My Achan Back – Part 2
Joshua 7:14-26
“Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel.”” vs. 20
Frequently Late?
Let me start by asking you an intriguing question? Have you ever noticed God is frequently late? It seems that there are times in my life where things happen, I want to fully trust God, and then it just doesn’t seem to happen on times. In fact, it seems there are many times that the issue of God’s timing has a lot to do with money.
Ill.Around 1990 a young struggling Canadian actor/comedian named Jim Carrey was sitting in his old Toyota on Mulholland Dr. overlooking Los Angeles. He was dreaming of his future when he decided to pull out his check book and wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars and dated it Thanksgiving 1995 adding in the notation: “for acting services rendered.” He put it in his wallet and carried it around with him. Over the next few years he began to star in movies and hit it big with Ace Ventura Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. In a tribute to his dad who had done so much for him he placed the check in his father’s coffin after he passed away in 1994 only partially seeing his sons’ fame.
Ex. Maybe that inspired me a few years ago when I was away at a camp and felt I was being led to lead our church to a place of financial stability and to be debt free. I took out a piece of paper and wrote “Someone here will hand me a check to pay off our mortgage.” I stuck it in my Bible and carried it around all week. I was pretty disappointed when we left on Saturday and I didn’t have a check to pay off our building.
We are going to continue a story we started last week about a man named Achan and his disobedience. One of the issues he had was God’s timing. So let’s read the rest of his story from Joshua 7:14-26. Please Stand if you are able.
Read Passage – Joshua 7:14-26
14 “‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the Lord takes shall come forward clan by clan; the clan that the Lord takes shall come forward family by family; and the family that the Lord takes shall come forward man by man. 15 He who is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel!’” 16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was taken. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.
God’s Covenant With Israel
A quick review of the history behind our story. The Israelites had been captive in Egypt for 400 years and God heard they cries and used Moses to lead them out of Egypt. They wondered in the dessert for 40 years because of their disobedience and then as we enter the book of Joshua they are now entering the Promised Land; a land God had promised them long ago. He told them back in Deut. 28:1:
“If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” Deut. 28:1
His covenant with them was if they obeyed Him, he would make them a great nation and His people. The covenant was a promise. It was God’s promise to them and their choice to live within it. So as they enter the Promised Land, they come to Jericho and God tells them to march around 1 time for 6 day and 7 times on the 7th day and when they do, the city falls on itself. They destroy everything and then it’s on to the next city; Ai. When they go to take Ai, a much smaller city and fewer people, they are routed. Joshua throws himself at God’s mercy and God tells him that this happened because someone stole some things from Jericho, they didn’t destroy everything like they were supposed to.
Narrowing The Field
Picking up our story in verse 14, God narrows the field as to who committed this sin. First he narrows it from the 12 tribes to one tribe, the tribe of Judah. Then he narrows that to the clan of Zerah. From that clan he narrows it to the clan of Zimri; and from there to one man; Achan. I would have loved to know how God interacted with Joshua on this and kept narrowing the field for him but the scripture doesn’t tell us.
On the other end, how do you think Achan must have felt? I mean what are the chances they could pick him out? Can you imagine the anxiety and pressure he must have been feeling. It must have seemed just “lucky” when the tribe of Judah was taken. With each narrowing he must have been sweating bullets and I am sure he must have thought; “There is no way they could pin this on me. What are the chances?” He forgot who he was dealing with; not just Joshua, but God.
It seems that Joshua and Achan were two guys who were heading in opposite directions. Achan is living in disobedience to God and trying to do it all himself. Joshua is trying to live for GOd in obedience to him and walk closer to God. In Achan’s disobedience a big issue is God’s timing. So this morning, let’s look at Ahcan and Joshua and how we can discern God’s timing for our life.
Ex. Mrs. Murphy in 8th grade and the rubber band incident.
Discerning God’s Timing
I wish I could give a list of 3 or 4 easy steps to discern God’s timing and it was just that simple; but it isn’t. Really, discerning God’s timing is more of putting general principles in your life that lead you to walk closer to God. We are going to look at these general principles and how Joshua used them in light of what he saw from Achan.
- Remember God’s Promises
The first general principle is that we need to remember God’s promises. It really is the building block for the things to follow. Joshua relied on what God had said in the past as he moved forward. The torch was passed from Moses to Joshua and this is what God told Moses in Ex. 33:1:
“Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…” Ex. 33:1
God had a plan for Israel. Joshua trusted that plan 100%. His plan extended back generations. Think about this, there were generations of people who knew about God’s plan but would not see it revealed. It went all the way back to Abraham. Wow! But God says, trust me, trust my plan. God has a plan for you, for your life and He wants you to trust Him and His plan. Here is the thin g about God, He is 100% trustworthy and everyone of his promises will be fulfilled. Without fail! This is how I know Joshua knew this, he told us so toward the end of his life. Joshua 23:14:
Promise:“You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.” Joshua 23:14
Achan had probably heard God’s promises but his impatience and his own sense of timing caused him to be disobedient. Joshua on the other hand choose to bleive God’s promise and rely on them. Let me give you and example.
Ex. Last year going on the ropes course and zip line and needing to rely on the harness even though my heart was sending mixed emotions about going on it.
2. Feel God’s Presence
The 2nd general principle in discerning God’s timing is to feel God’s presence. God had promised Joshua he would be with him. We find that in 1:9:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
God asks Joshua to move forward with full knowledge that He is with him. I think Achan forgot God was with Him. I believe we do the same. We hesitate to move forward or we move forward thinking we can do it on our own. That was Achan’s M.O. You act differently when you feel God’s presence; I would even say you have a confidence and a peace. Jesus, just before he left the disciples made this promise to them and it is for us too; Matt. 28:20:
Promise: “And surely I am with you always…” Matt. 28:20
It’s hard to describe but God is with you, He is with me, and He won’t leave us. I think we all feel it in different ways.
Ex. For me, I know I feel God’s presence this way, when I am down, troubled, frustrated, I do two things, I listen to some of my favorite Christian music and two, I usually get this feeling, and it is a feeling, of God holding me in his arms. I think of him as my Father and I love that idea of Him hugging me and holding me when I need that little pick me up.
3. Rely On God’s Protection
The 3rd general principle is that we can rely on God’s protection. Joshua did and when he looked back on his life he saw that is what God did. Joshua 24:17:
“He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.” Joshua 24:17
Let’s look at our story and how it affected both Joshua and Achan. It must have been baffling to Joshua at the time. He did everything God asked him to do and yet when they go to Ai, 36 men loose they lives. He didn’t realize the sin. Achan on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be to upset and maybe he even had a false sense of security that God would protect him despite his sin. God will protect us but we also need to keep our end of the covenant by living according to His Word. Joshua continued in his obedience even when the times got hard. He lost 36 men. 36 families lost their husband, father, brother, etc. He felt a responsibility and a obligation to lead them and to walk with God. That is why when trouble hit, he goes running to God and throws himself before Him. Achan went running and hiding in his tent. So what is god’s promise to you? 2 Thess. 3:3:
Promise: But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thess. 3:3
God is faithful. His promise is that He will always be faithful and what He wants from us is to trust in His faithfulness and run to his protection, even in the difficulties.
4. Trust God’s Provision
And the 4th general principle is to trust in His provision, his gifts, his blessings. Verse 21:
“When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them.” vs. 21
You know it isn’t going well when we take it into our own hands and that is what Achan decided to do. Acahan took a robe, silver and gold. Some commentaries I read said that total value of all those things came to probably about $1500 in our terms. He sold his life, his families lives, his integrity, and the nation of Israel’s covenant with God for $1500. We don’t know a lot about Achan, if he didn’t have a lot of money or things, but somehow he felt he needed these things. Remember when Israel sent into the Promised Land God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey meaning he would give them everything they needed. He told them not to take the things from Jericho but to destroy them. God want to be their provision. Achan want something more tangible and something that was his.
Paul tells us in Phil. 4:9:
Promise:“ And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19
God meets our needs.
Bad Ending
This story has a really tough ending. When Joshua send guys to Ahcan’s tent and finds the goods and he fesses up to what he has done, they bring him out, his family, his possessions, everything he’s got and then take into a valley right there in the dessert and stone him. The entire nation begins throwing rocks until everything that they have is dead and covered in rocks especially Achan. God needed the nation as a whole to understand the seriousness of His covenant and he wanted to see all of them take responsibility. It’s hard to know why everyone and everything had to die. I guess the best way to understand it is that when one part of somethig is bad it makes it all bad.
Here is Joshua’s ending compared to Achan’s
-Joshua knew what it was like to walk with God and to see Him work. He lived in peace
-Achan lived and died not knowing and understanding God’s promises and died in turmoil and disgrace.
Our Church: Let’s live like Joshua. Let’s walk with God, claiming His promises and live in peace with Him.
