A Sin Found Out

Joshua is most obedient to God’s instructions for finding the person who has brought guilt on the nation. He rises early, we are told, and promptly begins to bring the tribes of Israel before the tabernacle of God. There, the lot singles out the tribe of Judah. Matthew Henry writes that Judah “was, and was to be, of all the tribes, the most honorable and illustrious; this was an alloy to their dignity, and might serve as a check to their pride.” He also notes that Judah, being the largest of the tribes, was to receive the first and largest allotment in Canaan, and that made it even more inexcusable that one of its warriors would take of the things God had banned.

As Joshua brings the families of Judah one by one, the family of Zerah is taken, then the household of Zabdi. Finally, as the men of that household are brought one by one, Achan the son of Carmi is singled out and identified as the guilty man. So hardened is he in his sin that he stands quietly by, feigning innocence before his brethren and neither fleeing nor confessing as the lot draws nearer and nearer. He apparently hopes another will be blamed and he will be overlooked. In the end, however, he stands revealed before all his people. The omniscient God has unveiled his sin.

Joshua speaks tenderly to Achan, addressing him as “ ‘My son’ ” and asking him to do two things: to give glory to God for His omniscience and covenant faithfulness, and to confess his sin to God by making it known to Joshua. Achan sees the folly of concealing his deed any longer—“ ‘Indeed, I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel,’ ” he says—and goes on to make his deed known. Here we learn the true magnitude of his sin. Achan says he saw and coveted three things in Jericho: a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold. The robe was among the things that were to have been left in Jericho and burned. But the silver and gold were to have been brought into the treasury of the tabernacle. Thus, in taking them, Achan stole what rightfully belonged to God.

Achan confesses that the robe, the silver, and the gold are buried in his tent. They are quickly found and brought before God and all the people. Achan stands condemned by the lot, by his confession, and by the evidence. Now judgment must be carried out.