Joshua 7:20-2620And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 23And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26And 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 Achor, unto this day. (Joshua 7:20‑26)
The Lord made Achan willing to confess what he had done, for His presence brings out the secrets of the heart. Some of us, even as parents, have found the importance of getting our children on their knees before God when a question arises as to their guilt in some matter, and the presence of God brings out a confession, just as it did here, and as it does in the assembly, where there is power. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13).
Achan told the whole story, the coveting, the taking, and the hiding of the goodly Babylonish garment, the silver and the gold. There are always steps to sin, and if Achan had judged that covetous thought, he would never have taken those things, and if he had admitted the sin of taking them at once instead of hiding them, it would have been far better. But one sin unjudged always lends to another until we are far from God in our souls. Now, since Achan had been asked to confess it, was he to go free? No, any thief is sorry when he is found out, but that is not “repentance toward God” at all. (Compare Acts 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21) with Hebrews 12:1717For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (Hebrews 12:17)).
Achan must be dealt with, and seeing it was under law the consequences were serious indeed, as we can see, he was taken with the “goodly” things he had stolen, along with all those who had been accomplices with him in his sin, and all Israel stoned him with stones until he died. And all was then burned with fire—typical of the judgment of God. It is important to notice here that all Israel stoned Achan. When evil manifests itself in the assembly of God, all are responsible, and the discipline is not to be carried out by just two or three of the gathering, but by the whole assembly (1 car, 5).
We might ask, Is sin as serious as that? Yes, it is have God’s thoughts about sin changed today? Not at all! While it is true that we are living in the day of God’s grace, yet even today Christian discipline should be carried out for the Lord’s glory by putting away the guilty one from the Lord’s table (1 Corinthians 5:1313But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. (1 Corinthians 5:13)). There is, however, an important difference between what we have here in our chapter in Joshua and Christian discipline, for the latter is to be carried out with a view to the restoration of the one who is dealt with. Surely this is grace!
Let us never forget at the same time, that it is just as serious, and in one sense more serious today than in Achan’s day, because the one who sins Christendom sins against greater light, and is therefore more responsible. It is only the grace of God, founded upon the work of the cross, that has now made provision for our restoration when we have sinned, because “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The valley where Achan was stoned was called, and is still called, the valley of Achan. It means the valley of trouble. It is beautiful to see the Spirit of God speaking of this valley in Isaiah 65:1010And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. (Isaiah 65:10), and 10 Hosea 2:1515And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:15), as a place of rest and hope. We never need to fear trouble in our lives, or in the assembly, if we go through it with God, and seek to act for Him in it. Blessing, rest, and hope are sure to follow when we do, for sin allowed is always a hindrance to blessing, but sin judged opens the way to blessing from the One who delights in the blessing of His people.
ML 03/29/1953