The Accountability Dare
Joshua 7:1, 5-8, 10-15
Joshua had told his people before they conquered Jericho that they were to kill everyone except Rahab, the prostitute, and her family, for she had protected the spies. They were not to take any loot, for everything was to be destroyed. If it wasn’t, disaster would fall on the entire nation of Israel. When the walls fell, the people of Israel went in and destroyed everything in it.
One man, Achan, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the loot for himself. Because of Achan’s sin, the Lord was very angry with the entire nation of Israel.
Joshua planned to conquer the city of Ai next. He was feeling confident because of the defeat of Jericho, so without consulting God, he made his plans. He sent out spies, and they returned with a great report. They would not need to send many soldiers because it would be an easy conquest.
Joshua sent the soldiers in and they were soundly defeated. Joshua and the leaders were shocked. They could not understand what had happened. What had gone wrong? Joshua cried out to the Lord, asking why they had been defeated and what their enemies were going to think of them and their God now.
The Lord told Joshua that Israel had sinned, had taken loot from Jericho, had hidden it in the camp, and had lied about it. If the people did not rid themselves of their sin, He would not be with them. The Lord laid out a plan to help them find the guilty one. They were to go through purification rites and call all the tribes together. Through divine elimination, the Lord identified Achan as the guilty person.
Achan confessed he had sinned against the God of Israel. He had stolen a beautiful robe, gold and silver, and had hidden them beneath his tent. Joshua sent men to Achan’s tent and found the stolen items. The stolen items, his family and everything he owned were carried to the valley of Achor.
Achan had brought calamity upon the Israelites, and now the Lord was going to bring calamity upon him. The men of Israel stoned Achan and his family to death, burned their bodies and everything he owned. The Lord’s anger ended and He led the Israelites to victory over Ai and other cities.
The people of Israel learned a tough lesson that we all need to learn. They had to seek God’s guidance in all things, confess and accept responsibility for their sin, be accountable for their actions, and ask for forgiveness. As believers, we can rejoice that Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross, and that He is ready to forgive us when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. Dare to be accountable.
Johnston– Lessons in the ETB series for the summer quarter are being written by Virginia Johnston, a member of First Baptist Church, North Charleston, where her husband Dan is pastor.