Joshua Confronts Achan Before the PeopleBible World
7:16Joshua 7:16
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
In obedience to special direction from the Lord, Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes before the Lord for solemn investigation, and the tribe of Judah was taken by divine selection. The search then narrowed step by step from tribe to family to household to the individual, until Achan was singled out as the troubler of Israel. The taking proves the Lord is acquainted with hidden dishonesty however men try to hide it, for He sees selfishness, avarice and deception and will bring them to account. One man's secret covetousness and theft brought guilt, a curse and God's displeasure upon the whole camp, so Israel could not stand before its enemies and suffered defeat. Hidden sin must therefore be searched out and dealt with promptly and put away, so the camp is cleansed and others are not contaminated.
Morning Investigation Process
In obedience to special directions from the Lord, Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes before the Lord for a solemn investigation into the sin in the camp. Israel was thus brought tribe by tribe before the Lord as the hidden guilt was uncovered. In that uncovering God searched out the guilt and showed that He knows what people misunderstand or misinterpret and can vindicate those who trust Him.
The search narrowed step by step from tribe to family to household to the individual, with the tribe of Judah taken first. The lot fell on Judah, Achan's tribe, and the search then narrowed to his family and finally to him. Through that narrowing Judah was selected and then a family, a household, and finally Achan, who was singled out and identified as the troubler of Israel.
The taking of Judah was by divine selection, with God Himself pointing out the hidden wrongdoer through the process He showed. The guilty person had not been named beforehand, but those responsible had to identify him by the process God showed them. When those in charge do their duty God Himself thus points out the hidden wrongdoer, proving He will not tolerate covered sin.
The investigation followed Israel being driven before its enemies at Ai because one man's secret sin brought guilt and a curse upon the whole camp. That hidden theft was an accursed thing in the midst so Israel could not stand before its enemies until it was taken away, and God required the people to sanctify themselves while His Spirit searched out the concealed sin and the camp had to be cleansed. The bringing by tribes belongs to the march from Gilgal to the overthrow of Jericho and the conquest of Ai, and to the account of Achan meeting the dire penalty of his sin with his household and all he possessed at Gilgal, where the curse was wiped from Israel.
Nature of Achan's Sin
Achan coveted a wedge of gold and a Babylonish garment and kept them contrary to God's directions, hiding what he had taken, including what was dedicated to God. His secret keeping made the hidden thing an accursed thing in the midst of Israel, so that one man's coveting and hiding brought guilt and defeat upon the whole camp until it was searched out and taken away. He acted knowingly against God's command, and his concealed theft and disobedience were charged against the whole people and ended with his destruction. His destruction with his household and all he possessed wiped the curse from Israel.
His covetousness did not spring up at once but grew gradually until it became a ruling habit that led to ruin. He cherished greed until it deadened his judgment and left him to fall when temptation came. His history and its terrible results teach the seriousness of violating the tenth commandment.
His covetousness, theft, and taking of what was dedicated to God brought Israel defeat and caused the loss of thirty-six lives. God regards such sins as grievous, and professed righteousness does not hide them. His deliberate concealment and dissembling made the wrongdoing especially grievous and brought God's displeasure upon all Israel's armies.
His fall shows that temptation can bring a person to ruin even when feeling secure, and that temptation cannot be resisted in one's own strength. For that reason Israel was warned to shun idolatry and close ties with idolaters, including intermarriage, and to shun even the borders of sin, because compromise could lead to ruin. God is faithful both to His promises and to His warnings, and the review of past failure is to inspire gratitude for His care and humility about not following His revealed will, a lesson to be applied personally.
God Exposes Hidden Sin
The taking of Judah first shows obedience to special directions from the Lord, with Joshua rising early in the morning and bringing Israel forward by tribes so that divine selection itself pointed out the hidden wrongdoer as the first step toward exposing the offender. That taking proves the Lord is acquainted with the hidden things of dishonesty however men try to hide them, for He is in earnest and jealous and cannot look upon iniquity or let it pass without being exposed. God’s search proceeded by identifying the guilty tribe, thereby bringing concealed selfishness, avarice, and deception to light, for He sees such sins and will bring them to account. In the solemn time when truth must meet principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, harboring falsehood, dissembling, and dishonesty like Achan’s causes loss of power and leaves God’s people unable to stand before their enemies. Every person has an open case between himself and God and must individually seek God’s glory and the success of His cause, put away everything offensive, make straight paths for the feet, hold the fort, make an entire consecration of soul and body to do God’s will, and let conviction become a working agent that reaches the heart and purifies the soul temple of defilement, not stopping till sin is corrected and put away. Achan’s destruction looks terrible but was necessary because the same principles that controlled him had been brought into his family, and that influence would have been dangerous to all Israel.
The deliberate, step-by-step sifting was a lesson never to be forgotten, given by having Joshua act early to present the people by tribes until Judah was pointed out, in order to expose the hidden sin in the camp and bring the guilty to confession. Israel was brought tribe by tribe so the person responsible for the defeat at Ai could be identified, for Achan’s hidden theft had brought defeat on Israel though the people did not know what he had done, the camp had to be cleansed, and God’s Spirit searched out the concealed sin to expose the accursed thing. That same lesson requires hidden wrongdoing to be exposed and removed, with each person examining personal conduct before judging others.
Although the guilt was being exposed, Achan did not confess but braved it out as though innocent while the sifting continued from Judah to a family to a household and finally to himself, the Lord’s directions exposing him though the guilt was hidden. When the lot fell on Judah, Achan’s tribe, and the search then narrowed to his family and finally to him, his fear did not lead him to confess, and he was exposed as guilty. He stayed silent even after he knew the crime had been exposed, and confessed only when he could no longer conceal his guilt. That late admission did not show genuine repentance, for it came in hope of escaping the consequences, not from sorrow for sin or a changed purpose.
The concealed sin in the midst of Israel offended God, who knew all about it, and though by His mighty power He had done a great and glorious work for Israel, that sin barred His way so He could not do what He would, just as the world’s Redeemer could not do many mighty works in certain places because of unbelief. God withheld His blessing, thousands died in battle, and He would not go into battle with Israel while concealed sin remained among them, showing that one person’s hidden transgression could bring judgment and trouble on the whole camp. Achan did not hold a holy office, and his position did not make the sin less serious. God’s people are therefore responsible to clear the way by discipline, by cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, by calling sin by its right name and putting it away, hating the sin but loving the sinner, so God can work for them.
Trouble Upon All Israel
One man's secret sin brought guilt and a curse and God's displeasure upon the whole camp, so that Israel could not succeed against its enemies while the sin remained and was driven before them in defeat. Achan coveted a golden wedge and a Babylonish garment and hid what he had taken, and that hidden thing was an accursed thing in the midst of Israel so that Israel could not stand before its enemies until it was taken away. His concealed transgression brought trouble on all Israel, God withheld His blessing and would not go into battle with them while concealed sin remained, thousands died in battle, and the whole congregation suffered for one man's transgression with judgment coming also upon his family. The sin of one man discomfited the entire army, and a wrong course pursued by one person toward his brother turns the light of God away from His people until the wrong is searched out and the cause of the oppressed is vindicated.
The accursed thing had to be exposed and removed, with the people required to sanctify themselves and with God Himself pointing out the hidden wrong through the taking of tribe and family and household until the guilty one was singled out. That sifting ended with the destruction of Achan with his household and all he possessed to wipe the curse from Israel and remove it from among them. After Achan was punished God's wrath against Israel was turned away, and Joshua was commanded to advance against Ai again.
The whole church bears responsibility and comes under God's rebuke when it knowingly makes light of a member's or minister's defects, as Israel did because of Achan, having failed in its duty by failing to be vigilant to detect sin and to deal with sin among its people. Israel was rebuked for failing to detect the sin among them and then promptly sought it out, showing the duty to search out hidden guilt rather than pass it by. Achan did not hold a holy office, and his position did not make the sin less serious.
The evil was not confined to the sinner but corrupted others and withheld God's blessing from the church until purged by repentance and change of course. Backbiting and slander, cherishing envy and hatred, going as talebearers, accusing and condemning, blackening character, and carrying false reports that cause hearers to lose the Spirit of God, are worse than Achan's sin because their influence spreads to many and defiles them. Like that sin they are a root of bitterness whereby many are defiled, corrupting minds and spirits, and God cannot bless the church till this evil is removed.
Cleansing the Church Today
Hidden wrongdoing among God's people cannot be left covered or excused but must be searched out and dealt with without delay, with the sinner required either to put away sin or to be separated from fellowship, so that others are not contaminated and the camp is cleansed and others learn to fear God. Reformers who treasure solemn, purifying truths must lift the standard far higher and choose poverty, reproach, separation from friends, or any suffering even unto death rather than defile the soul with sin or transgress God's law. Thorough work is required to cleanse the camp from Achans, for sin and sinners left in the church contaminate others, and those in responsible positions must not allow sin to remain in a brother but must show him he must put it away or be separated.
Those who do wickedly and refuse to repent after the admonitions and warnings of God's faithful messengers are as Achan in the camp, deceived and deceiving, and must not be retained on the books or in fellowship but must be disfellowshipped, lest the saints be held accountable for evil deeds. To retain them would be an insult to the God of heaven. Nor is one guilty of serious wrongdoing fit to be treated as qualified for public ministry or fellowship while the sin remains unaddressed, for hidden or tolerated sin can bring the curse upon the whole community.
God Himself points out the hidden wrongdoer when those in charge do their duty, for He will not tolerate covered sin, and what He did with Israel then lays responsibility on all who stand in high positions of trust, for He has not changed and is the same in the gospel as in ancient Israel. If those who know the truth become careless and pass by sin in their midst, He holds them equally responsible with the open transgressor, and hidden sins forfeit His favor. Leaders and teachers must therefore closely guard righteousness and judgment, refuse to let things drift or treat sin as unimportant, give youth a right impression of sin and uncleanness, and labor diligently to separate the Achans from the camp. The same spirit that possessed Achan is still at work unrepented and unpurged in men in important positions, because restoration has not been made and there has been no falling on the Rock and being broken, and there is no hope for God's institutions unless leading men let the Word into the mind, lest deceptions enveloped in mist and fog growing blacker than velvet come so they never know at what they stumble. Joshua acted under a special duty and burden laid on him by God to reprove and correct prevailing sins with discretion so the frown might be turned away, and those who do not have that discretion and duty must not hinder, question, doubt, find fault with, or accuse of a wicked fault-finding spirit those who do, for God is not to be trifled with and His warnings cannot be disregarded with impunity.
Imperceptible covetousness, selfishness, love of money and love of the world through the ranks of Sabbath-keepers destroys the spirit of sacrifice and takes the sacrifice from God's altar, and unless rooted out brings certain destruction as sure as Achan's. Those with it in the heart are unaware of it because it gains upon them imperceptibly as they love the world and its gain and increase, and unless there is an entire change with arising to renew strength and covenant, sacrificing for God and denying self for truth's sake, they will perish with the world. Means are not man's own but lent by God who made men His stewards, and to call them one's own and hoard them brings swift loss when His prospering hand is removed and all is snatched away in a moment. The loftiness of man is soon to be brought down and the pride of man humbled, with kings and nobles, rich and poor alike bowing when the withering plagues of God fall.
God judges as Achan's sin all robbery of His cause, seeing every case and passing judgment as He did on Achan. This includes workers who measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves among themselves over wages, becoming dissatisfied and wanting to be greatly favored, saying if another receives so much they should receive as much, selling to the highest bidder, becoming wise above what is written, practicing double-dealing, and appropriating means for their own use and robbing the treasury with the evil leaven of selfishness and covetousness surrounded by unbelief. It includes selfishly taking funds from an institution's treasury, and selfish neglect, withholding means from the field where God appointed it, and taking means by hard dealing, which is robbery in every sense, an abuse of His Spirit, and a thing He hates. Such dishonest sacred work dishonors God and will be revealed, and is not met by divided, feeble, half-hearted and unwilling payments but requires clean work and full restitution of both principal and interest with everything possible done to redeem the past and a turn from sin to righteousness. Until that is done those responsible walk without light, with blinded spiritual discernment and no real sense of justice and mercy and equity and truth, questioning, criticizing, envying and excusing themselves contrary to His plain will, and such men are not with God and cannot give the right mold to the work nor supply the necessities of laborers in hard fields.
Corrupt hearts with selfishness and exaltation, wanting to be foremost when God and brethren did not place them there, weigh God's people down as clogs, so the work progresses but little, truth takes little effect, few are added, and servants are discouraged. A wrong course pursued by one person toward his brother turns the light of God away from His people until the wrong is searched out and the cause of the oppressed is vindicated. God gives such opportunity to reform and enlightens them as to love of self and other sins, but when they will not heed and will not be reformed He in mercy rids the church of them and gives them up to their own ways to be filled with their own doings, so the honest are enlightened and remain. Then God's people must show tender feelings and discrimination, with enlarged hearts and broad and deep feelings, noble sympathy, largeness of soul and disinterested benevolence, and the church can triumph in God, for just as long as selfishness is allowed to dry up kindly sympathy and tender thoughtful love and interest for brethren, every virtue will be corroded.
In a solemn time when truth must meet principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, harboring falsehood, dissembling and dishonesty leaves God's people without power to stand before enemies, and every person has an open case between himself and God. Each must individually seek God's glory and the success of His cause, examine personal conduct before judging others, put away everything offensive, make straight paths for the feet, hold the fort, make entire consecration of soul and body to do His will, and let conviction become a working agent reaching the heart and purifying the soul temple until sin is corrected and put away. Sin must be called by its right name and put away, with all filthiness cleansed and holiness perfected in His fear, hating the sin but loving the sinner, so He can work for His people and clear the way barred by sin as unbelief limited mighty works elsewhere. Review of past failures is to inspire gratitude for His care and humility over failure to follow His revealed will, applied personally with shunning even the borders of sin, for He is faithful both to promises and to warnings.
In obedience to special direction from the Lord, Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes before the Lord for solemn investigation, and the tribe of Judah was taken by divine selection. The search then narrowed step by step from tribe to family to household to the individual, until Achan was singled out as the troubler of Israel. The taking proves the Lord is acquainted with hidden dishonesty however men try to hide it, for He sees selfishness, avarice and deception and will bring them to account. One man's secret covetousness and theft brought guilt, a curse and God's displeasure upon the whole camp, so Israel could not stand before its enemies and suffered defeat. Hidden sin must therefore be searched out and dealt with promptly and put away, so the camp is cleansed and others are not contaminated.
Morning Investigation Process
In obedience to special directions from the Lord, Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes before the Lord for a solemn investigation into the sin in the camp. Israel was thus brought tribe by tribe before the Lord as the hidden guilt was uncovered. In that uncovering God searched out the guilt and showed that He knows what people misunderstand or misinterpret and can vindicate those who trust Him.
The search narrowed step by step from tribe to family to household to the individual, with the tribe of Judah taken first. The lot fell on Judah, Achan's tribe, and the search then narrowed to his family and finally to him. Through that narrowing Judah was selected and then a family, a household, and finally Achan, who was singled out and identified as the troubler of Israel.
The taking of Judah was by divine selection, with God Himself pointing out the hidden wrongdoer through the process He showed. The guilty person had not been named beforehand, but those responsible had to identify him by the process God showed them. When those in charge do their duty God Himself thus points out the hidden wrongdoer, proving He will not tolerate covered sin.
The investigation followed Israel being driven before its enemies at Ai because one man's secret sin brought guilt and a curse upon the whole camp. That hidden theft was an accursed thing in the midst so Israel could not stand before its enemies until it was taken away, and God required the people to sanctify themselves while His Spirit searched out the concealed sin and the camp had to be cleansed. The bringing by tribes belongs to the march from Gilgal to the overthrow of Jericho and the conquest of Ai, and to the account of Achan meeting the dire penalty of his sin with his household and all he possessed at Gilgal, where the curse was wiped from Israel.
Nature of Achan's Sin
Achan coveted a wedge of gold and a Babylonish garment and kept them contrary to God's directions, hiding what he had taken, including what was dedicated to God. His secret keeping made the hidden thing an accursed thing in the midst of Israel, so that one man's coveting and hiding brought guilt and defeat upon the whole camp until it was searched out and taken away. He acted knowingly against God's command, and his concealed theft and disobedience were charged against the whole people and ended with his destruction. His destruction with his household and all he possessed wiped the curse from Israel.
His covetousness did not spring up at once but grew gradually until it became a ruling habit that led to ruin. He cherished greed until it deadened his judgment and left him to fall when temptation came. His history and its terrible results teach the seriousness of violating the tenth commandment.
His covetousness, theft, and taking of what was dedicated to God brought Israel defeat and caused the loss of thirty-six lives. God regards such sins as grievous, and professed righteousness does not hide them. His deliberate concealment and dissembling made the wrongdoing especially grievous and brought God's displeasure upon all Israel's armies.
His fall shows that temptation can bring a person to ruin even when feeling secure, and that temptation cannot be resisted in one's own strength. For that reason Israel was warned to shun idolatry and close ties with idolaters, including intermarriage, and to shun even the borders of sin, because compromise could lead to ruin. God is faithful both to His promises and to His warnings, and the review of past failure is to inspire gratitude for His care and humility about not following His revealed will, a lesson to be applied personally.
God Exposes Hidden Sin
The taking of Judah first shows obedience to special directions from the Lord, with Joshua rising early in the morning and bringing Israel forward by tribes so that divine selection itself pointed out the hidden wrongdoer as the first step toward exposing the offender. That taking proves the Lord is acquainted with the hidden things of dishonesty however men try to hide them, for He is in earnest and jealous and cannot look upon iniquity or let it pass without being exposed. God’s search proceeded by identifying the guilty tribe, thereby bringing concealed selfishness, avarice, and deception to light, for He sees such sins and will bring them to account. In the solemn time when truth must meet principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, harboring falsehood, dissembling, and dishonesty like Achan’s causes loss of power and leaves God’s people unable to stand before their enemies. Every person has an open case between himself and God and must individually seek God’s glory and the success of His cause, put away everything offensive, make straight paths for the feet, hold the fort, make an entire consecration of soul and body to do God’s will, and let conviction become a working agent that reaches the heart and purifies the soul temple of defilement, not stopping till sin is corrected and put away. Achan’s destruction looks terrible but was necessary because the same principles that controlled him had been brought into his family, and that influence would have been dangerous to all Israel.
The deliberate, step-by-step sifting was a lesson never to be forgotten, given by having Joshua act early to present the people by tribes until Judah was pointed out, in order to expose the hidden sin in the camp and bring the guilty to confession. Israel was brought tribe by tribe so the person responsible for the defeat at Ai could be identified, for Achan’s hidden theft had brought defeat on Israel though the people did not know what he had done, the camp had to be cleansed, and God’s Spirit searched out the concealed sin to expose the accursed thing. That same lesson requires hidden wrongdoing to be exposed and removed, with each person examining personal conduct before judging others.
Although the guilt was being exposed, Achan did not confess but braved it out as though innocent while the sifting continued from Judah to a family to a household and finally to himself, the Lord’s directions exposing him though the guilt was hidden. When the lot fell on Judah, Achan’s tribe, and the search then narrowed to his family and finally to him, his fear did not lead him to confess, and he was exposed as guilty. He stayed silent even after he knew the crime had been exposed, and confessed only when he could no longer conceal his guilt. That late admission did not show genuine repentance, for it came in hope of escaping the consequences, not from sorrow for sin or a changed purpose.
The concealed sin in the midst of Israel offended God, who knew all about it, and though by His mighty power He had done a great and glorious work for Israel, that sin barred His way so He could not do what He would, just as the world’s Redeemer could not do many mighty works in certain places because of unbelief. God withheld His blessing, thousands died in battle, and He would not go into battle with Israel while concealed sin remained among them, showing that one person’s hidden transgression could bring judgment and trouble on the whole camp. Achan did not hold a holy office, and his position did not make the sin less serious. God’s people are therefore responsible to clear the way by discipline, by cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, by calling sin by its right name and putting it away, hating the sin but loving the sinner, so God can work for them.
Trouble Upon All Israel
One man's secret sin brought guilt and a curse and God's displeasure upon the whole camp, so that Israel could not succeed against its enemies while the sin remained and was driven before them in defeat. Achan coveted a golden wedge and a Babylonish garment and hid what he had taken, and that hidden thing was an accursed thing in the midst of Israel so that Israel could not stand before its enemies until it was taken away. His concealed transgression brought trouble on all Israel, God withheld His blessing and would not go into battle with them while concealed sin remained, thousands died in battle, and the whole congregation suffered for one man's transgression with judgment coming also upon his family. The sin of one man discomfited the entire army, and a wrong course pursued by one person toward his brother turns the light of God away from His people until the wrong is searched out and the cause of the oppressed is vindicated.
The accursed thing had to be exposed and removed, with the people required to sanctify themselves and with God Himself pointing out the hidden wrong through the taking of tribe and family and household until the guilty one was singled out. That sifting ended with the destruction of Achan with his household and all he possessed to wipe the curse from Israel and remove it from among them. After Achan was punished God's wrath against Israel was turned away, and Joshua was commanded to advance against Ai again.
The whole church bears responsibility and comes under God's rebuke when it knowingly makes light of a member's or minister's defects, as Israel did because of Achan, having failed in its duty by failing to be vigilant to detect sin and to deal with sin among its people. Israel was rebuked for failing to detect the sin among them and then promptly sought it out, showing the duty to search out hidden guilt rather than pass it by. Achan did not hold a holy office, and his position did not make the sin less serious.
The evil was not confined to the sinner but corrupted others and withheld God's blessing from the church until purged by repentance and change of course. Backbiting and slander, cherishing envy and hatred, going as talebearers, accusing and condemning, blackening character, and carrying false reports that cause hearers to lose the Spirit of God, are worse than Achan's sin because their influence spreads to many and defiles them. Like that sin they are a root of bitterness whereby many are defiled, corrupting minds and spirits, and God cannot bless the church till this evil is removed.
Cleansing the Church Today
Hidden wrongdoing among God's people cannot be left covered or excused but must be searched out and dealt with without delay, with the sinner required either to put away sin or to be separated from fellowship, so that others are not contaminated and the camp is cleansed and others learn to fear God. Reformers who treasure solemn, purifying truths must lift the standard far higher and choose poverty, reproach, separation from friends, or any suffering even unto death rather than defile the soul with sin or transgress God's law. Thorough work is required to cleanse the camp from Achans, for sin and sinners left in the church contaminate others, and those in responsible positions must not allow sin to remain in a brother but must show him he must put it away or be separated.
Those who do wickedly and refuse to repent after the admonitions and warnings of God's faithful messengers are as Achan in the camp, deceived and deceiving, and must not be retained on the books or in fellowship but must be disfellowshipped, lest the saints be held accountable for evil deeds. To retain them would be an insult to the God of heaven. Nor is one guilty of serious wrongdoing fit to be treated as qualified for public ministry or fellowship while the sin remains unaddressed, for hidden or tolerated sin can bring the curse upon the whole community.
God Himself points out the hidden wrongdoer when those in charge do their duty, for He will not tolerate covered sin, and what He did with Israel then lays responsibility on all who stand in high positions of trust, for He has not changed and is the same in the gospel as in ancient Israel. If those who know the truth become careless and pass by sin in their midst, He holds them equally responsible with the open transgressor, and hidden sins forfeit His favor. Leaders and teachers must therefore closely guard righteousness and judgment, refuse to let things drift or treat sin as unimportant, give youth a right impression of sin and uncleanness, and labor diligently to separate the Achans from the camp. The same spirit that possessed Achan is still at work unrepented and unpurged in men in important positions, because restoration has not been made and there has been no falling on the Rock and being broken, and there is no hope for God's institutions unless leading men let the Word into the mind, lest deceptions enveloped in mist and fog growing blacker than velvet come so they never know at what they stumble. Joshua acted under a special duty and burden laid on him by God to reprove and correct prevailing sins with discretion so the frown might be turned away, and those who do not have that discretion and duty must not hinder, question, doubt, find fault with, or accuse of a wicked fault-finding spirit those who do, for God is not to be trifled with and His warnings cannot be disregarded with impunity.
Imperceptible covetousness, selfishness, love of money and love of the world through the ranks of Sabbath-keepers destroys the spirit of sacrifice and takes the sacrifice from God's altar, and unless rooted out brings certain destruction as sure as Achan's. Those with it in the heart are unaware of it because it gains upon them imperceptibly as they love the world and its gain and increase, and unless there is an entire change with arising to renew strength and covenant, sacrificing for God and denying self for truth's sake, they will perish with the world. Means are not man's own but lent by God who made men His stewards, and to call them one's own and hoard them brings swift loss when His prospering hand is removed and all is snatched away in a moment. The loftiness of man is soon to be brought down and the pride of man humbled, with kings and nobles, rich and poor alike bowing when the withering plagues of God fall.
God judges as Achan's sin all robbery of His cause, seeing every case and passing judgment as He did on Achan. This includes workers who measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves among themselves over wages, becoming dissatisfied and wanting to be greatly favored, saying if another receives so much they should receive as much, selling to the highest bidder, becoming wise above what is written, practicing double-dealing, and appropriating means for their own use and robbing the treasury with the evil leaven of selfishness and covetousness surrounded by unbelief. It includes selfishly taking funds from an institution's treasury, and selfish neglect, withholding means from the field where God appointed it, and taking means by hard dealing, which is robbery in every sense, an abuse of His Spirit, and a thing He hates. Such dishonest sacred work dishonors God and will be revealed, and is not met by divided, feeble, half-hearted and unwilling payments but requires clean work and full restitution of both principal and interest with everything possible done to redeem the past and a turn from sin to righteousness. Until that is done those responsible walk without light, with blinded spiritual discernment and no real sense of justice and mercy and equity and truth, questioning, criticizing, envying and excusing themselves contrary to His plain will, and such men are not with God and cannot give the right mold to the work nor supply the necessities of laborers in hard fields.
Corrupt hearts with selfishness and exaltation, wanting to be foremost when God and brethren did not place them there, weigh God's people down as clogs, so the work progresses but little, truth takes little effect, few are added, and servants are discouraged. A wrong course pursued by one person toward his brother turns the light of God away from His people until the wrong is searched out and the cause of the oppressed is vindicated. God gives such opportunity to reform and enlightens them as to love of self and other sins, but when they will not heed and will not be reformed He in mercy rids the church of them and gives them up to their own ways to be filled with their own doings, so the honest are enlightened and remain. Then God's people must show tender feelings and discrimination, with enlarged hearts and broad and deep feelings, noble sympathy, largeness of soul and disinterested benevolence, and the church can triumph in God, for just as long as selfishness is allowed to dry up kindly sympathy and tender thoughtful love and interest for brethren, every virtue will be corroded.
In a solemn time when truth must meet principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, harboring falsehood, dissembling and dishonesty leaves God's people without power to stand before enemies, and every person has an open case between himself and God. Each must individually seek God's glory and the success of His cause, examine personal conduct before judging others, put away everything offensive, make straight paths for the feet, hold the fort, make entire consecration of soul and body to do His will, and let conviction become a working agent reaching the heart and purifying the soul temple until sin is corrected and put away. Sin must be called by its right name and put away, with all filthiness cleansed and holiness perfected in His fear, hating the sin but loving the sinner, so He can work for His people and clear the way barred by sin as unbelief limited mighty works elsewhere. Review of past failures is to inspire gratitude for His care and humility over failure to follow His revealed will, applied personally with shunning even the borders of sin, for He is faithful both to promises and to warnings.