Joshua 7:19-26

Jos 7:19

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.

 

Joshua now knew that it was Achan and now tells him to be completely forthright in his confession unto the LORD.  Then he is to tell Joshua what he has done and he is not to hide anything he has done.  He would not be able to do it anyway, since the LORD already had him pegged as the guilty party so there was no way to hide anything from the LORD.  The word “confession” carries with it the meaning of “praise or worship.”

 

Jos 7:20

And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

 

Then Achan begins to make a full confession of what he did.  He starts his confession admitting that he sinned against the LORD God of Israel and then he continues on telling Joshua what he had done.

 

Jos 7:21

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.

 

First he saw a goodly Babylonish garment which was probably better than anything he ever wore or it may have been for his wife.  Two hundred shekels of silver would be worth $2,751 (8/13/20) based upon half shekel being one half ounce of silver.  Then the wedge of gold at fifty shekels would be valued at $29,415 (8/13/20).  So both together would be valued at $32,166.  He coveted those items so he took them and did not turn them in to be deposited in the tabernacle treasury as he was supposed to.  He then proceeds to tell Joshua where the items were hidden and then he tells him that the silver was buried under the tent.  The fact that he had to bury and hide the items meant he knew all along that he was wrong for what he did.

 

Jos 7:22

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.

 

So they sent messengers immediately to his tent where they found the contraband exactly where he said it would be.

 

Jos 7:23

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.

 

Then they confiscated the contraband and brought them unto Joshua and they were seen by all the eyes of the people of Israel and they were laid out before the LORD as evidence of his sin.

 

Jos 7:24

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.

 

Than in obedience to the LORD they gathered up Achan and his entire family and everything the he owned right down to his tent including the stolen spoils from Jericho and brought them unto the valley of Achor which was south of Jericho.

 

Jos 7:25

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.

 

Then Joshua poses a question to Achan as to why he troubled Israel?  He not only died because he broke the covenant of the LORD but his sin was responsible for the deaths of the 36 men who died at Ai.  Never think that your sin will not affect others because no one sins in private or just unto themselves, there is always a ripple effect.  Then Joshua tells him that the LORD will trouble him today and the trouble will begin with his being stoned to death and then his family was burned to death and then there was another stoning.  After all this their troubles will begin because when they stand before the LORD on Judgment day, then they will realize the everlasting penalty of their sin.  Can you imagine that Achan caused his entire family to be punished with death along with the deaths of 36 men for $32,166.  Is sin really worth that price?

 

Jos 7:26

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.

 

It was a common practice to raise a heap or pile of stones as a memorial even to mark the place of their burial.  This was even done for criminals like Achan to remind the people of the everlasting penalty for sinning against the LORD.  Once this evil was removed from the midst of Israel the LORD had abated his fierce anger toward Israel.  The place where they buried him was the Valley of Achor.  The name “Achor” means “trouble” which is named after Achan who brought trouble to Israel.

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