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I want to examine the life of a man by the name of Achan. Achan is called Achar in I Chron. 2:7 where it says, Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things. The Hebrew root of the name Achar means trouble. How would you like to be named trouble? But truly Achan was in trouble and his name was changed because of the events in Joshua chapter 7. The events that preceded Joshua 7 are familiar to most of us. Six times the army of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho and on the 7th, as the song goes, the walls came tumbling down.
But I want to draw your attention to Joshua 6: 16-19 that tells us of a prohibition that came along with this victory. Joshua 7 tells us that Joshua had been told by God that Rehab the prostitute and all who were in her house were to be spared but the gold and articles of bronze and iron, the metals, were to be put in the treasury and everything else was to be destroyed. In violation of that prohibition Achan took a garment, and silver and gold which were part of the spoils of Jericho. The consequences of his action caused Israel to be defeated at Ai. God then revealed the reason for Israel's defeat by the process of elimination and Achan was found out. He and his family were then taken to the valley of Achor and all Israel stoned them with stones. As I read this story I asked myself, what happened to Achan? Surely he knew the power of the Almighty God for he was a man who had come out of the wilderness wanderings where shoe leather never wore out, clothing never wore out, manna came from heaven and the walls of Jericho fell with a shout. So although he had experienced the manifestation of God's power, yet in Joshua 7 we find him a failure. I mean from all the children of God, here was a man who from all appearances looked the same as the others and yet tucked away in his heart and in his home is a colossal failure and a tremendous sin. But this is not an isolated problem for in this area of failure there is a common denominator in the lives of many of God's people. The common denominator is a therapy that scripture provides for those moments when trouble begins to brew. It is the therapy of knowing ourselves, of allowing the Spirit of God to probe into our hearts and show us what we really are. Yes, Achan knew God but he did not know himself. Might I suggest to you that what Achan faced we have faced. The problem Achan had we have had. The failure of Achan has been our failure. The steps Achan took are the steps we all have taken.
Don't be too hard on Achan, for what happened to Achan could also happen to us and I am confident it all began with an unguarded moment. What a person sees with the eye becomes an unconscious part of him. The light of the body is the eye.
Is that not why Jesus said if your eye is giving you trouble, pluck it out, that does not mean to literally pluck it out but to deal with the problem and the problem is what captures your eye. We all realize that the purpose of media is to increase in the hearts of people an appetite for something you really don't need but now want. The result of that is that we are seldom a satisfied people. On top of that we have a credit card industry that survives on the basis of impulse buying. For what you see is what you want and it is usually that which comes to us via the sensation of the eye. Once the eye has been captured, the heart has been consumed, and the will has been controlled, The soul will be convinced. Achan hid or concealed it. You can no longer be told you are wrong or that you are doing wrong. When a believer's soul becomes consumed, then he will begin to rationalize and justify his behavior, it's not my fault. For what the eye sees and the heart desires and the will is controlled by, the soul will seek to justify and that pattern is as old as hell itself. Do you understand now why Jesus gave priority to the eye in his ministry? It is a direct gate to the soul. That's the unguarded moment and it is hard to believe it could happen to Achan. Has it ever happened to you? I believe it has happened to all of us. So be careful of unguarded moments. Friends, there are no secrets with God. God knows my problems and God knows your problems. God knows my failures and God knows your failures. My prayer is that God will enable you and I, by the Spirit of God, to search our hearts and reveal to us that unguarded moment that captured our eye, that consumed our heart, and that began to control our will and that convinced our soul that sin will not affect us.
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The Rev. Dr. James Barnes is currently the pastor of White Memorial Church in Milroy.