Joshua 7

But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.

(Jos 7:1)

And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

(Jos 7:20-21)

And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

(Jos 7:25-26)

In the last chapter we jut learned all about the tremendous victory Israel had over Jericho, as they exercised real faith and obedience. This chapter shows us the hidden side to all of that, and it starts out with a big BUT. In the midst of the great victory, there was some serious hidden sin; Achan had stolen the accursed things!

Look at what Achan took – A beautiful Babylonian garment, a handful of silver, and a large chunk of gold. They had looked so good, so tempting, that he just couldn’t pass them up. What deception! Achan was totally ripped off by the devil! Look at what he did with the stuff he took… HE BURIED IT IN THE GROUND! He couldn’t wear the garment, spend the silver, or display the gold… it all had to lay hidden away. This stuff he took could bring him NO ENJOYMENT.

Whenever I read this I flash back to when I was in high school. I didn’t bury stuff in the ground; I just buried it beneath my socks and underwear. Mostly tapes and CDs I wasn’t supposed to listen to. I lived in constant fear of getting caught, and the worst part is that I never even enjoyed those tapes and CDs! If I did listen to them, it was late at night with one side of my headphones on, and the other ear listening to see if my parents were coming. It was so LAME. I was living in fear, and living in darkness. The lie that the devil told me was that it was worth it because I got to experience what I had been missing out on. It was a lie for sure… I wasn’t missing anything. I was like Achan, I thought, “I have this stuff, but now what am I supposed to do with it?!”

The saddest part to me is this: Achan’s sin affected everyone else. It wasn’t like it stopped with him! That means that our hidden sin can affect the others around us. Our moms and dads, our brothers and sisters, our friends… sin doesn’t just stop with us.

So, my question for you this morning is this: Do you have anything buried under your tent? If you do, it would be best to dig it up now. If we don’t deal with that sin, it won’t remain hidden for long!