Achan desired what he saw. He ‘saw … coveted … took’, 7. 21. Sin often begins with a look; cf. Eve, Lot, David, Gen. 4. 6; 13. 10; 2 Sam. 11. 2. ‘Each man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed’, Jas. 1. 14. The word ‘lust’ here means strong desire, and is used in good and bad senses in the New Testament. Similarly we read, ‘Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation … lusts, which plunge men into destruction and ruin’, 1 Tim. 6. 9-10 JND. Covetousness is a pernicious evil, frequently denounced in the New Testament, e.g. Mark 7. 22; 1 Cor. 5.10; Eph. 5. 5. The Lord’s parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 is a warning to all of us living today in the western capitalist, consumer society with its subtle, persuasive advertising working through our eyes, especially on television.
Achan disobeyed God deliberately, 6. 9. He well knew what had happened in the wilderness because of ‘unbelief’ and ‘disobedience’, when thousands had died.
What do we have in our homes? The assembly may not see it nor be aware of it, but Achan’s sin involved his family who did know and also the nation who did not: ‘Israel hath sinned’, 7. 11. One man’s sin can wreak havoc amongst God’s people until it is detected and dealt with. Not only individuals, such as Samson, but also assemblies are incapacitated by sin; cf. the sin of Miriam, Num. 11.
We must not tolerate sin in and among ourselves. Evil within is a greater threat than the enemy without. Both the victory at Jericho and the defeat at Ai had little, if anything, to do with the relative strengths of each side’s forces; as the spies mistakenly believed, 7. 3. However many the enemy, they will always be overwhelmed if the Lord is with Israel; cf. 2 Kgs. 6. 16-17. However few the enemy, they will always be too many if an Achan is with Israel.
Each of us therefore must search our own heart, and examine what we are doing, pursuing, and living for. Are there things which are robbing God of our time, money, energies, devotion? Achan sought to enrich himself and probably his family – may we be rich toward God.
