Sin in the Camp
Joshua 7:1-26
I don’t know you, other than perhaps a casual meeting at one time or another.
I am not your pastor so I do not have to worry about what you may think.
I’m not a DS or GS so politics are the least of my worries.
• I am a sinner saved by grace.
• A person called by God to preach.
• Just one beggar trying to tell other beggars, where they can find bread.
Scripture Reading
This is one of the saddest and most tragic events in the early days of the conquest of the Promised Land by the children of Israel.
It not only affected one family, it affected the entire assembly.
It removed the blessing of God and allowed the people, who up to this time had enjoyed victory after victory, to be defeated by an enemy that they should have very easily conquered.
Sin had removed the real power of their success, God, from the equation.
It reminds me of a story I once heard about a Cardinal from Rome that came to visit one of the wealthiest Dioceses in the United States. After the Bishop had given him the tour through the many different churches and possessions owned by the Dioceses, he looked at the Cardinal and with joy in his voice said, “The church can no longer say ‘silver and gold have I none.’” The Cardinal turned towards him, and with a tears streaming from his eyes, he said, “Neither can it any longer say, ‘Take up thy bed nor walk.’”
My friends, after 24 years in pastoral ministry, both in the United Kingdom and the United States, I have to tell you that I am concerned about the church.
When I speak of the church I am not singling out the Church of the Nazarene, I am speaking of the Church of Jesus Christ.
It is my observation that, in the 21st century, when we have
• more resources,
• better developed ministries,
• better educated ministers,
• finer and better equipped facilities,
• and a whole plethora of other things available to us today, we are less effective in changing the world than at any other time in history.
We have more ways of communication today that ever before.
• We have access to information and people 24/7.
Very few homes or people do not have internet or smart phones which allows us to instantly access information.
And yet, we are the most anemic of power we have ever been.
As the story said, “We can no longer say silver and gold have I none.” But neither can we any longer say, “Take up thy bed and walk.”
Why is this so?
I fear the reason is that we have let sin creep into the camp and, rather than address it, we have let it fester and become an infectious disease that is causing more casualties that every infectious disease in the world.
The 21st century church needs an inoculation that will not just heal the disease, but will destroy the ever spreading plague that infects it today.
I. Achan’s Sin Affected the Whole Community
ILLUS: The Luxury Cruise liner Costa Concordia in Italy last month:
With more than 4000 people and crew on board it ran aground damaging the hull of the ship and sunk in the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
A VESSEL, built for fun and frolic, to dance merrily over the waves.
Everything on board it created for a successful and delightful voyage.
The passengers are in the highest spirits, anticipating a fantastic voyage.
Suddenly a shock is felt, and terror is seen on every face.
The ship has struck on a rock.
Not only is progress arrested, but the crew and passengers now try to escape with their lives.
You will remember that one person, the ship’s Captain, failed to follow the rules.
Captain Francesco Schettino is now under arrest on suspicion of manslaughter.
He originally said the rocks were not marked on maps and were not detected by navigation systems.
Later admitted making a navigational error, and told investigators he had "ordered the turn too late" as the ship sailed close to the island.
The ship's owners, Costa Cruises, said the captain had made an "unapproved, unauthorised" deviation in course, sailing too close to the island in order to show the ship to locals. (BBC News)
All paid the price; At least 17 paid the ultimate price – their lives.
Maybe not as often as violently, but progress is arrested in many a good enterprises that seemed to be prospering.
There may be no shock, but there is a stoppage of movement.
The vital force that seemed to be carrying it on towards the desired mission declines and the work hangs fire.
The mission, that in its first stages was working out and bringing with beautiful transformations, becomes lethargic and advances no further.
A Church, renowned for its zeal and spirituality, comes down to the ordinary level, and seems to lose its power.
A congregation that showed signs of great promise in its infancy stages and early childhood fails to continue to grow and produce lasting fruit
In such cases we naturally wonder what can be the cause.
And very often our explanation is as weak as our institution.
We often fall back on the sovereignty and mystery of God and proclaim, “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.”
It seems good to Him, for unknown purposes of His own, to subject us to disappointment and trial.
We do not question either His wisdom or His goodness; all is for the best.
But, for the most part, we fail to detect the real reason.
That the fault might lie with ourselves because, that is often the last thing we think of.
We search for it in every direction rather than at home.
We are ingenious in devising far-off theories and explanations, while the real offender is close at hand—“Israel has sinned.”
All of Israel was charged with the crime, not just the individual man.
There was a corporate responsibility; therefore there was corporate, community guilt.
God looked upon the community as one body of people who should love, care for, and look after one another.
Israel was to be one body, one nation, and one community of people who were to build up one another and build a strong, righteous, moral, and just society.
It was God's plan and purpose for Israel (and for his church) to love one another and be responsible and accountable for one another.
Therefore, when Achan committed the sin of stealing from God, the whole community of Israel became guilty before God.
Consequently, God charged the Israelites with corporate, community guilt.
As a community, they were corporately responsible for one another; therefore, there was corporate guilt.
God charged the Israelites with committing a "trespass" (Maal), with being unfaithful to him.
The word means to cover up, to act in secret, to act treacherously; to be unfaithful; to break faith; to break or violate a trust.
One man had trespassed against God; one man had been unfaithful to God, broken the trust with God.
But the man did not live in isolation; he was not an island unto himself.
He lived within a community; therefore, what he did affected the community as a whole.
- The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Joshua.
II. Achan’s Sin Stopped the Blessings of God and Had To Be Dealt With
The sin of Achan aroused the LORD's anger (Joshua 7:2).
Since sin had been committed the justice of God had to be executed.
Keep in mind that God's judgment was falling upon the Canaanites because of their terrible sin and evil, because their "cup of iniquity" had been filled to the brim.
The Canaanites had sinned beyond repentance, beyond ever returning to God.
Now they were facing the judgment of God because of their evil.
Now, since God's own people had sinned, they too had to be judged.
God shows no favoritism or partiality to any person or people; justice must be executed against sin.
Sin arouses the anger, the justice and judgment of God; consequently, the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.
The arousal of God's justice and judgment is the consequence of sin.
Sin must be chastised, corrected, and disciplined by God or else the whole human race would become engulfed with a spirit of lawlessness upon this earth.
Evil would run rampant, even among some of God's people who walk in carnality, living lives of immorality.
This is the clear purpose for chastisement (discipline, correction): to save us from harming ourselves and others.
- The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Joshua.
Because of one man’s disobedience, one man’s sin, the battle against an inferior foe, that should have been easily won, ended in death and defeat.
I wish we could learn this lesson.
I wish we could stop making excuses for sin in our lives, as well as others.
Wish we would stop winking at sin, explaining it away, and deal with it decisively before it destroys the entire church.
Because, until we do, the blessing and power of God will be held back, and foes we should easily defeat will keep on winning.
The most dangerous being sin itself.
III. Only after Achan’s Sin was “Purged” From The Camp Did the Blessing Return
What now happened was dramatic, a drama that stands as a great warning to Israel and to all succeeding generations of people.
The judgment had already been pronounced: the accursed thing was to be destroyed (Joshua 7:24-25; cp. Joshua 7:12).
In this case, the accursed thing was not just objects and possessions but, Achan himself.
It had been his sin that had caused the judgment of God to fall upon the Israelites, a sin that had cost the lives of thirty-six soldiers.
Just imagine how the family members of these thirty-six soldiers had felt during the investigative process.
Standing there, the family members were bound to be wondering about the death of their loved ones.
In some cases the soldiers had been husbands and fathers, and in all cases they had been sons.
Hearts were broken and grief-stricken, and tears had flowed from the broken, grieving hearts of the families.
A tragic, terrible evil had resulted from the sin of the soldier who had stolen items that had been set apart, devoted to God and His service.
The justice and judgment of God had to be executed.
Achan and his entire family and all their possessions were taken out of the camp (Joshua 7:24).
They were then executed (Joshua 7:25).
Why were the family members executed along with Achan?
Because they were accomplices in the crime: they knew about the stolen goods that were hidden in the tent.
They were just as guilty as Achan in bringing the judgment of God upon the nation.
Everything was burned.
This was a symbol of purifying, cleansing the evil of the sin from among God's people.
The result was dramatic: the LORD's anger was turned away from His people.
The relationship between God and His dear people was restored (Joshua 7:26).
Sin must be routed out, gotten rid of, removed, forsaken, turned away from.
Only as we rout out sin and forsake it will God forgive us.
To have our relationship with God restored,
• to have access into God's presence,
• to have our sins forgiven and cleansed,
• to be accepted by God,
• to renew our covenant and promises with God,
• to rededicate and recommit our lives to God—sin has to be routed out of our lives.
God is holy, and He cannot dwell in the midst of sin.
Therefore, sin has to be removed from us and from our churches in order for God to dwell with us.
Favor with God, access into God's presence, comes by routing out the sin from our lives.
- The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Joshua.
What is sin?
Our Wesleyan theology defines it as this:
“Sin is the willful transgression against a known law of God.”
That was Achan’s Sin.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know – He knew and refused to obey.
His refusal brought the judgment of God, destroyed his family, removed God’s blessing and power from the community, and cost them the victory that should have been guaranteed.
What is sin costing the church?
