November 19, 2024

Joshua 7:16-26 (HCSB)
Achan Judged
16 Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. 17 He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected. 18 He then had Zabdi’s family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected. 19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.” 20 Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, 200 silver shekels, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the money under the cloak.” 22 So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the money underneath. 23 They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the Lord’s presence. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Today the Lord will trouble you!” So all Israel stoned them to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them, 26 and raised over him a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

Jessica Collier
Like most families with young children, at our house, we have an imaginary member named “Not Me.” Not Me has colored on walls, raided the pantry and even flushed a toy Thomas the Train down the toilet. I’d imagine there were a lot of Not Mes at the Israelite camp after they were told to prepare for the next day. I bet Achan himself denounced his blame. Just like Not Me flushing his train, Achan thought he was going to get away with it. Somehow, the One who parted the Red Sea and toppled the walls of Jericho was just going to NOT be able to find some stuff he hid in his tent? I bet his wife was BIG mad, too. I’d imagine she had a LOT to say about the whole thing when they laid down that night. She already knew it wasn’t going to end well. But, as with many of the Old Testament stories, the ending points us straight to Jesus. Thankfully we live in a time where I don’t have to pay for my husband's sins nor him for mine. I can bring my sins out in the open and lay them at the foot of the cross. There’s no stoning at the end of my story because THE stone was rolled away.