Joshua 7:1-9: a reflection

1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against the children of Israel. 2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai. 3They returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Don’t let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them.” 4So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai. 5The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water. 6Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the LORD’s ark until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. 7Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan! 8Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies? 9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”

Israel's stunning victory at Jericho is followed by a shocking defeat at tiny Ai, and the reason is hidden: one man, Achan, had secretly taken some of the devoted plunder, and, the text says, the LORD's anger burned against the whole people. One person's secret sin, known to no one but himself and God, brought defeat on the entire nation. Joshua, not knowing the cause, tears his clothes and cries out to God in bewilderment and dismay.

Notice the sobering truth this reveals: sin is not as private as we imagine. Achan sinned secretly, thinking it a matter between himself and his hidden loot. But his sin had corporate consequences; it affected the whole community, brought defeat on people who knew nothing of it, and could not stay hidden. Our sins, even the secret ones we think concern no one but ourselves, have ways of spreading their effects to those around us, and of coming, eventually, into the light.

That is a caution against the illusion of private sin. We tell ourselves that what we do in secret hurts no one else, that it is our own business. Achan's story says otherwise: hidden sin has consequences beyond ourselves, and God brings hidden things to light. It is a call to take seriously even the sins no one sees, to deal honestly with what we have hidden, before its effects spread and it is exposed. Do not imagine your secret sin is truly private. Bring it into the light before God yourself, deal with it honestly, and spare yourself and those around you its hidden cost.

Lord, Achan's secret sin brought defeat on the whole nation and could not stay hidden. Keep me from the illusion that my private sins concern no one but myself. Show me that hidden sin has consequences beyond me and does not stay in the dark. Help me take seriously even the sins no one sees, to bring what I have hidden into your light myself, and to deal with it honestly, before its effects spread. Search me, and expose what I have kept hidden.