ACHAN’S SIN
(Joshua 7:1-26)
ACHAN’S SIN
HE PUT HIS OWN DESIRES OVER THE GOOD
OF OTHERS, Josh. 6:18,19, 24; 7:1
 What led Achan to sin? Josh. 7:21
Sin Often Begins with Unlawful Desire
Josh. 7:21, When I saw among the spoils a
goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred
shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty
shekels weight, then I coveted them…
Gen. 3:6, And when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food…
2 Sam. 11:2, …David…saw a woman washing
herself…
2 Tim. 4:10, For Demas hath forsaken me,
having loved this present world…
ACHAN’S SIN
HE ACTED ON HIS DESIRES IN CONTRAST TO
THE ACTIONS OF OTHERS WHO OBEYED
GOD, Josh. 6:24 –versus- 7:1; Josh. 7:21
Why did Achan sin in this case while
the rest of God’s people did not?
Why Did God’s People Not Sin in this Matter?
Not because:
 They had no access to the things Achan had
coveted, Josh. 6:24
 The things Achan coveted were not
desirable.
 They could not be tempted, Rom. 3:23
Why did Achan sin in this case while
the rest of God’s people did not?
Why Did God’s People Not Sin in this Matter?
But because:
 They walked by faith and not by their own
desires.
 It is possible to resist sin.
 God’s word was understood alike by all.
 They understood disobedience to God was
serious
They understood disobedience to God was
serious:
Heb. 3:15, …Harden not your hearts, as in
the provocation. 16 For who, when they
heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they
that came out of Egypt by Moses? 17 And
with whom was he displeased forty years?
was it not with them that sinned, whose
bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to
whom sware he that they should not enter into
his rest, but to them that were disobedient?
Why Did Achan Sin in this Matter?
 He was a “forgetful hearer” (Jas. 1:25).
 He put his own desires above faith in God.
 He did not resist temptation to covet.
 He did not resist temptation to take.
 He did not profit from the examples of the
disobedience of his fathers (Heb. 3:17,18).
 He did not profit from the examples of the
obedient (Num. 14:38; Josh. 6:24).
 He did not remember the all-seeing eye of
God (Josh. 7:11). 2 Thes. 1:8
ACHAN’S SIN
HIS SIN WAS DETECTED, Josh 7:10-23; 1 Tim.
5:24; Eccl. 12:14; Heb. 4:13; Num. 32:23
ACHAN’S SIN
HIS SIN AFFECTED OTHERS
 Thirty-six men died as a result of his sin
during the attack on Ai (Josh. 7:5).
 His family died with him! Josh. 7:24-26; Heb.
12:15
ACHAN’S SIN
HE PUT HIS OWN DESIRES OVER THE GOOD
OF OTHERS
HE ACTED ON HIS DESIRES IN CONTRAST TO
THE ACTIONS OF OTHERS WHO OBEYED GOD
HIS SIN WAS DETECTED
HIS SIN AFFECTED OTHERS