Introduction: With the LORD’s help. Israel had conquered Jericho and was now ready to claim more of the Promised Land. The next city was Ai, but Israel made a number of mistakes resulting in a defeat—that didn’t need to happen.
The Prologue: A violation of God’s commands about Jericho
Text, Joshua 7:1, KJV: 1 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.
Some think this verse belongs at the end of chapter 6; others, that this is the correct place. The verse does serve as the reminder that the LORD does not approve of deliberate sins. Joshua wrote who did this, what he did, and the LORD’s reaction.
Joshua, clearly, was not aware of any of this. His focus was on leading Israel into more of the Promised Land, but even so, he was going to learn about the violations in a very sobering way.
1 Israel’s defeat
Text: Joshua 7:2-5, KJV: 2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, 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 not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. 4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
No doubt all Israel was rejoicing in the victory over Jericho. They may have been wondering which direction to go next when Joshua decided to spy out Ai. Notice, though, that he did not enquire of the LORD about any of this, which was a big mistake on his part.
From a military or strategic standpoint, it would make sense to move further inland. Israel would have more land and wouldn’t be standing with their collective backs near the Jordan River and its floodplain. Ai was about 10 miles west of Jericho (estimates vary) and was also at a higher elevation according to the online map at https://bibleatlas.org/full/jericho.htm. This, then would give Israel an advantage by having a clearer view of the land and any enemies, plus being able to charge down from the elevation rather than trying to climb higher.
The men—we’re not told who nor how many—did go and view Ai. This time, Joshua did not have the Captain of the Lord’s Hosts to give him direction, and Joshua did not ask for any such command or direction from the LORD. As it turned out, and it’s hard to say this, Israel couldn’t have won anything because of the sin in the camp. Joshua knew nothing of this at the time, but he was about to get a very rude awakening shortly.
The battle plan, according to the spies, was to send only 2 or 3 thousand men against Ai because there were “but few” Canaanites living in the area. Joshua sent about 3,000 men against Ai, believing there would be another, relatively easy victory, and waited for the men to return.
And return they did, but with casualties. There were about 36 of these Israelite soldiers whom the people of Ai “smote”. In short, these men were killed in action. We don’t know if their bodies were returned to Israel, buried near Ai, or were abandoned. The writer records that the men of Ai chased the Israelites to Shebarim, an unknown and unidentified place that could be translated “quarries (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7671.htm)”.
Needless to say, Israel was not expecting a defeat and probably not expecting much resistance either. Nothing had happened at Jericho to give any indication there would be any “push back” by the Canaanites—but that sure happened at Ai. And to give a bit of a twist, the writer records that the hearts of the Israelites “melted, and became as water”. These are similar to the words Rahab had shared with the spies in Jericho: now, things were different and Israel was the one suffering from severe discouragement.
2 Joshua’s despair
Text, Joshua 7:6-9, KJV: 6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. 7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
It’s probably a given that no leader, military or otherwise, wants to hear bad news, defeat, or any hint that the plans drawn up wound up being thrown away once the battle began. Joshua had no reason to expect anything but victory, but I think this loss of 36 soldiers hit him hard.
He demonstrated this grief by first tearing his clothes. This was a sign of deep emotion and probably other things in those days; people had torn and would tear their clothes for many years before and after Joshua’s day (Reuben, Gen. 37:29’ Jacob, Gen. 37:34; Ahab, 1 Kings 21:27; the high priest at one of the trials of Jesus (Matthew 26:65); even Paul and Barnabas at Lystra, when the priest of Zeus wanted to offer sacrifice to them (Acts 14:14)!
Not only did Joshua, at least, tear his clothes but he and, possibly, others seemed to fast until ‘eventide (sundown)” and also placed dirt on their heads. In a word, these men, at least Joshua himself, were consumed with grief. God had promised victory, but Israel had just suffered a defeat—the first defeat, if I read Scripture correctly, since some of the people at Kadesh-Barnea decided to fight the Canaanites and Amalekites (Numbers 14:40-45).
Joshua seemed to be so overcome with grief that he poured out his heart to the LORD! His prayer was made of three parts; first, he was amazed at the loss and wondered if the LORD was going to destroy Israel after all; second, he was mindful that, incredibly, had Israel stayed on the “other side of Jordan”, none of this would have happened (including the victory over Jericho which he seemed to forget); and also, what was he going to say when the enemies decided to encircle Israel and, in Joshua’s mind and fear, exterminate Israel. He closed his prayer with an appeal, “what will this do to Your great name?”
3 The offender’s discipline
Text, Joshua 7:10-15, KJV: 10 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. 14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man. 15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
Joshua had been on his face before (probably facing) the Ark of the Covenant for most of the day. Now it was evening and the LORD had something to say: “Get up! Why are you lying down on your face?” Indeed, there is never a wrong time to pray, but in this case, it was time to act. Israel had already lost 30 or so soldiers, who did not need to die, because of the sin in the camp.
And the LORD made it clear what had happened. He said—and note this—“ISRAEL has sinned and transgressed My covenant because THEY took of the accursed thing and put it among their own stuff (possessions)”. The LORD was referring to items of Jericho, which were to be completely destroyed but articles of gold, silver, and the like were to be placed in the LORD’s treasury. This was possibly the first Joshua had heard of this so he was left wondering who and what was involved.
The LORD wasn’t done, though. He went on to say in so many words, “You’re never going to succeed in any other battles, and I will not be with you, unless you destroy the accursed things from among you.” Someone in Israel had done this (Achan of Judah, verse 1) but this was not known to Joshua at this time.
After this, the LORD gave a set of commands to find the guilty person. He told Joshua to hold an assembly and have the people sanctify themselves. Israel would present themselves before the LORD, and the LORD would choose the tribe, the families, then the households, and finally the individual. Woe to that individual because the punishment would be being burned with fire. All that, because one person transgressed the covenant of the LORD and wrought folly in Israel.
4 The discovery of Achan
Text, Joshua 7:16-26, KJV: 16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: 17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: 18 And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. 20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Joshua seemed to be an early riser: several times he’s mentioned as one who rose up “early in the morning”. This time it might have been that he had trouble sleeping, as he knew someone was going to pay a terrible price for his or her sin. According to the LORD’s commands, he called all the tribes together.
Judah was selected. This, in my opinion, gave the other Eleven tribes a sigh of relief—either they didn’t know what had happened or were relieved that each member of each tribe were cleared from anything with this sin.
Next, the family of the Zarhites was selected. These were the descendants of Zerah, son of Judah by Tamar, his own daughter-in-law! Genesis 38 gives the story how Judah had married a Canaanite woman, and had three sons by her. Two of them died childless, but Judah didn’t give the youngest in marriage to Tamar, the widow. She decided to take matters into her own hands and in a tragi-comic story, became the mother of twins. Zerah was one; Pharez, the other.
Thus, half of the tribe of Judah was cleared: none of the descendants of Pharez were chosen.
But the selection wasn’t over just yet. From the Zarhites, Zabdi was taken—thus clearing the remainder of the Zarhites—and from them, Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son (descendant) of Zerah, out of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
And there he stood, with probably every eye of every person in Israel staring at him.
So now, the discovery was complete. All Israel knew who had committed the one sin that had caused defeat for the nation. Nobody knew, though, what was going to happen next.
Joshua stepped close to Achan, and I’m sure he was not anxious to do this. I’m convinced Joshua had a tender heart and hated to see bad things happen to anyone. But this was one time where he really would have had to “man up”, to use a current phrase, and do as the LORD commanded. He looked at Achan, and probably as calmly as he could, said, “My son (a hint that Achan was much younger than Joshua), give glory to the God of Israel; make confession to Him and tell me what you did. Don’t hide it from me (as if Achan could! God had already proven him to be the one who had sinned!)”
Achan, probably in a broken voice (I can’t imagine him being defiant here) said, “Indeed, I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and here’s what I did. I saw a goodly Babylonish garment, 200 shekels of silver, and a 50-shekel wedge of gold, I covered them, I took them, and I hid them all in my tent. I dug a hole in the ground, it’s all there, and the silver is at the bottom.”
Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent and found everything as Achan had said. The messengers brought everything to Joshua and laid them all out before the LORD. I’m not sure what the actual weight of a shekel is in standard ounces, but allowing for one ounce for one shekel, and 12 ounces to the pound, Achan had over four pounds of gold in that wedge and nearly 17 pounds of silver.
That was a large amount of money: Abraham, for example, paid 400 shekels of silver to Ephron the Hittite for the Cave of Machpelah where he buried Sarah (Genesis 23). Opinions differ about the “goodly Babylonish garment”; for one thing, Babylon was hundreds of miles away, so how did the garment get to Jericho in the first place? Second, the word “garment” is also translated “mantle” and “robe” (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/155.htm). Dr. Barnes called it “a long robe worn by kings on state occasions (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/joshua/7.htm)” and Adam Clarke believed it may have been the very robe worn by the King of Jericho himself (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/clarke/joshua/7.htm). At any rate, Achan was wrong to take it and he was about to realize how wrong he had been.
Once all had been revealed and confessed, it was time for one of the saddest moments in all of Israel’s history. Joshua led the nation, along with Achan and all he had, to the Valley of Achor. The exact location of this place is not certain but those of Joshua’s day knew exactly where it was and what it represented.
Achan’s death is simply and briefly mentioned in one sentence: “All Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.” Achan surely perished for his sin (remember Romans 6:23?) and it’s likely his possessions were all burned with fire along with his body. Thus Israel was sanctified, and made right with the LORD, The evil, the sin, that had caused such a problem was now purged away. Achan’s sin was “I saw, I coveted, I took”—but from that one sin, he paid and paid dearly for it.
None of that had to happen! Had he given the gold and silver to the LORD’s treasury, he would have likely been blessed or at least thanked for honoring the LORD’s commands. And had he thrown that garment into the fire—which, incidentally, did happen there at the last—he wouldn’t have had to endure this horrible death.
May the life and death of Achan be a warning to us all. Sin kills—literally.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
