Joshua 7:10-15: a reflection

10The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? 11Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff. 12Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for the LORD, the God of Israel, says, “There is a devoted thing among you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you.” 14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which the LORD selects shall come near by families. The family which the LORD selects shall come near by households. The household which the LORD selects shall come near man by man. 15It shall be, that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the LORD’s covenant, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

Israel has suffered an unexpected defeat, and Joshua lies face down before God in dismay. But God tells him to get up, because the problem is not divine abandonment but hidden sin: Israel has sinned; someone has secretly taken what was devoted to God and hidden it among his own possessions. Until that sin is dealt with, God says, the people cannot stand before their enemies. One person's concealed wrongdoing had brought consequences on the whole community.

The passage teaches an uncomfortable truth: sin is rarely as private as we imagine. Achan thought his theft was hidden, buried in his tent, his own concern. But it affected the whole nation, sapping their strength and bringing defeat. God's remedy was that the hidden thing had to be brought into the open and dealt with; the people could not simply move on while it lay concealed among them. What was hidden had to be exposed before the community could be right with God again.

We would like to believe our secret sins harm no one but ourselves, but Scripture keeps insisting otherwise. What we conceal can weaken those around us, our families, our communities, our churches, in ways we do not see. The lesson is not to hide sin but to bring it into the light and deal with it honestly before God. Do not bury the devoted thing in your tent and imagine it affects no one. Confess it, root it out, and let God restore both you and those your hidden sin has quietly affected.

Lord, Achan thought his hidden sin was his own affair, but it weakened a whole people. Teach me that what I conceal is rarely as private as I imagine. Guard me from burying sin and pretending it harms no one. Give me the honesty to bring what is hidden into your light, to confess and root it out, and to let you restore both me and those around me. Amen.