Putting Away the Sin

With Achan’s guilt established beyond doubt, God’s sentence (7:15) must be carried out. Thus, symbolically putting his sin away from themselves, Joshua and all the people of Israel take Achan, his family members, his livestock, all his possessions, and the things he plundered away from the camp of Israel to a remote valley. There, a no-longer-gentle Joshua pronounces Achan’s doom: “ ‘Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.’ ” He had indeed brought trouble on Israel, just as God forbade (6:18). Thus, God’s curse upon his disobedience leads to trouble for Achan. We’re told that he is stoned to death; the people of Israel become God’s instrument of judgment on this covenant-breaker, just as they are being used to inflict judgment on those outside the covenant, the Canaanites. It is unclear whether his family members are stoned as well, but they are put to death in some way, for they must have known of his crime. Finally, Achan’s body and “all that he had” are burned.

After the executions have been carried out, a great heap of stones is piled on the ashes of Achan and his household. Just as rocks from the Jordan River were erected as a monument to help the Israelites remember how God blocked the water to allow Israel to cross (Josh. 3–4), this heap is raised for memory’s sake, too. Henceforth, anyone seeing this pile will recall the sin of Achan that so troubled Israel, and thus will hesitate to give way to his own lusts. Also, the Israelites subsequently name the valley Achor, which means “Trouble.” This name also will serve as a reminder of this sad episode in their history. Finally, the story closes by noting that God’s anger is mollified by Achan’s execution. The separation between God and the people caused by Achan’s violation of the covenant has been healed. His favor is restored and the conquest can move ahead.

We may wonder why Achan could not have confessed his sin, sought divine forgiveness, and been restored to favor. The reason is that Achan committed a direct violation of God’s covenant, by which He promised to give the Israelites victory and commanded them to burn the spoils of Jericho. Achan took to himself what God had cursed. This was a capital offense by God’s decree, so execution had to be carried out to drive home a lesson for the Israelites—and for us.