Joshua 7:1 – But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.
Sadly, the story of Joshua chapter 7 begins with a 'but'.
At the close of Joshua chapter six, we noted that the Lord was with Joshua and his fame spread through the entire country. Joshua had done right in the eyes of the Lord and closely followed the instructions of God in all things, which resulted in victory at Jericho. The implication was that Israel had begun the conquest of the Promised Land and it looked as if nothing could stand in their way.
But�
Immediately after their great victory at Jericho, Israel suffered a humiliating defeat. This verse reveals the cause of their failure – they disobeyed the commands of the Lord.
As we know, there was an agreement between God and Israel - He would give them victory over Jericho and in return they were to devote everything in the city to God. Although Israel would have numerous opportunities to obtain plunder/spoil later on, they were not to take ANYTHING from Jericho because it was the 'first fruit' of the cities of Canaan and as such the city and everything in it belonged to God.
God decreed that anything with breath must die, all metal would go into the tabernacle treasury and everything else was to be burned. So anyone who took spoil from Jericho violated God's command or we might say he 'broke faith' with God (your translation may say 'committed a trespass').
The person who did this terrible thing was named Achan. You can read his family genealogy in I Chronicles chapter two, where you will find that Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, was his ancestor. Judah had two children with Tamar, one being Zerah (or Zarah). Zerah had a son named Zabdi, who had a son named Carmi, who was the father of Achan. In scripture, Achan's name is also often spelled 'Achar', which is a play on words because 'Achar' means 'trouble'.
1 Chronicles 2:7 -And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the devoted thing.
At any rate, we will shortly find out that Achan stole some things from Jericho and hid them in his tent. The scripture tells us that as a result, God was very angry with the entire nation.
This is an interesting situation – the sin/guilt of one man is imputed to the whole nation, who now shares in the penalty associated with the sin. How can that be?
Answer:� The nation in its entirety was in covenant with God and is therefore treated by him as a divinely constituted whole as opposed to individuals living together under a common government.� Therefore, the sin of Achan defiled not only himself, but the collective members of the Israelite community (the whole nation).� Essentially, he robbed the entire nation of holiness before God.� Because of this breach, Israel was no longer acceptable in the sight of the Lord.� God would no longer fight for Israel and she would not be able to drive the Canaanites out of the land.
God still views nations in this same light today. For instance, in the United States, we have sinned in the sight of God by allowing the slaughter of millions of innocent unborn children (abortion).
It is certainly true that multitudes of Americans oppose abortion and have never supported or been associated with the abortion movement. Yet, the sin of those who do has brought down guilt upon our nation as a whole. The good news is that Christians can intervene for our nation before God:
2 Chronicles 7:14 -If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
If we will humble ourselves and repent on behalf of the entire nation, and repent for allowing this evil to go unchecked, God will hear that prayer and heal our land.
We are well aware of our nation's sin of abortion, but at the time Joshua sent men to spy out Ai, Achan's sin was still a secret known only to himself.
Joshua 7:2 – Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Beth-el, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land."� And the men went up and spied out Ai.
Ai (also called Hai) was located east of Beth-el and was about 10-12 miles north of Jericho.� It appears to have been situated on a hill and it was inhabited by the Amorites.
We are not entirely sure why Ai was chosen as the next target, but it may be because the capture of Ai would put the Israelites in possession of the main road running north and south through Canaan and enable them to reach the center of the territory quickly.
As he did before the battle of Jericho, Joshua sent men ahead to spy out the land. They would be gathering information in regard to the defenses of Ai, the size of its army and the surrounding terrain.
Joshua 7:3 – And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai.� Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few."
It turns out that the total population of Ai was about 12,000 people (Joshua 8:25).� That being the case, its army would be very small – probably less than 3000 men.
Accordingly, the spies suggested to Joshua that only a small portion of Israel's army should be sent to capture it.
Commentators have frequently commented on the advice of the spies. In their opinion, sending only part of the armed forces of Israel shows a tendency towards laziness or an inordinate desire for comfort.
However, other scholars feel that the limited number of troops was a result of the mercy of God – had more gone to battle, more may have been killed in the botched raid.
What do you think?
Joshua 7:4-5 – So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
The army of Ai, seeing such a small number of Israelites coming against them, found their courage and rushed out of the city to attack their enemy.
Israel, who no longer had God fighting on their side, immediately lost their courage, turned around and ran away.� Because they fled so early in the skirmish, they were not completely routed in battle and only 36 men were killed.�
The Amorites pursued Israel as far as Shebarim, which means 'breaches' or 'broken places'.� This name probably refers to crevices or ravines in the terrain surrounding the city.� However, it may also refer to the state of Israel – a defeated nation, broken or routed.
Eventually the soldiers returned to the camp of Israel in a state of confusion and fear; their courage had melted away like water. As news of their defeat spread through camp, the rest of the Israelites lost hope too. They were surprised, panicked and horrified. Where was God? Why had he allowed them to suffer defeat? Israel knew that without God's help, the people of Canaan would completely destroy them!
Thus, Israel went from being utterly triumphant to a state of dire distress.� As we might imagine, only one thing could account for this drastic change – SIN!
Achan mistakenly thought that his sin had been concealed, since no one had seen him take booty from Jericho (or at least no one came forward to tell on him).� But he was wrong.� His sin was not concealed from God; there is nothing hidden from the knowledge of the Most High.� Not only does he see every action taken by man, he even knows the thoughts and intents of a man's heart.�
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Considering the entire conquest of Canaan, the defeat at Ai was a relatively small loss, yet it caused incredible terror and confusion to fall upon the entire nation. Instinctively Israel knew that God had forsaken them and if that were the case, they had much, much bigger problems than the defeat at Ai.
But God had not completely abandoned his people. He had already set events in motion that would reveal the sin of Achan to the entire nation. Although there would still be consequences for the sin, God would give Israel a chance to repent.
Joshua 7:6 –Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads.
Tearing one's outer garments, fasting, prostrating oneself on the ground and sprinkling dust on one's head were all signs of mourning and repentance, which were common in the nation of Israel (I Samuel 4:12, II Samuel 13:19, Micah 1:10, etc).� These same characteristics of mourning were exhibited in other ancient nations as well.�
It is logical that Joshua and the elders of the nation would act this way upon hearing of the defeat at Ai. They were certainly mourning the loss of 36 lives. Joshua himself may have felt an additional burden of guilt. Even though he was not directly responsible for the defeat, he probably regretted not sending out the entire army to battle.
Plus, as the leader of the nation, he was grappling with doubts – on the one hand, God had given him ample promises that he would fight for Israel, yet they had just been soundly defeated by a very small kingdom. Israel had obviously lost the assistance of God. If that was the case, what were they to do?
Joshua 7:7 – And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?� Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!"
Joshua's prayer to God appears to be a mixture of faith and unbelief – but is it?
On the one hand, upon hearing of the tragedy at Ai, he immediately repents and seeks the face of God. Joshua knew there was a problem; and he acknowledged that only God had the answers he needed. These actions show an intense faith and trust in the Lord.
On the other hand, Joshua wishes that Israel had never crossed the Jordan to take the Promised Land. This complaint sounds a lot like the murmuring that the children of Israel brought against Moses in the wilderness:
Numbers 14:2-3 – All the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? �
So, why does God show mercy to Joshua in this situation when he severely disciplined the people of Israel earlier?
The answer is a question of faith versus unbelief. There is no doubt that in Numbers 14 the people of Israel were murmuring, complaining and making accusations against God out of a spirit of unbelief. In fact, they are often charged with the sin of unbelief:
Psalms 78:56-57 – But they [Israel] put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.� Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.
(To really understand the depths of their unbelief, read Psalm 78 in its entirety). Joshua, however, was actually speaking/praying from a position of faith. God had promised to give Israel the land and Joshua had full and complete faith in that promise. In fact, he had been holding onto that exact promise for 40 years!
Nevertheless, Israel had just suffered a defeat.� What we are witnessing here (and in the next couple verses) is Joshua boldly wrestling with God in prayer, trying to understand how the defeat at Ai figured into God's overall promise to give Israel the land and glorify his name throughout the known world.
Joshua 7:8-9 – "O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!� For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth.� And what will you do for your great name?"
Joshua continues to pour out his heart in prayer. He is deeply concerned that once the Canaanites, Philistines and other inhabitants of the land hear of this defeat, they will band together and come after Israel. If God does not fight for her, Israel will be completely wiped off the face of the earth.
This is significant because all the heathen nations had heard how God delivered his people Israel from Egypt and provided for them as they traveled through the wilderness. These miracles brought glory to God and gave the heathen reasons to acknowledge his power and turn towards his mercy.
However, if Israel was wiped out by her enemies, God's name and reputation would be blasphemed among the heathen. They would claim that God allowed Israel to perish because he was incapable of delivering on the promises he made to give them the land (Exodus 32:11-12, Deuteronomy 9:27-29, etc). As a result, the Gentiles/heathen would despise God and turn away from him.
So, we conclude that Joshua's prayer to God does not exhibit unbelief. It merely reflects a true and faithful believer bearing his soul to the Lord.
Our prayers are often of a similar nature.� In times of intense shock and grief, we too will turn immediately to God, just as Joshua did.� Why?� Because we have the same intense faith in God that he did.� We know that God is trustworthy and dependable.� We know that he loves us, and we feel comfortable coming into his presence and bearing our souls before him.�
In fact, we sometimes run into his presence before we have had a chance to logically think about our situation and give our faith a chance to manifest. In such cases, our prayers will naturally reflect desperation and emotion. During those times, it would not be uncommon for us to say/pray stupid things (i.e., we never should have crossed the Jordan).
However, we need not fear or worry. God knows our innermost thoughts; he knows our prayers do not spring up from a well of murmuring against him, but out of a sincere heart that desires to please him. And we can take comfort in know that God invites us to cast all our cares upon him, because he cares for us:
1 Peter 5:6-7 – Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.
For his part, God pardons our sin and makes allowances for our weaknesses. If he didn't, none of our prayers would be pure – all of them would be stained with sin and/or unbelief! Thankfully, we have an advocate/mediator with the Father – none other than Jesus himself – and we have the assistance of Holy Spirit as we pour out our hearts to God (Romans 8:26) in prayer.
Joshua 7:10 – The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?"
God immediately and directly answers the prayer of Joshua. He instructs Joshua to stop mourning and to stand to his feet. God was about to reveal the cause of Israel's sin and give Joshua instructions on how to deal with it.
This answer must have given Joshua great relief. Once the situation was dealt with, Israel would once again be in fellowship with God. God would defend both the nation of Israel and his own reputation among the heathen.
Joshua 7:11 – "Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings."
God comes straight to the point – the cause of Israel's defeat was not due to the unfaithfulness of God.� It was due to the sin of Israel - someone had violated the covenant/agreement that was made between God and the nation.
In this case, the word 'covenant' does not specifically refer to the 10 commandments, although elements of lying and stealing were involved in the sin. The reference refers to the specific instructions of God that everything in the city of Jericho was to be devoted to destruction.
Because someone in the nation was in possession of items that were cursed, the curse passed onto the entire nation:
Deuteronomy 7:26 –And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it�.
God describes the sinful act in great detail. These are the charges he brings against the guilty party:
- They have transgressed the covenant/agreement made with him regarding the city of Jericho.�
- They have stolen some of the devoted things, showing contempt for the curse that was solemnly announced against anyone who would dare to take God's property.�
- They concealed the items in question, vainly thinking they could hide them from the Lord, or that he wouldn't take notice of it.�
- They hid the cursed items in with their own belongings without remorse, acting as though they had done no wickedness.�
Interestingly, God does not reveal the name of the culprit to Joshua. Why do you suppose that was the case? Two possibilities come to mind.
There can be no doubt that immediately after his conversation with God, Joshua informed the entire nation that the cause of their defeat at Ai was a transgression against God. Specifically, someone had taken items from Jericho that should have been destroyed. Since no action was being taken until the next day, the guilty party had a substantial amount of time to think about his crime and repent.
If he had done so, who knows what might have happened?� Perhaps God would have accepted a trespass offering from him and he could have been pardoned.� Instead, Achan refuses to repent which reveals the hardness of his heart, and leads to his own destruction.�
Secondly, knowing that the guilty party would not repent and turn himself in, God left his identity a secret so that a public trial would ensue. As we will see in our next post, the public trial shows the omniscience of God, as well as the penalty to anyone who transgresses his commands. It served as a deterrent to anyone else who was thinking of sinning against God.
Joshua 7:12 – "Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.� They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction.� I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you."
The only way to remove the curse from Israel was to destroy the devoted items and punish the sinner.�� This must be done without delay, so that Israel's relationship to God could be restored.
Here is the good news: God assured Joshua that the theft of the devoted items was the sole cause of Israel's trouble. So once that situation was handled, Joshua could expect Israel to continue having great success in the conquest of the Promised Land.
Let me offer you some encouragement:
In today's post we find that Joshua had an enormous problem – God was no longer assisting Israel with the conquest of her enemies. He needed to know why this was happening, and what to do about it.
He did the same thing any Christian would do – he humbled himself before God and diligently prayed for an answer. Although parts of his prayer seemed inappropriate, we know that he was sincerely crying out to God from the very depths of his heart. And we know that God answered that prayer.
At times we too encounter enormous problems that require wisdom and intervention from God, and we naturally turn to him in prayer. But we have a benefit that Joshua did not have – the special assistance of Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
We are often short-sighted, biased and weak when we pray in emergency situations.� But thankfully, help is available.� Holy Spirit is there to assist us during those times.�
The apostle Paul tells us that Holy Spirit helps or 'heaves with us' as we lift that burden up to God. He increases the faith and fervency of our prayers, brings scriptural promises to mind and calms our fears.
He also helps us make our petitions known to God by the use of heavenly languages. If you don't have a heavenly language of your own, I encourage you to ask the Lord to give you one. It is an amazing gift and once you have it, you will wonder how you ever got along without it!
Let me offer you some relief:
Achan had a 'secret sin'.� Even though no one else knew it, God was well aware that it existed.� Sometimes we harbor 'secret' sins in our lives as well.�
Psalms 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Now is a good time to remind ourselves that sin is always detrimental to our lives, no matter how insignificant or harmless it may seem. If you need relief from any kind of sin, ask God to forgive you and seek the help of Holy Spirit who can assist you in uprooting that evil weed from your heart.
Let me offer you some strength:
Isn't it great to know that no matter how big your problems are, you never walk through them alone? God is always present in every storm giving us strength, guidance and wisdom so that we can do the same thing Joshua did – obtain victory by walking in a manner that pleases/glorifies God.
If you need wisdom and strength to face a situation in your life right now, put yourself in the presence of the Lord and listen for his voice.� He will surely answer you!�