Achan's Sin and the Battle of Ai

Right after a great victory. The walls of Jericho had just fallen. Then came trouble: “But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things” (7:1). The accursed things. At Jericho God said the silver and gold were “consecrated to the Lord” (6:19). Consecrated means set apart for God alone. Taking them was stealing from God. One man, one nation. Achan was the one who stole, yet God said, “Israel has sinned” (7:11). God saw His people as one family. One person's sin hurt them all. Judging by their eyes. The spies said, “Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few” (7:3). They measured the battle by what they could see. Our memory verse says, “lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). A painful loss. About thirty-six men died, and “the hearts of the people melted and became like water” (7:5). Brave soldiers became afraid. Hidden sin is never small. Moses had warned Israel, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Achan's sin was buried, but it was not hidden from God. What this means for you. No sin is private. When you hide something wrong, it hurts you and the people you love. Bring it to God right away, because He is ready to forgive.

The accursed thing (7:1). The Hebrew word is cherem (say: KHEH-rem). It means something devoted to God, either to be destroyed or to be given to Him alone. Jericho was the first city of the land, and God claimed all of it (6:17-19). A man from Judah (7:1). Achan is named with his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, back to Zerah son of Judah. He was not an outsider. He belonged to the tribe of David and, one day, of Jesus. Sin can grow in any family. One body (7:1, 11). The verse says the children of Israel sinned, and then it names one man. God dealt with Israel as one people. Paul uses the same picture for the church: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Ai (7:2). The name means the ruin. It was a small town near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, high in the hills above Jericho. Confidence in numbers (7:3). The spies' report sounds sensible, but it measured the battle by Israel's strength and Ai's size. Jericho had fallen because God fought for Israel, not because of numbers. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Melted hearts (7:5). In 2:11 Rahab told the spies, “our hearts melted” when Canaan heard about Israel's God. Now Israel's own hearts “melted and became like water.” Without God's help, Israel was as weak as its enemies. Application. God's people win by God's presence, not by their own strength. Hidden sin in one heart can weaken a whole family or church, so keep short accounts with God.

Jericho belonged to God. God said its silver and gold were for Him alone. But Achan took some for himself. Nobody in the camp knew, but God knew. Then the spies looked at the town of Ai. They thought it would be easy to beat. So only a few soldiers went to fight. Israel ran away, and thirty-six men died. One man's secret sin brought trouble to everyone. Sin is never just a private thing. It hurts the people around us. Our memory verse says to trust God, not our own ideas. God wants us to bring our sins to Him.

Achan took things that belonged to God. He hid them. Then Israel lost a battle. Hidden sin hurts everyone around us.

An honest prayer. Joshua tore his clothes and “fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening” (7:6). He told God his fear and his confusion. God welcomes honest prayer. Worried for God's name. Joshua asked, “Then what will You do for Your great name?” (7:9). Even when he was afraid, he cared about God's honor. Get up! The Lord answered, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” (7:10). There is a time to pray and a time to obey. The real problem. “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant” (7:11). They had “both stolen and deceived” (7:11). Ai was not the real enemy. The real enemy was sin. God's presence. God said, “Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you” (7:12). Nothing is worse than losing God's help. Get ready. God said, “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow” (7:13). Sanctify means to make yourself clean and set apart for God. What this means for you. When something feels wrong between you and God, don't just feel bad about it. Ask God to show you any sin. Then deal with it His way, and He will draw near to you again.

Signs of grief (7:6). Torn clothes and dust on the head were how people in that world showed deep sorrow. Joshua and the elders humbled themselves before the ark, the sign of God's presence with Israel. A wilderness kind of prayer (7:7). “Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!” sounds like Israel in the wilderness wishing for Egypt (Numbers 14:2-3). Even a faithful leader can speak from fear. God's glory at stake (7:9). Joshua's strongest plea was God's own reputation: “what will You do for Your great name?” Moses had prayed the same way after the golden calf (Exodus 32:11-12). Covenant (7:11). The Hebrew berit (say: beh-REET) means a binding agreement. At Sinai Israel had promised to do everything the Lord said (Exodus 24:3, 7). How sin spreads (7:11). God names the sin one step at a time: they sinned, they transgressed, they took, they stole, they deceived, and they hid it “among their own stuff.” Taking led to lying, and lying led to hiding. Doomed (7:12). By taking what was cherem, Israel itself had “become doomed to destruction.” Whoever keeps what God has condemned shares its judgment. Sanctify (7:13). Qadash (say: kah-DASH) means to set apart as holy. Before God dealt with the sin, He called His people to prepare to meet Him, as they had at Sinai (Exodus 19:10). A disgraceful thing (7:15). God called Achan's act “a disgraceful thing in Israel.” Sin is more than breaking a rule. It betrays the God who loves us. Application. Losing God's nearness is the real loss. Pray as David did: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Joshua tore his clothes because he was so upset. He bowed low before the Box of the Lord until evening. Joshua told God exactly how he felt. We can be honest with God too. Then God said, “Stand up!” It was time to get up and do something. God told Joshua the real problem. Israel had sinned and stolen from Him. God would not help them while the sin stayed hidden. Sin gets in the way between us and God. But God showed Joshua how to make it right. God always shows us the way back.

Joshua was very sad. He prayed to God. God said, “Stand up!” God told Joshua about the sin.

God found him. Tribe by tribe, family by family and man by man, “Achan the son of Carmi… was taken” (7:18). Achan could have spoken up at any point. He waited until he was named. Nothing is hidden from God. A gentle call. Joshua said, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him” (7:19). Telling the truth about our sin gives glory to God, because it says He is right. Four steps down. Achan said, “When I saw… I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth” (7:21). He saw, he coveted, he took, and he hid. Coveted means wanted something so badly that he was willing to sin to get it. An old pattern. Eve did the same thing in the garden. She saw that the fruit was good, she wanted it, and she took it (Genesis 3:6). Sin starts with the eyes and the heart. The Valley of Trouble. Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day” (7:25). Achan and his family were stoned, and a great heap of stones was raised over him. The place was called the Valley of Achor, which means trouble (7:26). A door of hope. Many years later God promised through the prophet Hosea that He would make the Valley of Achor a door of hope (Hosea 2:15). God can turn a place of trouble into a new beginning. What this means for you. Be careful what you let your eyes and heart chase. If you have hidden something, tell God and a grown-up you trust. God forgives everyone who comes to Him through Jesus.

Taken by lot (7:14-18). God narrowed the search from tribe to clan to household to one man. Proverbs 16:33 teaches that the lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord. The slow search gave Achan time to confess, but he stayed silent until he was named. Give glory (7:19). Joshua's word for confession is todah (say: toh-DAH), which also means thanksgiving or praise. Confession agrees with God that He is right and we are wrong. David prayed the same way: God is right when He judges (Psalm 51:4). The garment and the gold (7:21). The garment was from Shinar, the land of Babel (Genesis 11:2). The silver weighed about five pounds, and the wedge of gold more than a pound. Achan traded God's nearness for a coat and some metal. Covet (7:21). The Hebrew chamad (say: khah-MAHD) means to desire with a grasping heart. It is the word used in the tenth commandment, which forbids coveting (Exodus 20:17). Paul calls “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). His whole household (7:24). Achan's sons and daughters, his animals and his tent went with him to the valley. Hidden sin did not stay with one man. It reached his whole house. Achor (7:26). Achor (say: ah-KOHR) means trouble. 1 Chronicles 2:7 later calls Achan by the name Achar, the troubler of Israel. The heap of stones stood “to this day” as a warning. Hosea 2:15. When Israel later wandered from God, the Lord promised to win her back and to give the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. The place where judgment fell would become a doorway to mercy. Application. Sin promises gain and pays out loss. Confess early, at the seeing and wanting stage, before wanting becomes taking and hiding.

Achan told how his sin grew. First he saw the beautiful things. Then he wanted them very much. Next he took them. Last of all, he hid them in the ground. Sin often grows just like that. It starts with what we look at and want. Joshua spoke kindly to Achan. He called him “My son.” Telling God the truth gives Him honor. But Achan's sin was very serious. He and his family died that day. Sin always costs more than it promises. But God made a way to take sin away. Jesus took the punishment for our sin.

Achan saw things and wanted them. He took them and hid them. God punished Achan's sin. Sin is very serious to God.

A fresh start. As soon as the sin was dealt with, God said, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed” (8:1). God does not hold a grudge after we turn back to Him. His mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). The win promised first. “See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land” (8:1). God spoke of the victory as already done. All the people. This time God said, “take all the people of war with you” (8:1). There were no shortcuts. Israel fought God's way. The gift Achan grabbed. At Ai God said, “Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves” (8:2). God was glad to give good things. Achan grabbed what God had not given. Exactly as commanded. Joshua told the soldiers, “According to the commandment of the Lord you shall do” (8:8). Every step of the ambush was done God's way. The spear held out. God said, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai” (8:18). As soon as Joshua did, the hidden soldiers ran into the city. A hard truth. The battle ended with Ai destroyed (8:22). God was judging the evil of Canaan, which He had patiently waited hundreds of years to judge (Genesis 15:16). What this means for you. After you confess, don't stay stuck in shame. Get up, listen to God, and follow His directions. “He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).

Restored (8:1). “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed” repeats God's first charge to Joshua (Joshua 1:9). Once the sin was removed, the old promise stood again. All the people of war (8:1). In 7:3 the spies said not to weary all the people. Now God commanded all of them to go. Victory comes by God's word, not by our estimate. Spoil allowed (8:2). At Jericho everything was cherem. At Ai God gave the spoil to Israel, and 8:27 says they took it “according to the word of the Lord.” God gave freely at Ai what Achan had stolen at Jericho. Obedience waits for God's gifts. Defeat turned into a trap (8:5-6). The plan expected the men of Ai to say, “They are fleeing before us as at the first.” God used the memory of Israel's loss to draw Ai out of its city. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). The ambush (8:3-13). Joshua sent thirty thousand mighty men by night (8:3), and set about five thousand men between Bethel and Ai (8:12). Then he spent the night in the valley in front of the city (8:13). The javelin (8:18). The kidon (say: kee-DOHN) was a javelin. The ambush rose “as soon as he had stretched out his hand” (8:19). Joshua had fought Amalek while Moses held up his hands on the hill (Exodus 17:9-12). Now Joshua held out his hand, and again the victory came from the Lord. Judgment on Ai (8:22). God had waited four hundred years because “the iniquity of the Amorites” was not yet complete (Genesis 15:16). The conquest was God's judgment on deep and long evil. Application. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6). To acknowledge God is to bring Him into every decision before you make it.

After the sin was gone, God spoke to Joshua again. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t give up.” God had not given up on His people. He gave Joshua a brand-new plan. This time all the soldiers went. Some soldiers hid behind the city. Joshua did everything just as God said. God even let them keep the treasure this time. God is not stingy. He gives good gifts at the right time. When we obey God, we can trust Him to lead us. Our memory verse promises that too. God will show us which way to go.

God said, “Don’t be afraid.” God gave Joshua a new plan. Israel did what God said. God helped them win!