Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1913-12-12
LESSON FOR DECEMBER IA
THE SIN OF ACHAN.

THE SIN OF AcHAN.
LESSON TEXT-Joshua 7:6-15. Read
Joshua chapters Til
GOLDEN TEXT-"Be sure your sin will
find you out.''-Num 1928
Before proceeding against Jericho.
God, through his servant Joshua, had
given strict injunctions as regards the
taking of anything from the city for
self-enrichment, ch. 6:17, 1S. It was
necessary at the outset of this cam
paign to safeguard Israel against any
such motives. The fruits of their vic
tories must in no way seem to be the
rewards of, nor to be dependent upon,
the efforts of their own hands. Spir-
itual victories are, as we learned last
week, won by means and upon prin-
ciples utterly foolish and inadequate
in the view of human wisdom. Nor
is the Christian dependent upon the
principles of human thrift for his sus-
tenance or enrichment. That does not
mean the divorcernent of the Chris
tian from those principles.
The story of Achan is an illustra-
tion. While his sin was individualistic
yet It was national in its results ". L.
After the fall Of Jericho, Joshua sent
a detachment of 1000 or 5000 men to
take possession of the small town of
Al Citerally, 'truins"). The task was
seemingly an unimportant and an easy
one, but the result was that the expe-
fv1rn int wis hi
rout (vv. 1-6).
Achan's Sins Revealed.
The stages of the sin of Achan are
wonderfully revealed in the confession
(v. 21) which was finally wrung from
II saw l coveted :.
I took they are hid"
|. Joshua's error, w. 60. 1t was
right and proper for Joshua to bring
his difficulty to God, but it was not
right for him to lay upon him the
blame for his defeat. Moses before
him had made that same mistake (Ex.
5:22, 23), and it would seem that
Joshua should have profted thereby
In this, however, he Is supremely hui
man. We Of today with far greater
light are constantly making this same
mistake of accusing God, instead of
finding out and judging our sin.
There is, however, an underlying note
Of the master passion of Joshua s
heart, that note which had so gov
erned the heart of his predecessor,
Moses. 1t is expressed in the last note
of his complaint, What wilt thou do
for thy great name?" V. 3. This COM
plant and petition sounds very much
like those Of the preceding generation
uttered in the wilderness. For US to
wish ourselves to be content to dwell
beyond Jordon," when the testing
times Of our Christian life come, when
the calls come for an advance, is to
doubt his wisdom. No wonder Joshua
was amazed when he saw Israel turn
its back upon its enemies ". 81. We
must beware lest we, too, be dismayed
when we see the church of today give
way before the world and the devil.
II. The cause Of defeat, wv. 1912.
Joshua's petition is answered by the
strong, yet tender. In verse two we
are told that Joshua sent men to view
Al Why? Because in the language of
verse one s3the children of Israel COM
mitted a trespass in the accursed
thing" Joshua wanted the people to
know that the sin Of Achan and its
results was the sin of the whole ma
tion. God brings the essential one
ness of the nation before us in verse
eleven; for an illustration. see l. Cor.
5:1-7 and 12:12-14, 16. The whole
cause of Christ is injured by the sin,
neglect or unspirituality of one be-
lever. Joshua in this rebuke Is sex.
onerated from blame, Get thee up
While the nation suffers because of
individual responsibility yet God dis
eliminates and at the same time tells
his servants the steps of Judgment and
of cleansing.
Gods instructions.
III. The victory of defeat, wv 1915.
It is a testimony as to the spiritual
condition Of this nation that the fraud
was so soon located. The early Chris.
tian church had parallel incident in
the case of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts
Sill. In each case the evil was
quickly judged and reveals the close
ness of God to his people. In the pro-
cess of years Israel passed from that
condition; has the church of today SO
passed? God had given explicit in
structions as to the spoil (ch. 6:18 r.
W. God commands Joshua not to
cry unto him, but to ''sanctify the peo-
ple" The church Of Christ, as well
as the individual, needs to judge its
sin and to set itself apart unto God
To organize, to fight, or to pray even,
and not to put sin out of the life is to
continue life of defeat When
through disobedience our connection
with the Infinite is broken, then fear
takes possession of the souls Of those
who should be strong and very cour.
ageous Qsa. 1872; Cor. 6:14, IL, 18;
I'D. Notice there was no delay In
doing this work ". 14), and the pro
cess was that of dealing with individ
uals ". IA, 15).,
1t was a stern judgment and the
query arises what sort of bonfire
would the church have today were al
sinfully acquired property to suffer
similar destruction. 1t is noticeable
however, that there is no suggestion
of any confession on the part of Achan
until the narrowing circle of judge
ment had closed upon him. He con
fessed only when there was no pos
sible escape. This seems like stern
hard process, but yet God was deal
ing in mercy with the whole people
even as does the surgeon when he re
moves a diseased member of the hui
man body. The story Of Achan teaches
us that there can be no restoration tc
life of fellowship except upon the
basis of the resolute and absolute put
ting away of that which served te
break in upon that fellowship.
| w. The Golden Text. The words oi