The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites. The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfullyThis phrase sets the stage for the narrative of disobedience. The Hebrew word for "acted unfaithfully" is "ma'al," which implies a breach of trust or treachery. In the context of the covenant relationship between God and Israel, this unfaithfulness is not merely a personal failing but a communal breach of the divine covenant. The Israelites, as a collective, are held accountable for the actions of one, highlighting the communal nature of sin and responsibility in the biblical narrative. regarding the things devoted to destruction
The term "devoted to destruction" comes from the Hebrew word "cherem," which refers to things set apart for God, often through destruction, as a form of divine judgment. This concept underscores the seriousness of the Israelites' covenant with God, where certain things were to be wholly given over to Him, symbolizing total consecration and obedience. The violation of this command is a direct affront to God's holiness and sovereignty. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah
The specificity of Achan's lineage serves to emphasize the gravity of his sin. By tracing his ancestry, the text not only identifies the individual responsible but also connects him to the broader community of Israel, particularly the tribe of Judah, which holds significant prominence in Israel's history. This lineage highlights the personal and communal implications of sin, as Achan's actions bring consequences upon his entire tribe and nation. took some of what was devoted to destruction
The act of taking what was "cherem" signifies a direct violation of God's command. The Hebrew verb "laqach" (took) indicates an intentional and deliberate action. Achan's sin is not one of ignorance but of willful disobedience, reflecting a heart that prioritizes personal gain over divine command. This act of taking what was forbidden serves as a cautionary tale about the allure of material possessions and the danger of coveting what belongs to God. and the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites
The phrase "the anger of the LORD burned" uses the Hebrew word "charah," which conveys intense anger or wrath. This anthropomorphic expression illustrates God's righteous indignation towards sin and disobedience. It serves as a reminder of God's holiness and justice, emphasizing that sin has serious consequences not only for the individual but for the community as a whole. The communal impact of Achan's sin reflects the interconnectedness of the covenant community and the seriousness with which God views covenantal breaches. Persons / Places / Events 1. The IsraelitesThe collective people of God who were journeying to the Promised Land. They were expected to follow God's commands faithfully. 2. AchanA member of the tribe of Judah who disobeyed God's command by taking items devoted to destruction, causing God's anger to burn against Israel. 3. Carmi, Zabdi, ZerahAncestors of Achan, indicating his lineage from the tribe of Judah, which is significant in Israel's history. 4. The Tribe of JudahOne of the twelve tribes of Israel, known for its leadership role and later association with King David and Jesus Christ. 5. The LORD’s AngerRepresents God's righteous response to sin and disobedience, emphasizing His holiness and justice. Teaching Points The Seriousness of SinSin is not just a personal issue but affects the entire community. Achan's sin brought consequences upon all Israel, reminding us of the communal impact of our actions. Obedience to GodGod’s commands are to be followed completely. Partial obedience is disobedience, as seen in Achan's actions. The Holiness of GodGod’s anger against sin reflects His holiness. We must approach Him with reverence and respect for His commands. Repentance and RestorationWhile sin has consequences, God provides a path to repentance and restoration. Acknowledge sin, seek forgiveness, and restore fellowship with God. AccountabilityWe are accountable to God and each other. Achan’s account reminds us of the importance of accountability within the community of believers. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Achan's sin illustrate the communal nature of sin and its consequences for the people of God? 2. In what ways can we ensure that we are fully obedient to God's commands in our daily lives? 3. How does the account of Achan compare to other biblical accounts of disobedience, such as Saul in 1 Samuel 15 or Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? 4. What steps can we take to maintain accountability within our Christian communities to prevent sin from taking root? 5. How can we apply the principles of repentance and restoration in our personal walk with God when we fall short of His commands? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 27Discusses items devoted to the Lord, highlighting the seriousness of dedicating things to God and the consequences of misusing them. 1 Samuel 15Relates to King Saul's disobedience in not fully destroying the Amalekites, showing a pattern of disobedience and its consequences. Acts 5The account of Ananias and Sapphira, who also kept back part of what was devoted to God, resulting in severe consequences. People Achan, Amorites, Canaanites, Carmi, Israelites, Joshua, Zabdi, Zarhites, Zerah, Zerahites, ZimriPlaces Ai, Beth-aven, Bethel, Jericho, Jordan River, Shebarim, Shinar, Valley of AchorTopics Accursed, Achan, Acted, Anger, Ban, Broke, Burned, Burneth, Carmi, Commit, Committed, Curse, Cursed, Devoted, Faith, Family, Judah, Kindled, Lord's, Moving, Regard, Sons, Taketh, Trespass, Tribe, Unfaithfully, Unfaithfulness, Wrath, Wrong, Zabdi, Zerah, ZimriDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 7:1 1025 God, anger of
5790 anger, divine
5844 emotions
6218 provoking God
8223 dedication
8282 intolerance
8780 materialism, and sin
8840 unfaithfulness, to God Joshua 7:1-5 5836 disgrace Joshua 7:1-7 9210 judgment, God's Joshua 7:1-16 6024 sin, effects of Joshua 7:1-26 6173 guilt, and God
8479 self-examination, examples Library Achan's Sin, Israel's Defeat
'But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. 2. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-ei, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. 3. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWhether one Can, Without a Mortal Sin, Deny the Truth which Would Lead to One's Condemnation?
Objection 1: It would seem one can, without a mortal sin, deny the truth which would lead to one's condemnation. For Chrysostom says (Hom. xxxi super Ep. ad Heb.): "I do not say that you should lay bare your guilt publicly, nor accuse yourself before others." Now if the accused were to confess the truth in court, he would lay bare his guilt and be his own accuser. Therefore he is not bound to tell the truth: and so he does not sin mortally if he tell a lie in court. Objection 2: Further, just as …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Contention Over the Man Born Blind.
(Jerusalem.) ^D John IX. 1-41. [Some look upon the events in this and the next section as occurring at the Feast of Tabernacles in October, others think they occurred at the Feast of Dedication in December, deriving their point of time from John x. 22.] ^d 1 And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. [The man probably sought to waken compassion by repeatedly stating this fact to passers-by.] 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Confession of Sin --A Sermon with Seven Texts
The Hardened Sinner. PHARAOH--"I have sinned."--Exodus 9:27. I. The first case I shall bring before you is that of the HARDENED SINNER, who, when under terror, says, "I have sinned." And you will find the text in the book of Exodus, the 9th chap. and 27th verse: "And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." But why this confession from the lips of the haughty tyrant? He was not often wont to …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857 Restraining Prayer: is it Sin?
"Thou restrainest prayer before God."--JOB xv. 4. "What profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?"--JOB xxi. 15. "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."--1 SAM. xii. 23. "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you."--JOSH. vii. 12. Any deep quickening of the spiritual life of the Church will always be accompanied by a deeper sense of sin. This will not begin with theology; that can only give expression to what God works …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession The Practice of Piety in Glorifying God in the Time of Sickness, and when Thou Art Called to Die in the Lord.
As soon as thou perceivest thyself to be visited with any sickness, meditate with thyself: 1. That "misery cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth affliction spring out of the earth." Sickness comes not by hap or chance (as the Philistines supposed that their mice and emrods came, 1 Sam. vi. 9), but from man's wickedness, which, as sparkles, breaketh out. "Man suffereth," saith Jeremiah, "for his sins." "Fools," saith David, "by reason of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Exposition of the Moral Law.
1. The Law was committed to writing, in order that it might teach more fully and perfectly that knowledge, both of God and of ourselves, which the law of nature teaches meagrely and obscurely. Proof of this, from an enumeration of the principal parts of the Moral Law; and also from the dictate of natural law, written on the hearts of all, and, in a manner, effaced by sin. 2. Certain general maxims. 1. From the knowledge of God, furnished by the Law, we learn that God is our Father and Ruler. Righteousness …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Of a Private Fast.
That we may rightly perform a private fast, four things are to be observed:--First, The author; Secondly, The time and occasion; Thirdly, The manner; Fourthly, The ends of private fasting. 1. Of the Author. The first that ordained fasting was God himself in paradise; and it was the first law that God made, in commanding Adam to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit. God would not pronounce nor write his law without fasting (Lev. xxiii), and in his law commands all his people to fast. So does our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Beth-El. Beth-Aven.
Josephus thus describes the land of Benjamin; "The Benjamites' portion of land was from the river Jordan to the sea, in length: in breadth, it was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." Let these last words be marked, "The breadth of the land of Benjamin was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." May we not justly conclude, from these words, that Jerusalem and Beth-el were opposite, as it were, in a right line? But if you look upon the maps, there are some that separate these by a very large tract of land, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Holiness of God
The next attribute is God's holiness. Exod 15:51. Glorious in holiness.' Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of his crown; it is the name by which God is known. Psa 111:1. Holy and reverend is his name.' He is the holy One.' Job 6:60. Seraphims cry, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.' Isa 6:6. His power makes him mighty, his holiness makes him glorious. God's holiness consists in his perfect love of righteousness, and abhorrence of evil. Of purer eyes than …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision F. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. ^C Luke XVI. 19-31. [The parable we are about to study is a direct advance upon the thoughts in the previous section. We may say generally that if the parable of the unjust steward teaches how riches are to be used, this parable sets forth the terrible consequences of a failure to so use them. Each point of the previous discourse is covered in detail, as will be shown by the references in the discussion of the parable.] …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Joshua
The book of Joshua is the natural complement of the Pentateuch. Moses is dead, but the people are on the verge of the promised land, and the story of early Israel would be incomplete, did it not record the conquest of that land and her establishment upon it. The divine purpose moves restlessly on, until it is accomplished; so "after the death of Moses, Jehovah spake to Joshua," i. 1. The book falls naturally into three divisions: (a) the conquest of Canaan (i.-xii.), (b) the settlement of the …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joshua 7:1 NIVJoshua 7:1 NLTJoshua 7:1 ESVJoshua 7:1 NASBJoshua 7:1 KJV
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