Joel M Bradshaw

19Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

24Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.–Joshua 7

1. Like Achan, David would later be caught in a disastrous sin and cover up. He also would be confronted by God (2 Samuel 11-12).
2. David’s sin also led to a dire consequence of death.
3. Both David and Achan confessed their sins, but sins still have consequences. Trust may take years to be rebuilt.
4. We don’t read here that God forgave Achan, but He did forgive David.
5. David wrote Psalm 51 which gave us his repentant spirit. He truly was broken by his sin.
6. Achan seems just caught. He was honest about what he did. But that sin still had to be paid for.
7. I invite you to ponder the work of the cross of Jesus. He paid the price for our sins. Yet we may still deal with earthly consequences this side of eternity.–JMB