The Seriousness of Disobedience
Joshua 7
1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan… of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.
5 And the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them…
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads.
24–26 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger.
Although God had shown his favor to Joshua and Israel and had given Jericho into their hands, immediately after that battle they were defeated by the people of the next town, Ai. Why? Israel had disobeyed God’s command and had taken some of the devoted things without permission, and the anger of the Lord burned against them.
Note that although it was one man who had transgressed, the anger of God burned against all the people of Israel, and the whole nation was guilty of breaking faith (verse 1). In our individualistic society, it is hard to understand that the misbehavior of one person can affect those around them. However, that is simply the reality of life. On the one hand, everyone is responsible for their own behavior. On the other hand, if my child takes a wrong direction, it is going to affect me in one way or another. In a similar way, the sins of people in the household of God are going to have an impact on the rest, especially on those who are closest to them. So the loving thing is to care for one another, exhorting one another to walk in obedience.
Also note the humble response of Joshua. Once he realized they had been defeated, he tore his clothes and fell on the ground, remaining there until the evening. The elders followed his example. This was an expression of contrition, recognizing that something had gone wrong and appealing to God.
Once they discovered what the problem was—that someone had taken the spoils from Jericho, defying the command of God—they called the man who had done it and punished him and his household according to the law. They stoned them and burned them. What an awful picture! Can you imagine doing that today? Imagine the leaders discovering that someone had blatantly disobeyed, cutting them off from the community and stoning them to death. This clearly speaks of the seriousness of disobedience. If you think this was merely a severe consequence under the Old Testament, read Acts 5, where Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, were struck down by God for being dishonest. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (Hebrews 10:31).
The just retribution carried out against the transgressors pacified God’s wrath, and he turned from his burning anger (verse 26).
There are a few practical implications. One is that we should care for one another, keeping each other accountable and rescuing those who are going astray. Another is to respond with immediate humility before God whenever we realize that we have sinned against him, whether directly or indirectly. We should also be sobered by the fact that our behavior can have very serious consequences if we persist in deliberate sin (Hebrews 10:26). And finally, we should constantly be grateful for the sacrifice of Christ, who saved us from receiving the judgment we deserved because of our acts of disobedience. Just as God turned from his burning anger after justice had been executed in Joshua 7, so he has turned from his wrath toward us because his justice was fully satisfied in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
Let us cry out to God that we would take obedience to him seriously in light of his grace and mercy, expressed through the work of his Son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf.