Joshua 7:16-26

Joshua 7:16-26

[16] So Joshua  rose up early  in the morning,  and brought  Israel  by their tribes;  of Judah  was taken:  [17] And he brought  the family  of Judah;  and he took  the family  of the Zarhites:  and he brought  the family  of the Zarhites  man  and Zabdi  was taken:  [18] And he brought  his household  man  and Achan,  the son  of Carmi,  the son  of Zabdi,  the son  of Zerah,  of the tribe  of Judah,  was taken.  [19] And Joshua  said  unto Achan,  My son,  give,  I pray thee, glory  to the LORD  God  of Israel,  and make  confession  unto him; and tell  me now what thou hast done;  hide  it not from me. [20] And Achan  answered  Joshua,  and said,  Indeed  I have sinned  against the LORD  God  of Israel,  and thus and thus have I done:  [21] When 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  [22] So Joshua  sent  messengers,  and they ran  unto the tent;  and, behold, it was hid  in his tent,  and the silver  [23] And 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.  [24] And 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.  [25] And 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.  [26] And 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. 

What does Joshua 7:16-26 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Even though Achan"s sin carried a punishment that he could not decrease or postpone, Achan could at least reduce his guilt by confessing his sin. This he did in response to Joshua"s paternal entreaty ( Joshua 7:19). Confessing one"s sin is one way to glorify God.
Achan"s confession clearly revealed the process involved in yielding to temptation ( Joshua 7:21). He allowed the sight of something attractive to grow into covetousness. Then he took the step from covert mental sin to overt physical sin. Finally he sought to cover his action rather than confessing it. The same progression appears in the story of the Fall and in the story of David"s sin with Bathsheba ( Genesis 3:6-7; Genesis 3:10; 2 Samuel 11:2-4; 2 Samuel 11:8). One shekel weighed about four ounces. Josephus wrote that the mantle from Shinar that Achan took was "a royal garment woven entirely of gold." [1]
The Israelites punished Achan"s children with him ( Joshua 7:24), evidently because they had participated in his sin (cf. Proverbs 15:27). [2] It would have been difficult for Achan to hide the amount of spoil he took under his tent without his family"s knowledge. The people also destroyed all of Achan"s possessions (cf. Deuteronomy 13:16-17). Achan"s sin was high-handed defiance against God (cf. Numbers 15:30; Numbers 15:35).
The heap of stones the people raised over Achan, his family, and his possessions ( Joshua 7:26) memorialized this act of rebellion for the Israelites and their children (cf. Joshua 8:29; 2 Samuel 18:17). They named the valley in which the execution took place "Achor" (lit. troubling or disaster) as a further reminder (cf. Hosea 2:15; Isaiah 65:10). Note the wordplay with Achan"s name.
"Whilst they [3] learned from his mercies how greatly he was to be loved, they needed also to learn from his judgments how greatly he was to be feared." [4]
Israel"s defeat at Ai graphically illustrates the far-reaching influence of sin. The private sin of one or a few individuals can affect the welfare of many other people who do not personally commit that sin.
Achan and his family were to Israel at this time what Ananias and Sapphira were to the early church ( Acts 5). They were a strong warning of the consequences of sin among God"s people. Nadab and Abihu ( Leviticus 10), and Korah and his cohorts ( Numbers 16), were similar examples. The fact that God does not judge sin today as He did on these occasions does not mean He feels any less strongly about it. He mercifully withholds judgment in most instances. Nevertheless sin still produces the same destruction and death.
"God"s first revenges are so much more fearful, because they must be exemplary." [5]
God"s punishment on Achan was not unfair. It is only by God"s mercy that any sinner lives to old age. God can judge any sinner at any time in his or her life and be perfectly just. No sinner has any claim on God"s grace. God is no man"s debtor.
"As we read in ch. vii the story of Israel"s first fight and first failure, we shall see that there were in the main, two causes of defeat: self-confidence, and covetousness; and these are still prime causes of failure in a Christian life." [6]
Chapters1-7 form a unit of text: the Jericho siege narrative. Rahab and Achan open and close this section respectively forming its "bookends." Rahab was a female Canaanite prostitute; Achan was an Israelite man. Rahab hid the spies under her roof; Achan hid stolen loot under his tent. Rahab, her house, and her family were saved; Achan, his tent, and his family were destroyed. The writer was teaching theology by the way he constructed his narrative. [7]