"All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones."
-Jesus (John 8:7)
". . . you may be sure that your sin will find you out."
-Numbers 32:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
-Romans 6:23
"Two things never live up to their advertising claims: the circus and sin."
-Anonymous
"Sin takes you further than you want to go, costs you more than you want to pay, and keeps you longer than you want to stay."
-Anonymous
-Proverbs 29:6 NLT
Whenever I think of a Biblical person trapped by sin, I think of a man named Achan. "But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites" (Joshua 7:1).
After Joshua's victory over Jericho, the small town of Ai seemed like a military piece of cake. Joshua chose a team of about three thousand warriors for this mission and, surprisingly, they were soundly defeated and thirty-six of his troops were killed. Joshua knew there was sin in the camp so he called the tribes of Israel together and singled out this man, Achan.
"Then Joshua said to Achan, 'My son, give glory to the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don't hide it from me.'
"Achan replied, 'I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest'" (Joshua 7:20-21).
You probably know the rest of the story, the stolen items were recovered, laid out before Joshua and the Lord, and Achan and his family were executed, because of Achan's sin against the Lord. Achan was trapped in his sin and the price was death: "The wages of sin is death . . ."
Looking at this passage of Scripture, I see several principles about sin and the trap it sets for those who are lured by its bait:
1. Sin will single you out! " . . . Achan was singled out" (v. 18). We can be sure our sin will find us out. Sin can be hidden but, sooner or later, it surfaces. It did in Achan's life. It did in David's life! Remember David's confrontation with Nathan the prophet after David stole Bathsheba from Uriah the Hittite? David, "You are that man" (2 Samuel 12:7)! ". . . you may be sure that your sin will find you out."
2. Every sin is against the Lord! "Achan replied, 'I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel'" (v. 20). We may think we sin against others but our sin is against God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. Sin progressively gets worse! "For I saw . . ." progressed to "I wanted . . ." and finally to ". . . I took . . ." (v. 21). That's exactly what happened to David when he saw, wanted, and took Bathsheba. Sin progressively gets worse.
4. Sin will be revealed! "They are hidden . . ." (v. 21). "They laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord" (v. 23). They were hidden! Now they are revealed . . . and Achan is guilty. Jesus said, "There is a time coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public" (Luke 12:2).
5. Sin affects others! "And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family . . ." (v. 25). The wages of sin are passed on to family and friends. Let's not be fooled into thinking sin only affects the sinner.
6. Only after we deal with sin will we know victory (Joshua 8). Joshua and the Israelites did take Ai as God intended, but only after dealing with sin. "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong" (1 John 1:9). For that we can shout for joy!
"Evil people are trapped by sin, but the righteous escape, shouting for joy."
We need to be shouters!
PLEASE NOTE: Tomorrow will be the final post for Bi11boards. Thank you for your encouragement. God bless!
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