another aspect of this.

That is the involvement of the children.

Under the Mosaic Covenant it is quite clear that the children were involved in the sins of the fathers.  But under the new covenant Ezekiel makes it quite clear that new provisions apply.  Listen to Ezekiel, Chapter 18:20.  “The soul who sins is the one who shall die, the son will not bear the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.  The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged to him.”

The context of this story shows us that this “ban” and the judgement and punishment that came upon Achan and his family was a provision of the Mosaic Covenant that no longer applies to us.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?

If this “ban” and this law was for the Mosaic Covenant only, what does it mean for us?

– Is this simply a story to show our children that it is wrong to steal?

– Is it simply ammunition for preachers to put the fear of God into the hearts of the congregation, so that they think of God as a God wanting to destroy them if they step out of line?  So they think that they might not be good enough to come to the Lord’s table?

No!  The Bible is a revelation of God and not of man; a revelation of His character and His purposes.  And this gives us a clue to what this story means for us.

God is revealed as the God who hates sin, rebellion and disobedience whenever it occurs.  God is revealed as the God who judges sin, rebellion and disobedience.  But there is a difference between the Mosaic and the new covenant.  There is not a different God; but there is a difference.

It is the same God who hates and judges sin, but under the Mosaic Covenant every Israelite had to obey in order to fulfil the covenant obligations and obtain the blessings of God.  It was the covenant of the law.  Blessing depended upon individual obedience, so that when one individual, Achan, failed, then all Israel is judged to have failed.

Under the new covenant only one Israelite had to obey to fulfil the covenant obligations, and so obtain blessings for all others.  That Israelite is Jesus Christ.  It is because of His obedience that God is good to mankind.

Brothers and Sisters, listen!

There is an idea abroad, which is absolutely contrary to true Vhristianity, but unfortunately it is held by many Christians.  This idea is that there is a cause or connection between God’s goodness to us and our being good to God.  This is absolutely contrary to Christianity, but it has taken hold of many.  You say No! but let me ask you: When things start to go wrong when you lose your job when your relationship with wife, husband, children is not going well, when there is some sort of disturbance in your life, do you begin to ask, “God, what am I doing wrong?”.  So often we do this; but when everything is going right, when we are happy, well adjusted, good job, good family, then you never ask such a question!!!

Let me ask you again, why is it that the time you feel least like coming to services and having fellowship with God’s people, is when you are disturbed and upset about something that has happened to you.  Perhaps your ideas are not being accepted and listened to as you think they should be.  Perhaps you are having hassles with other believers, perhaps things have not been going right in your family, or at work.  So, you don’t feel like coming to have fellowship with others.  We have the idea that when everything is going right God is pleased with us and we must be obeying Him and when things start to go wrong, then we feel that God is not pleased with us, and somehow we must be disobeying Him.

But under the new covenant God has blessed us already. Eph.1:4.  This is something that God has already done.  He has blessed us with every blessing in Jesus Christ.  It is because of Christ’s obedience that God is good to us.  Under the new covenant, our circumstances, whatever they may be, are no infallible indicator of God’s attitude towards us.  The only infallible indicator of God’s attitude towards us is that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us.

And so it is the same God who hates and judges sin, but under the new covenant this God sent Jesus Christ to be Achan for us.  Where under the law we are cursed, as Paul says in Galatians 3:10, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in the book of the law”.  So, we all should have suffered the fate of Achan.

Under grace, however, Jesus Christ became Achan for us.
He was cursed.
He was rejected.
He was cut off.
He was crucified.

Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us”.  Under the new covenant Christ took the curse upon Himself and we who believe and trust in Him are delivered from the curse.

CONCLUSION:

Brothers and Sisters, Let me ask you are you afraid of God?
Are you afraid of Jesus?
Do you live in fear that God will do something to bust up the good life that you have?  In the quiet times of the night do you worry about meeting Jesus Christ at the end of the road?
Do you feel that God will face you as Joshua faced Achan, and that your sins will be pointed out publicly, and that somehow because of these sins you will be convicted and you will go down into judgement?

Brothers and Sisters,
Christ became Achan for us, so that God who hates and judges sin might become our friend.  Christ became Achan for us, so that we might be free from a life of fear.  So that we might be free from the fear of not being accepted by God.
Free from the fear of not being good enough.
Free from the fear that grace makes life too easy.
Free from the fear of meeting our Lord face to face.
So that we might be free to embrace Jesus Christ and say:
My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine,
For thee all the follies of sin I resign
My gracious redeemer, my Saviour art thou
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

AMEN