The High Cost of Hidden Sin Text: Joshua 7:10-15
Introduction: The Ache in the Camp
We come now to one of those hard passages of Scripture that our soft-handed generation would prefer to skip over. After the glorious, miraculous victory at Jericho, a victory that was entirely God’s doing, Israel is now reeling. They have just been routed by the insignificant little town of Ai. Thirty-six men are dead. The hearts of the people have melted and become like water. And Joshua, their great leader, is on his face in the dirt, tearing his clothes, questioning the promises of God.
It is a picture of utter disarray. And it is in this moment of crisis that God speaks. But what He says is not what we, in our therapeutic age, would expect. He does not offer a gentle word of comfort. He does not say, "There, there, Joshua, it will all be okay." No, God's response is sharp, direct, and startling. He says, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?"
This is a bucket of cold water in the face. God is not the problem. His promises have not failed. The problem is with Israel. There is sin in the camp. And this is a principle that echoes down through the ages. When the church is defeated, when her witness is compromised, when her people are fearful and her enemies are emboldened, the first thing we must do is not question God, but examine ourselves. The problem is not "out there." The problem is "in here."
This passage teaches us about the corporate nature of sin, the holiness of God, and the absolute necessity of dealing ruthlessly with our compromises. We live in a radically individualistic culture, even in the church. We think "my" sin is "my" business. But the Bible knows nothing of such nonsense. We are a covenant people, a body, a camp. And when one member introduces a contagion, the whole body is affected. Achan’s sin was private, but its consequences were devastatingly public.
The Text
So Yahweh said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also trespassed against My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things devoted to destruction and have both stolen and dealt falsely. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot rise before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become devoted to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things devoted to destruction from your midst. Rise up! Set the people apart as holy and say, ‘Set yourselves apart as holy for tomorrow, for thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things devoted to destruction in your midst, O Israel. You cannot rise before your enemies until you have removed the things devoted to destruction from your midst.” In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it will be that the tribe which Yahweh takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which Yahweh takes shall come near by households, and the household which Yahweh takes shall come near man by man. And it will be that the one who is taken with the things devoted to destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has trespassed against the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”
(Joshua 7:10-15 LSB)
Get Up and Face the Sin (v. 10-12)
God's opening words to Joshua are a command, not a consolation.
"So Yahweh said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also trespassed against My covenant which I commanded them..." (Joshua 7:10-11a)
Joshua is praying, which is a good thing, but his prayer is misdirected. He is questioning God's faithfulness when he should be investigating Israel's unfaithfulness. God tells him to get up because this is a time for action, not for pious-sounding despair. The problem has been located. God says, "Israel has sinned." Notice the corporate language. One man, Achan, committed the act, but God says "Israel has sinned." This is the principle of covenant solidarity. We see this with Adam, whose one sin plunged the entire human race into condemnation (Romans 5:12). We are not isolated individuals; we are bound together in covenant. What one does affects the whole. The modern church has forgotten this, and so we tolerate all manner of sin in our midst, foolishly believing it won't affect the rest of us. But it does. It always does.
God then lays out the specifics of the crime. It was a multi-layered transgression. They took "things devoted to destruction" (herem). This was not ordinary plunder. The spoils of Jericho were consecrated to God, either for His treasury or for utter destruction as a sign of His judgment on Canaanite wickedness. To take what is herem is to steal directly from God. It is sacrilege. Then, they "stole," "dealt falsely" (deceived), and put the stolen goods "among their own things." This is a progression of sin. Covetousness led to theft, theft led to deception, and deception led to the profane mixing of what was holy with what was common. Achan tried to domesticate God's judgment, to bring a piece of the accursed thing into his own tent and make it his own.
The consequences are laid out with chilling clarity in verse 12:
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot rise before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become devoted to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things devoted to destruction from your midst." (Joshua 7:12)
The logic is inescapable. Because they have taken what was devoted to destruction, they themselves have become devoted to destruction. They have identified with the enemy. The sin of Achan has made the entire camp of Israel like Jericho in God's eyes, accursed and vulnerable. This is why they cannot stand before their enemies. Their spiritual immune system is compromised. And God issues a terrifying ultimatum: "I will not be with you anymore unless..." The presence of God, their only source of strength and victory, is now conditioned on their radical obedience in purging the sin. God will not be an accomplice to our compromises. He will not bless a camp that is harboring contraband from the enemy.
The Call to Consecration (v. 13)
The command to get up is repeated, but this time it is attached to a specific task: sanctification.
"Rise up! Set the people apart as holy and say, ‘Set yourselves apart as holy for tomorrow, for thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things devoted to destruction in your midst, O Israel. You cannot rise before your enemies until you have removed the things devoted to destruction from your midst.”’" (Joshua 7:13)
The solution to sin is not to ignore it or manage it, but to eradicate it. The first step is consecration. The people must "set themselves apart as holy." This involves ritual washing, preparation, and a solemn assembly before the Lord. It is a corporate act of repentance and readiness. They are preparing themselves for a divine inspection. God is about to do surgery on the camp, and the people must be prepared for the incision.
Notice the repeated reason for their defeat: "You cannot rise before your enemies until you have removed the things devoted to destruction." This is a spiritual law. Unconfessed, unrepented sin in the church makes us impotent in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wonder why our evangelism is fruitless, why our families are falling apart, why the culture is collapsing around us. It is because we are trying to fight the enemy while hiding a Babylonian garment in our tent. We want God's power, but we are unwilling to undergo God's purification. It does not work that way.
The Divine Investigation (v. 14-15)
God then outlines the fearsome process by which the sin will be exposed. This is not a human investigation; it is a divine indictment.
"In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it will be that the tribe which Yahweh takes by lot shall come near by families... and the household which Yahweh takes shall come near man by man. And it will be that the one who is taken with the things devoted to destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has trespassed against the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’" (Joshua 7:14-15)
The process is a terrifying narrowing of the focus: from the nation to the tribe, from the tribe to the family, from the family to the household, and from the household to the man. Imagine the scene. All of Israel is gathered. The lot is cast. The tribe of Judah is taken. A wave of relief washes over eleven tribes, and a wave of dread over one. Then the clans of Judah come forward. The Zerahites are taken. Then the households. Zimri is taken. Finally, the men of that household are brought forward, one by one. There is no escape. The process is designed to demonstrate God's omniscience. You cannot hide your sin from Him. He sees what is buried under the floor of your tent.
God gave Achan the entire night to come forward and confess. He heard the proclamation. He knew the process was coming. But he remained silent, hardening his heart. This is the deceitfulness of sin. It promises pleasure and profit, but it delivers only exposure and ruin.
The sentence is severe. The guilty one, along with all that belongs to him, is to be burned with fire. Why so harsh? Because his sin was not a simple misdemeanor. It was a "disgraceful thing in Israel" that "trespassed against the covenant." He violated the very terms of Israel's relationship with God. By his actions, he endangered the entire nation. The punishment fits the crime because the holiness of God and the sanctity of His covenant people are of infinite importance. The surgeon must be willing to cut out the cancer completely to save the life of the patient.
The Gospel in the Valley of Achor
This is a hard story. And if we leave it here, in the Old Testament, we are left with a holy God who rightly judges sin with terrifying severity. But we are not left here. This story, like all Old Testament narratives, points us forward to the work of Jesus Christ.
We are all Achan. Every one of us has coveted what is forbidden. We have stolen glory from God. We have dealt falsely, hiding our sin. We have taken the accursed things of this world and brought them into the tent of our hearts. And because of this, we, like Israel, cannot stand. We are by nature "devoted to destruction." The righteous judgment of God is upon us. God's ultimatum hangs over our heads: "I will not be with you anymore unless the accursed thing is removed."
But here is the glory of the gospel. God did not wait for us to purge the sin. He knew we could not. Instead, He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the accursed thing for us. The lot of God's judgment fell on Him. On the cross, Jesus was taken "man by man." He was singled out. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He bore the full weight of the herem, the divine curse, that we deserved. Paul tells us, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
The fire of God's holy wrath that should have consumed us, consumed Him instead. He was burned with the fire of judgment so that we could be spared. And because of His sacrifice, the camp of God's people is cleansed. God's presence is restored to us, not because we have successfully rooted out all our sin, but because we are clothed in the perfect righteousness of the one who took our sin upon Himself.
Therefore, when we read a passage like this, we should not respond with self-righteous pride, thanking God we are not like Achan. We should respond with profound humility and overwhelming gratitude. We are Achan. But Jesus has taken our place. And now, because of His finished work, the call to "rise up and set yourselves apart" is not a command that leads to condemnation, but an invitation to walk in the freedom and holiness that Christ has purchased for us. We must still be ruthless in putting our sin to death, but we do so not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved. We remove the devoted things from our midst not to win God's favor, but because we already have it, and we desire for nothing to hinder our fellowship with the holy God who has loved us and given Himself for us.