(The YouTube video of the Lesson will be Available to view Friday, June 26th)
Lesson Text: Joshua 7:10-23
Date the Lesson is Scheduled For: July 5, 2026
Session: 5
Title: Sin Revealed
Theme: Achan’s actions were discovered and judged because he dishonored God.
Memory Verse: Galatians 6:7 (ESV), “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
Content Overview:
- Covenant Violated (Joshua 7:10-15)
- Achan Revealed (Joshua 7:16-19)
- Confession Made (Joshua 7:20-23)
Lesson:
When someone promises to do something and doesn’t do it, it’s a disappointment. One of the important principles of parenting is that if we say we’re going to do something with the kids, take them somewhere, do something with them, go to the ball game, go get pizza, or take them fishing, it’s vitally important that we follow through, show up, and do wat we said we were going to do. In the workplace or church life, if there’s a deadline on a protect we’ve committed to, it’s important that we follow through. In Israel, God had commanded that the the spoils of conquest be devoted to the Lord, and to take what was devoted to God would be stealing, and it would be a serious violation of the covenant between God and His people Israel.
Now I want to say this from the get-go, it’s important to watch until the end, as Achan the culprit of the story and his family are burned and then stones are piled over their bodies for the transgression; how do we reconcile this punishment? We’re going to answer that question. But you’ve got to stay with me to the end, please. Don’t just skip to it, because the story-line and truths throughout are important to lead up to it. The context is super important. Just please watch it or listen to it all the way through, please.
- Covenant Violated (Joshua 7:10-15)
Text: “10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 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. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’” (emphasis mine)
Explanation: This passage is filled with urgency. Two times, God commands Joshua to “Get up!” (vv. 11, 13). God calls the sin of stealing what was devoted to Him a transgression in verses 11 and 15, the Hebrew word ʿāḇar, roughly pronounced “ahvair” which means to pass over. You see, to transgress is to pass over the parameters prescribed, to go outside of, to go beyond the parameters of obedience.
Illustration: The colloquialisms are used for this “To go AWOL.” Any soldier who goes AWOL is subject to being tracked down, brought back, and is subject to the judicious process of the uniform code of military justice, where in that military courtroom, he must stand and be tried. That’s what’s happening in this text.
Explanation: The text makes it plain, they would not be victorious, they would need to re-consecrate themselves to God—Achan’s sin impacted Israel as a whole, it wasn’t isolated or “contained”—and to not deal with it, would leave Israel running in retreat with every upcoming conflict. It had to be brought into the light. Four times God uses the verbiage for come or be brought near, showing that the closer we get to God the more the transgression is exposed. This is why we need to walk in the light WITH other brothers and sisters in Christ as a way of life. I John 1:5-7 (ESV), “5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Church life isn’t the fringe, is the focus. I meet with and counsel so many whose kids are AWOL and other fall outs of making the church the fringe of their lives, and their lives are filled with regret because they never made Church-life their focus. God’s grace is sufficient to those hurting with this too-late realization. But God’s grace is available to shock us into re-focusing on God’s priorities for our lives and families when it’s not too late. The answer: Bring it into the light.
Application: God is faithful and good to expose, to bring into the light transgressions, so that it can be dealt with. Just this morning, preparing this lesson, I was in Luke 23 where the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ is on the cross dealing with our sin. We chose to go our own way and run from God’s design for our lives. Adam and Eve were in the Adamic covenant and they broke it. Brokenness entered their world, Child bearing, familial harmony, and work were filled with brokenness. But God sent His Son. And in Luke 23:34 (ESV) we read, “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Have you received the gift of His salvation, His forgiveness for transgressions committed? I pray you would ask Him now. If you do, your life will immediately be saved and on a new trajectory to live for Him, to recover and pursue His good design. If you need help finding a good local church to do that, please contact me using the email in the description, and I would be happy to help you find one. We cannot live a new life according to God’s design watching church online or living outside of connection with other believers. We need to find community. We’re reminded that each day the need for local church community increases in Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV), “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We have shut ins who can’t physically go to church, and that’s understandable. We have folks who travel for work, and there is the usual one or two or even three Sundays each year where families are out for vacation or an out of town obligation, for sure; all of those scenarios are understandable. But just sleeping in, or just saying, we’ll I don’t feel like showing up, it’s not commended in Scripture really, especially as we go deeper into these end times. Food for thought and prayer. By the way, we have services offered Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings at 8:30, 10, and 11 am, as well as multiple connect group offerings throughout the week. There’s opportunity to fit your schedule here at FHC, even to accommodate a tough work schedule. Let’s keep moving.
Transition: Once the covenant is violated, the second point is,
2. Achan Revealed (Joshua 7:16-19)
Text: “16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise[b] to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” (emphasis mine)
Explanation: Joshua obeys and does exactly what God commands him. He gets up early. He deals with it. He follows God’s instructions to bring the tribes, families, and then the individual (Achan) near. He deals with it. There are hard tasks in life. The principle here is don’t delay. Deal with it and deal with it early, deal with it quickly. Notice, when Achan is taken it identified his family too. The sobering reality of this passage is that personal sin impacts and hurts those we love and care about the most. Joshua confronts him in verse 19: “Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise[b] to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” The statement “Give glory to God” is one that is used in John 9:24 when the Pharisees command the man born blind whom Jesus had healed to testify about it. It’s not a phrase for worship necessarily as much as it seems to be for giving honest legal testimony. By confessing, God would be glorified. God’s glorification in Israel was at stake. Honesty glorifies God. Joshua takes a paternal tone here as Israel’s leader calling him, “my son.”
Illustration: I just watched a brief documentary on the life and career of Lance Armstong. Growing up I wore and took great inspiration from his “Live strong” bands. I remember one day having to take them off though, due to the doping allegations that won him so many cycling victories.
Application: We need to enjoy honesty and be taught to be honest from an early age. We can thank God for the role models and good parents who had those “my son”-conversations with us, lest we get a reality check like Achan had later in life. As heavy as it is, there is a hope-filled lift embedded in this passage we will soon see.
Transition: Covenant violated, Achan Revealed, thirdly,
3. Confession Made (Joshua 7:20-23)
Text: “20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord.”
Explanation: Achan is found out and owns up to his sin. The “jig was up.”
Commentary Quotes: The New American Commentary states, “Achan immediately confessed that he was guilty (v. 20) and gave the details of what he had done (v. 21). He had taken plunder that was very valuable. The “beautiful robe from Babylonia” was literally “one beautiful garment of Shinar” (see the NIV text note). The land of Shinar is mentioned in Gen 11:2 as the place where men built the Tower of Babel (i.e., the “Tower of Babylon”).93 The two hundred shekels of silver weighed more than eighty ounces, and the fifty-shekel “wedge”94 of gold weighed about twenty ounces.95
Achan’s actions, besides violating (1) the Eighth Commandment (about stealing: Exod 20:15), (2) God’s instructions in Deut 20:10–20 (see on v. 11), (3) the injunction against lying (Lev 19:11), and (4) the First Commandment (about not having any other gods before the Lord: Exod 20:3; see on v. 1), also directly violated the Ninth Commandment (about coveting: Exod 20:17). A telling parallel to this passage is Gen 3:6, where the same verbs are used of Eve: both she and Achan “saw” (rʾh) and “desired” (or “coveted”) (ḥmd) and “took” (lqḥ) what was forbidden to them.”[1]
Our lesson doesn’t assign the rest of the chapter, verses 16-26. What happens is he and his family are burned and then stones are piled over their bodies. This may appear severe, but, lest we respond with an emotional reaction of misplaced, “holier-than-thou,” sympathies that would consider ourselves more compassionate or sympathetic than God-which we know can’t be true- Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s Study Bible notes (p. 363) remind us, “Since a law in Israel prohibited innocent family members (emphasis mine) from being punished for the sins of their relatives (Deuteronomy 24:16), Achan’s family must have been guilty of assisting him in his sin (emphasis mine). His household was judged the same way Israel would deal with a Jewish city that had turned to idols (Josh. 13:12-18). As members of the body of Christ we are to be pure and to confront the sins of fellow believers for their redemption and healing (Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1-3).”
Galatians 6:1-3 (ESV), “Brothers,[a] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
And again, we’ve said this before and we’ll keep reminding ourselves of it—ultimately, God is preserving the sanctity and purity of the people through whom Jesus, the Messiah would later come to save the world. If there’s anything God wants to secure for the sins of mankind, it’s his salvation.
Conclusion: The wonderful promise of hope within this passage points to another [M]an, who like Achan was from the tribe of Judah. This [M]an didn’t steal the devoted things from God but instead lived a holy and perfect life of perfect devotion to God. In fact, this [M]an’s life was the most holy offering that could ever be made to God. This [M]an was holy God Himself who added human flesh to His Divinity. He willingly died for “Achans’ like you and me, taking the punishment we deserve on Himself and rose again to give us new, salvific, resurrection life, so that we could live a changed life. May we not take for granted the sacrificial mercy of our Savior but instead live changed lives that follow the exhortation of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery when we read in John 8:10-11, “10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’]]” And in view of ur main passage isn’t it fitting that following that same thread of being brought near into the Light, the following verse in John 8:12 Jesus says, “ 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” People who have been brought into the Light of Christ’s life are set free from hiding in dark places, isolating from others, stealing what should be devoted to God and are free to live boldly, walk in community, and bask in the light of Christ continually. By grace, we aren’t “Achans” anymore.
Doctrine & Discussion:
Doctrine: “God: God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.”
- Isaiah 6:1-5 (ESV), “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b] 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” - I Peter 1:14-16 (ESV), “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Discussion: (page 31, QuickSource)
- What should be a person’s motivation to confess sin and seek forgiveness?
- Why is it important for us to recognize sin’s impact on us and our relationship with God?
- What might prevent one from confessing and seeking the Lord’s forgiveness?
- Why is it important for us to view sin as seriously as God does?
- How can you encourage one another and even others outside your [group] who might be struggling with sin?
- How does knowing that God is always aware if your sin affect how you deal with your sin? How does repenting and confessing your sin honor God?
Praise God for sending His Son to pay the price and atone for all our sins.
93 “Shinar” is a term used for Babylonia eight times in the OT. D. M. Stec has recently questioned the accuracy of the account here, due to the lack of references elsewhere to garments associated with Shinar (“The Mantle Hidden By Achan,” VT 41 [1991]: 356–59). However, A. R. Millard has shown that the textile industry was an integral part of Babylonian trade since earliest times (“Back to the Iron Bed: Og’s or Procrustes’?” Congress Volume [Paris 1992], VTSup 61 [Leiden: Brill, 1995], 197–99).
94 It probably was a gold bar. The Hb. literally calls it a “tongue of gold.”
95 The shekel was the basic unit of weight for coins, and it weighed slightly more than 0.4 ounces. See E. M. Cook, “Weights and Measures,” ISBE 4:1053–54.
[1] David M. Howard Jr., Joshua, vol. 5, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 197.
Additional Resources Used: ESV Study Bible, Warren Wiersbe The Transformation Study Bible, New American Commentary, & Lifeway explore the Bible: Joshua, Judges, & Ruth
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