“What is sin? What are the consequences of sin in our lives? How can we avoid and get rid of sin in our lives? How can sin disqualify us from our ‘Promise Land’? What lessons can we learn from the life of Achan?”

This evening, we would be moving on in the life and history of Israel in their pursuit of the Promise Land. They just had an awesome victory over the City of Jericho as its mighty walls they came tumbling down as they obeyed God’s strategy and shouted God’s praise! However, this wonderful story does not have the happy ending we all wanted all because of one man’s sin. My desire after this message is that all of us would have an awareness of how destructive sin can be to our lives and those around us aw well. My desire is that this sermon would create in us a holy fear for God and a desire to live right before Him.

TEXT: Joshua 6:18-21; 7:1, 20-21

It must have been a joyous time for Joshua and all the Israelites as the Lord has given them victory over the mighty city, Jericho. It was just the start of their conquest over the land of Canaan and surely God’s hand was with them. Their spirits were high and their hearts confident that nothing could come against them. For this reason, they were too over confident as they set out to attack the next city, Ai. It was just a small city and was far more vulnerable and weaker than Jericho. However to the surprise of the Israelite army, they were badly beaten and 36 of their warriors were killed (7:5)! This shocked Israel and the whole community were paralysed with fear! Joshua and the leaders were disheartened and in mourning before the Lord until God pointed out the ‘sin in the camp’ and warned them of worst things to come lest this sin is dealt with.

Here are Achan’s sins:

1.) He DISOBEYED God’s command

When Achan took the beautiful robe, 200 silver coins, and the bar of gold (7:20), he disobeyed God’s explicit command ‘not to take anything set apart for destruction’ (6:18). He was blinded by the temporary offer of wealth and in doing o, he was disqualified from the Promise Land.

2.) He STOLE God’s belongings

In the Old Testament warfare, whenever the Israelites would conquer a city, they were expected to obey God’s specific command as to the ‘spoils of war’. At times the Lord would declare everything and everyone to be ‘set apart for destruction’ as such is the case of Jericho. This means everything MUST BE DESTROYED and everyone KILLED, both the inhabitants and the livestock of the land, and some things like precious metals be brought into the Lord’s sanctuary (6:18-19). At times, The Lord would also allow the warriors to take some of the spoils (8:27). Therefore when Achan took these things, he was ‘stealing’ what belongs to the Lord.

3.) He REBELLED against God’s servants

chan’s action was done not only against God but against Joshua as well. His disobedience was a form of disrespect and rebellion against his God-ordained leader, and therefore was severely dealt with.

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And because of Achan’s sin, it affected him and others as well. Here are some of the consequences of sin in his life and in ours as well:

1.) Death – His sin brought about the death of 36 of Israel’s warriors, therefore leaving behind many widows and fatherless children! His sin affected not only him but the whole nation as well.
2.) Defeat – They were easily defeated by Ai which was a smaller city!
3.) Discouragement – Joshua and the leaders were so discouraged and the whole nation paralyzed with fear! Sin takes away our confidence and right standing with God.
4.) Disapproval from God – Unless Joshua would deal away with the sinner, the Lord threatens to withdraw His presence in their midst (7:12b) which would make them vulnerable and helpless.
5.) Destruction – Achan’s sin resulted in his own destruction as well as of his family, belongings, and livestock. Indeed sin is very destructive!

You may be wondering why God had to include the death of Achan’s family when it was only him who sinned. It may sound so brutal and unjust as the Lord commanded Achan and all that belonged to him to be stoned to death. However we need to understand that the Jews are a ‘close-knit’ family unit just like us Filipinos. They closely lived together in tents and it is highly probable that they were fully aware of what Achan did in taking some of the spoils in contrary to God’s explicit command. However none of his family members had the courage to speak of it to the leaders, thus making themselves guilty accomplices to the sin and accessories to the crime, therefore worthy of punishment! When the guilty ones were punished, it was then that God gave them victory over their enemies.

Friends, we need to always remember and never forget that we serve a holy and righteous God. Sin can never stand in His presence and must therefore be avoided in our lives! Here are some lessons we can learn about sin from Achan life:

Sin is destructive! It destroys our relationship with God and allows the enemy to gain a foothold in our lives and bring about destruction unless we deal away with it.

Sin affects others as well! It not only affects us but even those around us, including those whom we love. That is why when there is sin, we must confront it and deal with it in love and discernment, be it in our Church and on our families as well, lest it affects many others.

Sin must be dealt with! Thank God we now live under the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ and no longer under the Old covenant! We do not instantly die or are judged immediately after we sin. However, we must never play with sin nor should we tolerate it! Sin must be dealt with that is why we should discipline those who sin so as to spare them for God’s judgment.

CONCLUSION: You may now be asking, ‘how can we avoid sin in our lives?’ Here are 3 sign posts for holy living:

a.) God-given Conscience (Romans 2:14-15), which is out ‘natural instinct’ of knowing what is right or wrong.
b.) God-ordained Commands – We can know what God expects from us through His written Word and must strive by His grace to live accordingly.
c.) Godly Conviction – Sin can be avoided and overcome by yielding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to our hearts.

Friends, we must ever fall into the temptation of trading our ‘Promise Land’ with the things of this world! We are commanded ‘not to love this evil world and all that it offers us’ (1 John 2:15-16). We must learn from the lives of Adam and Eve, Esau, Achan, Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira, and Demas (2 Tim. 4:10). These are people who loved the things of this world and traded the wonderful life God has for them with the temporary pleasures of this fleeting world. May you and I never allow things of this world to disqualify us from our Promise land! Amen!