ACHIN LIKE ACHAN!

You ever notice how sometimes a person's name in the Bible fits them like a glove?  Take Achan for instance,  I was reading this week in Joshua 7. The Israelites had just destroyed the city of Jericho, just as the Lord had told them to, but this man Achan thought that rather than put the things he had discovered (robe, gold, and silver) into the treasury of the Lord's house, (Josh. 6:24) he would keep them for himself and so he hid them in the ground in his tent.
This caused God's anger to fall on Israel and so Joshua had to find out who the culprit was and confronted Achan with his sin.  The end result was Achan,all his family, and animals were stoned for their disobedience.  OUCH, HE WAS REALLY ACHIN! (couldn't resist)

Instead of Achan seeing what he did have, he wanted what he did not have.  Kind of reminds me of the Garden of Eden and even though Adam and Eve could eat of all the trees, they wanted the fruit from the one they could not have.

God had promised the Israelites:
            1.  Every place where they stepped their foot would be theirs. (Josh. 1:3)
            2.  Safety from their enemies. (Josh. 1:3)
            3.  His presence and undivided attention. (Josh. 1:5)
            4.  Success if they obeyed His law. (Josh. 1:7)

One of the laws they were to obey was in Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (NIV)  "The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire.  Do not covet the silver or gold on them, and do not take it for themselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.  Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.  Utterly abhor and detest it for it is set apart for destruction."  Achan would have heard and known this law, but he chose to disobey it. He did it for a few pieces of earthly riches, just as Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

Achan had been warned, the Israelites had been warned, we have been warned.  The punishment seems rather harsh doesn't it?  But Achan clearly knew what he was doing!  Why else did he feel the need to hide it in the ground in his tent?  He even admits in Joshua 7:20-21 "I have sinned against the Lord, I saw, I coveted, I took, and I hid."  This seems to be the natural progression to our sin as well. We see, we want, we take it, and then we try to hide it from God!

But because of Christ's great sacrifice, we see the extension of God's grace to us.  Isaiah 53:6 says "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him (Christ) the iniquity (sin) of us all."

There is hope for conquering this monster called "sin"!  The whole Book of Romans speaks to this.  Romans 6:14 says:  "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." and Romans 9:16 says:  "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."  This can only bring us to our knees and say "Thank You Lord for paying the debt that I owed, but could not pay."

The interesting thing about Achan, if he had only remained faithful and obedient, he would have been free to keep some of the spoils from Ai, the next town they were to destroy. (Josh. 8:2).  He only needed to wait.  A great lesson that our greatest blessing might be around the bend, we just need to be obedient to His word, and remain faithful dear sisters!