"But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel." (Joshua 7:1) Later in our chapter we'll learn that Achan deeply coveted some of the items he saw. He took some items for himself that were made of precious metals---items that were to go into the house of the Lord---and "stole" from the Lord. He also took for himself a beautifully decorated robe from the region of Shinar (also referred to in the Bible as Babylonia, Babylon, or Chaldea).
Shinar, if you'll recall from Genesis, was the location of the first organized rebellion against God. This is where the people built the Tower of Babel because they did not believe the Lord would keep His promise to never again send a great flood upon the earth. The tower was meant to be an escape route and a means of getting into the very heavens, for they believed God's throne was in the clouds and in their pride they thought they could ascend into the clouds and sit and fellowship with God through their own human efforts.
The Lord indeed invites us into fellowship with Him, but as we've seen time and time again during our study of the Bible, we must come to Him in His way. We must come to Him by the avenue He paved for us. We cannot make ourselves righteous through our own efforts. We have to come to Him by faith and honor Him in the ways He has prescribed. Atonement in Old Testament times was obtained through faith, repentance, and making the prescribed sacrifices. In New Testament times (the church age), atonement is obtained through a repentant spirit and a faith which trusts that the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf saves us to the uttermost.
Any robe made in the region of Shinar was made by hands that had been lifted up in prayer to false gods. The robe quite possibly had idolatrous images embroidered onto it. It may have depicted heathen deities engaged in immoral acts. But something about it appealed to Achan's eyes and heart, so much so that he deliberately disobeyed a direct order from the Lord. But Joshua and the remainder of the congregation of Israel do not know about Achan's sin. They will soon suspect someone did something wrong when they suffer a stunning defeat.
"Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, 'Go up and spy out the region.' So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said, 'Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.'" (Joshua 7:2-3) I've heard a few preachers and Bible scholars being critical of Joshua for only sending a portion of the army against Ai. They believe he was being prideful and overconfident. But I don't think that's the case. Ai was a much smaller city than Jericho. Ai was far less fortified than Jericho and Ai had fewer soldiers. There was no practical need to send an entire army of several hundred thousand men when only two or three thousand men will be enough. No, I believe the Bible makes it very clear why the Israelites are defeated at Ai, and the reason is because of Achan's sin. It wouldn't have mattered if Joshua had sent all the soldiers of Israel. At the end of the book of Numbers we learned that Israel had over 600,000 fighting men. That's a formidable force. But even if Joshua had sent all 600,000 against Ai, Israel would still have lost this battle because the Lord is going to use their defeat to deal with sin in the camp.
"So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water." (Joshua 7:4-5) Achan's sin didn't just affect himself; it affected his whole nation. Our sin's ability to affect others is something we should always remember when we're tempted to do wrong. The devil will say to us, "It's nobody's business what you do. If this is what you want, go ahead and have it. If it turns out to be a mistake, so what? That's your problem, not anyone else's." But this, like everything else Satan says, is a lie. I've been affected by other people's mistakes, haven't you? And other people have been affected by my mistakes. Sin is a selfish, self-serving thing and it can have very far-reaching consequences. We aren't just hurting ourselves when we sin; our sin is capable of hurting those around us---even those we love the most and would never want to hurt under any circumstances. That's what's going to happen as a result of Achan's sin. He'll hurt himself, his family, and his nation.
Join us tomorrow as Joshua falls on his knees before the Lord to ask why the battle went so wrong. The Lord will reveal to him what the problem is and what to do about it.
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