Joshua 7 - 8

In chapter 6 we saw the Israelites following the battle plan given to them by God which led to the fall of Jericho. One aspect of the plan was that all that was in the city was to be “devoted to the Lord.” This means that all the silver, gold, bronze, and iron were sacred to the Lord and must go into the treasury. Soldiers were not to take plunder for themselves.

One Israelite, by the name of Achan, may have thought that he could have gotten away with keeping some items for himself. This didn’t turn out well at all for Achan, his family or for some of the Israelites. What do we know about Achan? Achan was from the tribe of Judah. 1 Chron. 2:7 referred to him as the person who brought trouble to Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things. How did he bring trouble to the nation when he was the one who committed the sin? Well, there is something called corporate responsibility. Sometimes when someone does something wrong, it impacts others. Just as the rain falls on the just and the unjust, sometimes punishment falls on the just as well as the unjust. When a nation suffers, not everyone in the nation is directly responsible. Before the sin of Achan was uncovered, the Israelites sent spies to scout out their next target, the town of Ai. The spies reported that they wouldn’t need very many men for this battle, the town appeared smaller and less heavily defended than Jericho (Joshua 7:3). Well, that battle didn’t go very well for the Israelites. Joshua 7:5, they were routed by their enemy and their hearts “melted and became like water.” It looked like the table had been turned. Before the battle, the Israelites were confident of victory and the Canaanites were fearful. Now, it was the Israelites who were fearful and running for their lives.

Joshua was shocked and grieved by these events. In Joshua 7:7 he prayed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.” Have you noticed that many times when people are emotionally upset, they don’t always think rationally? Joshua’s first thought was to think that God wanted to destroy the Israelites.

God responded to Joshua’s comments, Joshua 7:10, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant. . . they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied.” The first fruit concept was taught in Deut. 18:4. To not give to God what was to be devoted to him was robbing God. God then tells Joshua to find the guilty person and punish him. Until Joshua does, the Israelites would not win any more victories against their enemies. Joshua may have thought, “Oh, so you’re not trying to destroy us. That’s good to hear. Someone in our group is responsible for our defeat. OK, we’ll find and punish the culprit. And one more thing God, I’m sorry for accusing you of wanting to kill us all.”

An investigation to find the guilty person(s) was conducted by the authorities (verse 14) and it was determined by lots that Achan was the guilty person. When confronted, Achan confessed. Joshua 7:20, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord. 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.” His explanation sounds a bit like Eve in the Garden of Eden. Gen. 3:6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” Achan used the “pleasing to the eye and desirable” excuse to explain his actions.

Joshua and all of Israel took Achan and his family and all his possessions to the Valley of Achor. Joshua 7:25, “Joshua said to Achan, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.’” Then all Israel stoned him and after they stoned the rest of his family, they burned them.” He brought trouble onto Israel; hence Achan became known by the title, “troubler of Israel” in I Chron.2:7. I think King Ahab also used that title with Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17 when he addressed him, “Is that you? You troubler of Israel.”

The irony in this event is that, as pleasing to the eye and desirable as the stolen items were to Achan, they were actually worthless. Because his plunder was illegal, he couldn’t wear the robe or jewelry. He risked so much to gain something that he had to bury in the ground under his tent. It sounds like when rich people buy precious jewelry that they must keep “buried” in a safe deposit box. It costs them money to insure the items and then they worry that they might be stolen when they are being worn only occasionally.

Achan’s sin led to the deaths of thirty-six of his fellow soldiers and defeat for the whole army. The Israelites had been specifically warned not to take the devoted things. Joshua had told them, “Keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it” (Joshua 6:18). Achan wasn’t confused or mistaken when he took the plunder. He hid it because he knew that it was wrong. He also had time to repent, he could have come forward early in the investigation. Why would Achan’s family be destroyed with him? Well, his family was involved in the plot, at least in the coverup. 

What a contrast between Rahab and Achan. Rahab was an outsider who became an insider when she recognized the power of God. Achan, who had witnessed the power of God became an outsider. Rahab, a Canaanite woman saved her whole family and Achan, an Israelite man, is instrumental in destroying his.

The chain of events in this tragic episode began with Achan seeing something desirable, to coveting what he shouldn’t want, leading to stealing and to death. James 1:14–15 says, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

With this ugly episode behind them, God tells Joshua to attack Ai again, but this time, they would be successful. Joshua 8:1, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you. . . For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai.” Not only that, but now “you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves.” Poor Achan, if only he had waited a bit longer, he could have lived and had the plunder. I imagine the Israelites were highly motivated for this battle. God has said that He has delivered the entire land into their hands, and as a bonus, Joshua 8:2, “you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves.” God even gave them a battle plan, “set an ambush behind the city.”

Joshua divided up his army with some of his soldiers drawing the Canaanite soldiers out of the city to attack the Israelites, who start to turn away. Joshua 8:17, “Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.” While they were running with the soldiers of Ai in pursuit, the rest of the Israelite Army entered the city and set it on fire (verse 19). Joshua 8:20, “The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky.” Then Joshua stopped his retreating troops and turned to attack the soldiers of Ai from one side as the Israelites, fleeing the city attacked them from the other side. There was no escape. Verse 25, “Twelve thousand men and women fell that day-all the people of Ai.” The king (a term used for a military leader) was captured and later executed and buried before sundown as prescribed in (Deut. 21:22-23).

The line, “twelve thousand men and women fell that day” is troubling. It’s one thing to know what the passage says, and it’s another to know what it means. The use of “women” and “young and old” at Jericho and Ai are, as scholars explain, “stereotypical expressions for the destruction of all human life in the fort, presumably composed entirely of combatants.” The text doesn’t require that woman and young and old are in these “cities.” Also, Jericho and Ai were little more than military outposts similar to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona where I was once stationed. Both were built to protect travel routes and borders.

Both Jericho and Ai were small installations. This is shown by the fact that Jericho could be circled seven times and a battle fought all in one day. It suggests that there were probably fewer than 100 soldiers stationed there. Though it was called a “city” the term meant little more than a place for governmental operations. We could call it Ft. Jericho. The rest of the population, women, and children, lived in the surrounding countryside. All archeological evidence indicates that NO civilian populations existed at Jericho, Ai, and other cities mentioned in the Book of Joshua.

After the battle (and the assessing of their plunder) Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord and offered a sacrifice. Then, Joshua 8:34, “Afterward Joshua read all the words of the law-the blessings and the curses-just as it is written in the Book of the Law.” There the Israelites renewed the covenant made earlier.

What a busy day: combat, plunder, sacrifices and a renewal of the covenant. Then, they all collapsed with exhaustion and woke up three days later. Or maybe not.

Jim Elliot was a Christian missionary and one of five people killed during an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. He reflected on the dangers of the trip when he wrote in his diary, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Elliot gave his temporary physical life but gained eternal rewards which he could not lose. Achan was a fool; in that he gave up eternal rewards which he could never lose to gain temporary material assets.

When we choose to spend our time and money on things that are of temporary value at the expense of those of eternal value, are we not also making foolish decisions, like Achan?