Devoted to Destruction

Nov. 27

Read: Joshua 7, Ezekiel 18:20

Devoted to Destruction

“The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.” -Joshua 7:10

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” -Ezekiel 18:20

Do you think that the Israelites stoned and burned Achan’s sons and daughters? Joshua chapter 7 is a sobering passage. The anger of the Lord burns against Israel because of the sin of one man; yet it is applied collectively to all of the people. Notice how the Lord says, “Israel has sinned”. God sets up a process to narrow it down to one man - Achan - who has stolen items that were devoted to destruction. The very presence of these items in the camp has contaminated Israel as a whole. Through a supernatural process of God revealing, Achan finds himself standing before Joshua and the Lord. (v.16-21) Achan owns his sin and takes responsibility for it:

“Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” (v.20)

What comes next is the jarring part. For Achan there is no forgiveness; although I am not sure he even seeks it or asks for it judging from his comments. :

“And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day.” (v.24-26)

Which leads us to the opening question… do you think that Israel stoned and burned Achan’s sons and daughters? If so, why? Wouldn’t that be in opposition to Ezekiel 18:20? What can we learn from this passage for sure?

1.) Loyalty, Trust, and Obedience to the Lord is important.

No matter what the outcome, it is obvious that obeying the Lord’s instruction is crucial. To reject the direction of the Lord is to suffer loss and bring about calamity upon yourself.

2.) Those things devoted to destruction by the Lord are seriously dangerous.

It truly mattered that those items were brought into the camp of Israel. They were cursed by the Lord. They had ties to the evil gods of Jericho. We may think - like Achan - that it is inconsequential but this story shows us otherwise.

3.) Maybe Achan’s family had to standby and painfully watch his demise… but NOT get stoned and burned.

I think it is reasonable to believe that Achan’s sons and daughters were NOT stoned and burned for their father’s sin.

• For one, this would preserve the truth of Ezekiel 18:20 and would align with God’s previous statements that he does not desire the death of your children as an offering or a sacrifice. (cf. Deut. 12:31)

• Likewise, the passage seems “singular” in who committed the sin. Achan says “I” when owning it and Joshua speaks in the singular referring to Achan using “you”. God himself speaks in terms of “the man” (in the singular) who is guilty of this sin as well.

• Then it says that “all Israel stoned HIM with stones.” Then it appears that they burned all of his stuff and stoned the “oxen, donkey’s, and sheep” that were with him. (v.24) When it talks about the pile of stones put over the top, it again speaks of “him” instead of them. (v.25,26) It seems quite possible that his sons and daughters had to watch the destruction of their father alongside the rest of Israel.

Linguistically and biblically, this seems like a solid option.

4.) Maybe Achan’s “sons and daughters” were not children at all… but adults who were complicit in the sin.

Some people would argue that Achan could not have stolen all that loot and buried it without the implication of his children. This line of reasoning would make Achan’s sons and daughters complicit in the act - and guilty of their own sin. This is once again assuming they are adults / would be in a position to participate in the hiding of the forbidden loot. This explanation then has Achan’s sons and daughters being executed with him because of their part.

• I find this argument possible, but less compelling - given that leading up to the stoning scene things were framed as a singular person not a family in cahoots with each other.

• I am not sure why his adult children would still be living in his tent as adults and hence be implicated in his digging a hole and burying the loot. In particular, if his sons were adults and of fighting age - they would have been on the raid with the other soldiers themselves.

• Where is Achan’s wife in all this? Not sure!

5.) Sin will ALWAYS implicate other people around us… effect others around us.

No matter what reading… Achan’s actions impacted the entire nation of Israel. Other’s lost their life in battle when they went up against AI because of his actions. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel because of his actions. What he did profoundly impacted those closest to him no matter which why we read it… at best they had to watch their father’s gruesome demise… at worst they were stoned and burned with him. This is the ugly, unfiltered reality of sin and opposition to God.

Thank the Lord that Jesus has put an end to this sort of covenant relationship and ushered in a new covenant with God’s people. God has broken the tyranny of generational curses and sons and daughters being killed for the sins of their parents. The Lord has poured out all of his anger, and no longer responds in anger to his people. This is good news that comes from Jesus for US today. Love you guys. - JDP