Joshua Bible Study Lesson Snippet
What are the steps to sin?
Joshua 7:12-19 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. (13) Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. (14) 'In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD takes shall come forward clan by clan; the clan that the LORD takes shall come forward family by family; and the family that the LORD takes shall come forward man by man. (15) 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 and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel!' " (16) Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was taken. (17) The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken. (18) Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. (19) 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; do not hide it from me."
What a horrendous thing to actually go through! What you have got here is God bringing this sin which is hidden into the open, where it can be fully seen. He does this in a very public way, among the whole nation. Something had happened here, there was an accursed thing in their midst and God was opening it up so that the whole nation would be involved in this process and would see what sin had caused them to fail. I bet Achan thought he was safe... at the start! You have got a couple of million people and I suppose that at the beginning he thought the chances of getting found out are slim. But as it whittled down, I bet he began to get the old knocking knees! Firstly his tribe is selected and then all the families are taken out and his family name is taken. Then it goes down even further when his father's name is taken. That would have been quite a scary process if you had been the one that had actually committed the act. It is amazing that he didn't come out right at the beginning but he doesn't. He holds out right to the end hoping that he was going to get away with it. Like every good thief, in their mind they are not guilty until they are caught!
I was called up to do jury service a couple of months ago and I was just thinking about this process of what it was like. Now nobody wants to do it. There was probably 120-150 of us. Out of that they take 30 and my name was called in that 30. Then out of that 30 they take 10 and again my name was called. You feel like you have received the sentence yourself! So when I was thinking about Achan, I thought it would have been a scary process to go through for him when sin is actually exposed. Before I was a Christian I used to get away with pretty much most things. I got caught a bit but I also got away with a lot. But there was a day when my sin actually caught and found me out and I came to see what the extent of my sin really was. I am glad that what happened to Achan didn't happen to me because his sin is bought right out into the open and his sin sure does catch him out.
Joshua 7:20-21 Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: (21) 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. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
You have got these three steps really in his sin. He saw, he coveted and he took. And in James chapter 1, he talks about sin really in this sort of order, three steps.
James 1:14-15 '...each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (15) Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.'
So he is talking about the progression in sin. Every one is tempted, but you are drawn away by your own desires. When that takes hold then the sin grows and it brings forth death. Achan said 'When I saw the spoils I coveted them.' He wanted to take some of the booty from God's victory; he coveted the wealth there, and he took it. You have got that three stage progression. You see the same three stage progression with Eve right back in the beginning. She saw the fruit, she wanted something from it, she coveted it and she took it. You have got the same three steps with David and Bathsheba: He saw, he coveted and he took.
From: Joshua Chapter 7 Bible Study: Ai and the sin of Achan