Radical Removal of Sin

Text: Joshua 7:14-26 Theme: God’s wrath comes on those who willfully disobey Key verses: In the morning present yourselves…and the family that the Lord takes shall come forward man by man. He who is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord…” (v. 14-15) “Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done…Achan replied, ‘It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel…'” (v. 19-20) “Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan…and all that he had to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.'” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them…” (v. 22-25) What God said to me: Son, there are many hidden nuances in this passage regarding my character, my judgment and my expectations from my people. You will need to read and dig much more than you will do during this devotion time in order to grasp many of the deeper insights. However, there are a couple important truths I want you to grasp today. First, I take sin and its results on my people very, very seriously. Achan willfully ignored my edict and gave in to his greed and selfishness. It cost Israel 36 lives in battle and a stinging defeat. I do not turn my head from such rebellion and darkly hidden sin. Had Achan repented, things might have gone a bit easier for him and better for the people of Israel. But Achan had to be singled out. His sin “found him out.” He did not choose to dig up those devoted articles and present them himself. Further, even when he was caught and encouraged to give praise to me, he never uttered one word of worship. He never said he was sorry for what he had done; only that he had indeed sinned. What else was he to say? He had had a miserable morning of watching tribe after tribe, clan after clan, family after family be whittled away until he himself was standing before Joshua. Achan was caught red-handed. The other great truth I want you to see today is the effect of Achan’s sin on his family. Everyone else had to die as well. They all suffered the consequences of Achan’s rebellion. Cruel of me, you say? Why would I demand that such henious punishment come on his “innocent” family? Dwayne, you will never fully understand my purposes in that. However, know this: When cancer is removed, it must be completely eradicated. Unfortunately the organs affected must also be removed. His family had been influenced by him. His possessions had his marks and strings attached to them as a future reminder of his accomplishments and presence. My goal is to wipe clean any hint of sin from among my people. I will not tolerate disobedience period. And I will not allow anyone to hurt my people, lest they face the worse kind of punishment. What I said to God: Thank you, holy and awesome Lord, for speaking to me this morning. I am amazed at Your complex character. I do not claim to be able to comprehend Your ways. But this I do most assuredly grasp: You hate sin. My only response to my sin is to fall at Your feet in repentance and turn from my wicked ways. Please, O God, do not allow me to fall into such rebellion as would adversely affect my family and those You died for. I plead Your mercy and trust Your grace and power. Praise You for being the holy and righteous Father and Creator that You are.