Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Achan Sins - The Book of Joshua

Transcript

Achan Sins - The Book of Joshua · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: have I done. Joshua 7.20 Dear Lord, Meditating on Joshua
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: 7 and 8, I will be sure not to take
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: any mindsets and idols that are contrary to the ways
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. I come against the mindset of Achan
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: that would have me take possession of what is not mine.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I will be patient and wait for you to bring
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: my perfect blessing to me. Like Joshua, if there is
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: anything in my life that would stop me from winning
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the battles, I pray that you will help me identify
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: them and then remove them from my life. When I
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: experience moments of setbacks, I will realign myself and reassess
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: my heart to make sure that I am living in
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: complete obedience to you, Lord. when my victories seem far
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: in between, I will stop and go back to my
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: last place of disobedience so that I can make it
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: right and move forward in my promise. Through your word,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I have all the promises and strategies needed to win
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: every battle. You are with me, Lord, and for that,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: I'm forever grateful. Be strong and courageous. With you, God,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: I've got this. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: praying with me today. Continue listening for an incredible Bible
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Achan Sins In our last story, we learned of God's
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: enormous power. With the marching and shouts of Israel, the
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: walls of Jericho crumbled and the Hebrew army stormed the city.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Now we learn about Israel's self-confidence being shattered by loss
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: and idolatry. Achan sins and hides it from Joshua, and
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: the sins of Israel cause stumbling across the land. Inspired
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: by the book of Joshua.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Hello, Jack Graham here with today's episode of The Bible
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: in a Year. In our previous episode, we heard how
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: God delivered the city of Jericho to the Israelites in
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: a surprising and miraculous way. With the blowing of trumpets
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: and the shouting of His people, God caused the walls
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: of Jericho to collapse into rubble. The Israelites had stormed
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: the exposed city with God's order to destroy everything but
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: the gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which were to be
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: taken for the Lord's treasuries. They were warned not to
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: keep plunder for themselves, lest they bring trouble on the
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: whole camp. Today we learn of one man named Achan,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: whose greed got the best of him, and how his
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: secret sin, an act of disobedience and deceit, brings heartache
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: to all around him. Joshua and his army will be
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: left perplexed as they lose in battle, but the truth
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: will come out, and the people will learn that God
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: is not to be defied. Let's listen now to today's reading.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: The faithful arm of God carried Israel to victory. The
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Israelite army laughed and cheered in the streets of Jericho.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: The day was drawing to a close, and the men
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: were gathering the spoils of war, taking anything valuable to
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: be stored for the rest of Israel. Joshua instructed specifically
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: that any idols that caused their hearts to stumble should
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: be ignored. for God had given them victory, and to
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: take idols as spoils of war would be spitting in
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the face of the Lord. Achan from the tribe of
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Judah was rummaging around in the wreckage, searching for anything
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: valuable or interesting. At the corner of his eye he
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: spotted something. An altar to some of the Jericho gods
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: stood there perfectly intact. The altar was gold, and on
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: it several Canaanite idols were spread across its base. They
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: glimmered and reflected back in Achan's eyes. Achan smiled as
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: he looked around him to see if anyone was watching.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Then he took the idols and stuffed them in his bag.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Unbeknownst to Achan, the anger of God was awakened against
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: him that moment. Achan did not know that his idolatry
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: would send Israel into heartache. Joshua sent spies to the
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: neighboring land of Ai. The spies came back with a
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: good report, saying that they only needed two to three
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: thousand men in order to take the land, for the
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: army was small there and the city was vulnerable. So
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Joshua and his men marched forward towards Ai. Achan was
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: among them, still hiding his idols. Joshua and the army
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: of Israel drew their swords. Their marching turned into running,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: and they shouted as they stormed the city of Ai.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: I met them with great strength. The battle raged, and
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: the people of Israel began to fall one by one.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Swords tore apart the flesh of thirty-six Israelite men, and
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: it became apparent to Joshua that they would not win
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: this battle. Retreat! Joshua yelled, and the army of Israel
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: fled to the mountains. Dirty, bloodied, and bruised, the men
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: sat there astonished. After such a glorious victory in Jericho,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: how could they have lost? Their hearts melted, and their
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: optimism disappeared like vapor. Joshua fell before God at the ark.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: He lay there until evening. Joshua tightened his jaw. His
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: face was on the ground, and dust was on his head.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: His eyes were sealed shut, and he was holding back tears.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Why did you bring us over the Jordan at all?
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Joshua asked. Would you bring us out here just to
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: have us slaughtered? We have fled from our enemies. Word
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: will spread of our cowardice and they will be emboldened
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: to come out and slaughter us. Joshua finally began to cry.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: His heart was broken over such a tragic loss. Although
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: 36 men was not a large military blow, it meant
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: everything to Israel. The Lord had no patience or compassion
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: listening to Joshua's words. Get up! He yelled, Why do
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: you fall on your face? The people have broken their
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: promise to me. They have stolen idols. If I am
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: not their God, then why would I grant them victory?
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: God spoke with firmness, and Joshua listened with anger. Joshua
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: rose early and brought every tribe of Israel before him.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: He paced in front of them, staring. He pointed to
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: the tribe of Judah and brought them forward. Then all
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: those in the tribe of Judah were brought before Joshua.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: One by one they brought their case before Joshua and left.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Then Achan came forward. What have you done? Joshua asked.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Immediately Achan crumbled. He confessed to taking idols from Jericho
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: and storing them underneath his tent. So Joshua sent his
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: men to ransack the tent. They brought all the gold
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: and silver Achan had taken. and showcased it in front
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: of all the people. They grabbed Achan, his family, and
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: all the idols he had taken and dragged them to
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: the Valley of Achor. Why have you done this? Joshua asked. Afterwards,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: he said nothing. They bound Achan in the middle of
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: the valley. Each member of the tribe picked up stones.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: One by one, they hurled stones at Achan. Blood and
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: screams scattered across the fields. Achan writhed before them, bound
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: and unable to free himself. Stone after stone struck Achan
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: until he breathed his last. Joshua then took Achan along
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: with his idols and burned them. Everyone looked as Achan
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: melted with his idols. He shared their fate, destined to
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: become nothing. The anger of God disappeared with the ashes
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: of Achan and his idols. God turned to Joshua and said,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Do not be afraid to go against I once again.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I have given them into your hand. Joshua felt the
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: confidence of the Lord return to him. This time Joshua
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: gathered thirty thousand of his finest men to take I
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: with force. The battle would not be easy, and it
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: would require tact and patience. So Joshua and all the
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: fighting men rose up to go towards I. Joshua laid
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: out his plan before them and said,'' Twenty- five thousand of
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: you shall lie in waiting on the outskirts of the city.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: I and five thousand of my men will storm the
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: city and clash with I. When they come out to battle,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: we will flee as we did before. When they come
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: after us, you will ambush the city and set it ablaze.''
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: They schemed all night, strategizing and bickering. The next morning,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: they were ready. Joshua and 5,000 of his men met
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: I and his army for battle. The two forces clashed.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: The Israelite army feigned weakness and tucked tail and ran
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: from Ai. Filled with confidence, Ai pursued Israel to finish
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: them once and for all. The 5,000 men fled to
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: the hills, luring Ai further and further from their city. Then,
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: like mighty waves crashing upon the rocks, 25,000 of Israel's
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: warriors clashed against the city of Ai. The land stood
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: no chance. and they set it ablaze for all the
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: world to see. The men of Ai looked back to
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: see their city rising up in smoke and flames. As
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: they looked back, the 5,000 men of Israel leapt like
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: a lion against its prey. The jaws of Israel's army
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: locked on to the neck of Ai. They tore them
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: apart limb from limb, sparing no soldier. None were able
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: to escape, and the king of Ai was taken captive
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: and brought to Joshua. Miles away in Ai, More men
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: arose from the city to come against the army of Israel.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Israel was surrounded by soldiers from the right and from
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: the left. Swords flew and shields burst. The flames in
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: the city grew larger and larger and ash filled the air.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Israel fought among the flames, dousing the fire with the
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: blood of their enemies. All fell at the edge of
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: their sword. A total of 12,000 bodies burned with the
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: city of Ai. Only the livestock was spared as plunder.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: The rest was left as a heap of ruins and
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: a monument to God's greatness. Joshua hung the king of Ai,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: and he remained there for the rest of the day.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: As the sun was setting across the land, Joshua threw
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: the king's body among the ashes of his city. The
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: air smelled of blood, metal, and ash. Joshua raised his
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: javelin and screamed a war cry of victory. All 30,000
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: men joined in their shouts. The roaring of Israel shook
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: the ground. Another victory. The promised land was closer. They
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: built an altar to God and renewed their covenant with Him.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: With God as their mighty warrior king, no nation would
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: ever stand against them and prevail. Standing among the ash,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: a shout of victory bellowed across the land for all
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: to hear.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Today's reading opens in the aftermath of the battle of Jericho.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: The people were rejoicing over the victory that God had
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: given them in their first challenge in the promised land.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: God knew they would be quick to turn away as
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: they had done many times before, so he had commanded
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: them to keep no spoils for themselves. It was a test.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: The shrines and the idols in Jericho would be a
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: stumbling block, so they must be completely destroyed. But one
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: man named Achan, was captivated by the spoils and took
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: some for himself. He knew it was wrong because he
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: carefully hid what he had taken in his tent. Nobody knew.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: At least he thought. God, of course, knew. And this
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: act of disrespect and defiance of God, his disobedience, angered
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: the Lord greatly. This was secret sin, sin in the camp,
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: and it had to be dealt with. So when Joshua
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: and his army went into battle against the neighboring city
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: of Ai, his men met a formidable foe and an
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: ignominious defeat as 36 Israelite men were cut down and
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: this forced Joshua to call a retreat. They returned to
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: camp defeated, not knowing.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: What had happened.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: What was God doing, Joshua wondered. Downcast and dispirited, Joshua
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: fell before the ark and cried out to God, asking him,
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Why has this happened? Won't this make you and us
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: look bad before the nations? But God was having none
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: of this. He called for Joshua to get up, and
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: then he laid out the accusation that no doubt stunned Joshua,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: and we read about it here in Joshua 7, verses
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: 11 through 12. Israel has sinned. They have transgressed my
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: covenant that I commanded them. They've taken some of the
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: devoted things they have stolen and lied and put them
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: among their own belongings. Therefore, the people of Israel cannot
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: enemies because they have become devoted for destruction. I will
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: things that are among you. This secret sin, this single
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: act of disobedience would not stand. God is teaching every
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: one of us a lesson that we must confess our
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: sins and not hide them away, that a divided heart
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: cannot walk with God, and God cannot use us with
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: sin in our lives. God instructed Joshua as to how
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: they would find the culprit. And just as he said
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: the guilty party was discovered, Achan came forward and confessed
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: his sin, surely to the anger and shock of everyone
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: around them. Achan and the things that he had taken
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: were quickly destroyed, and judgment came upon Achan and his family.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: He sent Joshua once more to battle at Ai, and
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: this time the victory was commanding. Not a soul was
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: left standing, only the livestock. God's blessing and protection was
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: once again upon his people, just as he had promised.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: Hope is restored, and the neighboring cities feared the God
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: of Israel and his army. The next time, we're going
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: to learn about a new approach to war that one
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: of those neighbors employs. Dear God, we pray. that you
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: would search our hearts. And if there is any sin,
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: if there is a secret sin, if there is a
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: buried sin in our lives, that we would confess it
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: and find forgiveness, that we would learn to obey you
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: always and never try to cover up our disobedience to you.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: Thank you for always showing us mercy when we come
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: to you. We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus,
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: who made it possible for for us to confess our
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: sins and to be forgiven. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com app
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: and make Bible reading and prayer the priority of your life.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: love because by sharing this podcast, you can make a difference,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: a big difference, an eternal difference in someone else's life.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: And if you want more resources on how to tap
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: into God's power for your life, be sure to visit JackGraham.org.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: God bless you.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative health care
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.