Bible Men: Joshua: Achan and the Fatal Sin of Covetousness

When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. Jos 7:21 

The Tragedy of Taking Sin Lightly

The story of Achan is tragic.

Either it will leave a man angry after reading it or it will throw him at the feet of God panting. Anger because from a purely human point of view one feels the punishment meted on Achan and his family was extreme.

But sin is equally extreme. Whether small or big sin is deadly.

And besides, God had carefully laid down all the rules and conditions which were to be met before their taking over of Jericho. “And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD… And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Jos 6:17-18).   

But Achan, undoubtedly because of seeing so much gold and silver before his eyes, forgot everything about curses as his taste buds went on rampage. “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel” (Jos 7:1). 

The temptation was big. But equally the consequences were huge. “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones” (Jos 7:25). 

It is easy to blame God for his lack of mercy. It’s not so easy to examine our own hearts.   

The Bible calls covetousness the sin of idolatry. “The strong desire to have that which belongs to another.” It is greed and it is a grievous scriptural offence.

It is Unbelief

Pastor Jon Piper has done a wonderful piece on covetousness in his book Future Grace.

At the bottom of it, he argues, covetousness is a sin of unbelief. It is seeking our satisfaction in something else other than God.

“Covetousness is a heart divided between two gods” he writes. So it is rightly called idolatry. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5).

Covetousness, according to Piper, is the opposite of faith. It’s the loss of contentment in Christ where we start to crave other things.

Covetousness chokes out spiritual life in a person as it gives birth to many sins. It is the seed which fell on thorny soil. “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mar 4:19). 

In the battle with covetousness Paul advises believers to run. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things.” What things? “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1Ti 6:10). 

So Paul urges young Timothy to flee “and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1Ti 6:11). 

And in the end, says Piper, covetousness destroys the soul. “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1Ti 6:9). 

Remember Judas and Balaam. They went out and met their darkness.

But instead of following these things Paul offers something better. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1Ti 6:6-8).  

Choose the Eternal over Temporal Things

God has given us everything but set a limit on a very few things. Eden was lost because of one tree out of a thousand.

Achan had just set foot in Promised Land but he never lived to enjoy it because of a few scraps of silver and gold which were forbidden.

So too it is easy to miss our chief goal of attaining eternal life because we are too busy pursuing the present. But we are here to be transformed rather than to conform to this world.

Covetousness breeds the half-hearted heart and which in turn is the mother of a halfhearted happiness.

From The Valley of Achor to a Door of Hope

Achan must have struggled with his temptation. He must have sweated blood just before he succumbed to his ruin.

Temptations don’t just happen. They are borne of character. But they are always preceded by a warning. We have all been there. The heart burned with a note not to do it but we did it nevertheless. And that was our ruin.  

The valley of Achor is the place where Achan met his death. It’s a horrible place with horrible memories. Yet “a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15) can still emerge from such a place!

Is it such a valley you are in right now my friend? But now a better hope is here in Christ!

God killed his own Son so that all who would believe in him would not die but live. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32).  

All things: death or life, riches or poverty. For better for worse. For what can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Heb 7:25  

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Heb 8:12  

There’s nothing impossible with God. Please remember that!