Joshua 7:1-26

The victory in Jericho was followed by a defeat in Ai.  This small town that the spies were confident could be taken by two or three thousand men ended up killing 36 of the soldiers as they ran from the city.  Victories are very dangerous because they can create a sense of self confidence and self reliance that can ultimately spell our doom.  It appears that the report of the spies brought such a confidence in light of the victory in Jericho.  God was well aware of the sin in the camp and I believe that He would have warned Joshua to deal with the sin prior to going to battle in Ai, but it appears that Joshua did not bother to seek God prior to the battle.  Only after the defeat did Joshua fall on his face before God.  Defeats are often blessings in disguise because they almost always put us where we belong; on our faces before the Lord.  The key to a consistent life before the Lord is to constantly be on our faces during both the good times and the bad.  The story of Ai and Achan provide a very sobering look at sin, it’s consequences as well as how God deals with those who rebel against Him.

SIN RESULTS IN SEPARATION: The children of Israel have been experiencing a season of great blessing from God and are enjoying the fruits of their trust and obedience.  However, that all comes to a screeching halt because of sin.  Sin results in a separation from the blessings of God in our lives.  In this case the army was defeated because God was not there fighting for them.  There are times where we may not even be aware that God is no longer blessing us or our work, but that is indicative of a walk that is being achieved through the power of the flesh.  We may be able to “fake it” for awhile and we may be able to “fake out” the people who are around us, but we will never fool God.  If we want His blessing to be our companion in life; we must walk in obedience and dependence upon Him.  Sin always looks appealing to us and we can usually find rationalizations to defend our sinfulness but God is not convinced.  He will not bless those who live in rebellion against Him.  Unfortunately, others often end up being hurt because of our sin.

SIN THRIVES IN SECRECY:  Secrecy is one of the most important allies of sin.  We naturally want to hide our sins from others because we don’t want to be exposed.  Achan had just come up with silver, gold and a new set of clothes.  Had he come by these things in an honest manner, he would have been praising the Lord for the blessing, wearing his new outfit and probably been out buying a bigger and better tent.  Instead, all his new “stuff” is buried inside of his old tent.  Out natural tendency is to hide when we sin.  This goes back to the first game of “hide and go seek” that Adam played with God in the Garden of Eden.  It is vital that we all understand that secrecy is nonexistent.  We may be able to hide our sin from men, at least for a period of time, but we can never hide our sin from God.  Joshua tells the people that they will be tested on the next day and that there is sin in the camp that God will reveal.  I wonder if Achan had stepped forward at that time and brought out the “stuff” if this story would have turned out differently.  Instead, Achan tries to hide his sin as long as possible.  All sin in known by God.  We are never really in “secret” we must be faithful to confess our sin so that it does not thrive.  Rather, we must expose our sin so that God can deal with it.

SIN ENDS IN SUFFERING: As tantalizing as sin appears when we are initially tempted, it almost always ends in tremendous suffering.  Unfortunately, that suffering is not limited to the person who committed the sin.  Achan was not even in the group of 36 men who died in Ai.  Our sin brings suffering to all those around us.  It robs us and others of the blessings of walking in the presence of God and in fellowship with God.  We get to choose if we will sin or not.  However, we do not get to choose the consequences of our sin.  Achan never dreamed that taking these sacred items would end up causing him and his entire family to be stoned and burned by the rest of the nation.  Achan never imagined that his sin would bring about the defeat of the army.  The point is that this is exactly what happened and he had very little choice in the matter.  Sin never appears with a warning label that lets us know what the consequences will be.  Whenever we are faced with temptation to sin we must stop and realize that if we choose to sin we will no longer have any control over the consequences of those sins.  We must constantly remind ourselves that the pleasure in which sin is wrapped always leads to pain once that wrapping is torn off.