Joshua 7:10-18
Jos 7:10
And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore
liest thou thus upon thy face?
Then the LORD spoke unto Joshua to get up and why is he
lying down on his face? The Lord
did not hold any of Joshua’s comments against him because Joshua was concerned
about the LORD’s reputation. The
LORD also thought that Joshua had mourned long enough and now it was time to
reveal to him the reason that they suffered a loss at Ai.
Whenever something tragically happens in our lives, like we lose a loved
one, there is a period of mourning but that period of mourning must come to an
end and we must get back with our lives.
And the children of Israel wept
for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping
and mourning for Moses were
ended. (Deuteronomy 34:8) The period of mourning for Moses was 30 days.
Jos 7:11
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my
covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing,
and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even
among their own stuff.
Then the LORD reveals to Joshua the reason of their
defeat at Ai. When they were
defeating Jericho the LORD commanded them to bring all the gold and silver into
the house of the LORD to be placed in the treasury along with other vessels.
Someone in the camp disobeyed that command and stole and dissembled which
means they deceived others into thinking they brought everything to the treasury
instead they stole some of the spoils for themselves.
Jos 7:12
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before
their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies,
because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye
destroy the accursed from among you.
Since they committed this sin of disobedience and theft
against the LORD, their reward was that they could not stand or defeat the
enemies instead they ran away in fear and at that moment they were accursed
along with the spoils that was taken.
Then the LORD states a very serious thing.
He will not be with them any longer unless they rectify the situation by
literally destroying the accursed person from their midst.
Joshua knew that if that did not happen, then what he spoke to the LORD
would come true, that the enemy would compass them and destroy them.
Joshua knew it was the LORD who was winning their battles for them.
Jos 7:13
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves
against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an
accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine
enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
Then the LORD tells Joshua “Up” which means it now time
to take action to find out who is the guilty party among them.
Now this does not mean the LORD did not know who it was but he wants
Joshua and the people to be involved in it so they know not to sin against the
LORD. The people were to be
sanctified probably by some ceremonial method such as washing of clothes as they
did before they received the law at Mt. Sinai and when they crossed the Jordan
River. God declares to them that
there is an accursed thing in the midst of them and that they will never be able
to stand before their enemies until that accursed thing is removed.
Their survival depended upon their obedience.
Jos 7:14
In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to
your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall
come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD
shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take
shall come man by man.
The LORD is going to do a weeding process which is going
to very meticulous and thorough.
First the people are to be brought before the LORD by their tribes.
Then the families of those tribes will undergo scrutiny and then the
individual families within those multitude of families will come and then the
individual households within the families will come because sometimes a son
grows up and splits off from his parents and has his own family but is still
considered part of his father’s clan.
Then from those households they shall appear man by man who is normally
the head of the clan. In other
words, every single person will be examined by the LORD.
This thoroughness should instill fear in anyone who thinks they can get
away with any sin. This scenario is
also a picture of Judgement Day when every human will stand before the LORD
individually.
Jos 7:15
And it shall be, that he that is taken with the
accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he
hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in
Israel.
Then when the guilty person is revealed, he shall suffer
the penalty of being burned with fire and this will include all his goods plus
the hard part which includes his family.
He has transgressed or sinned against the covenant of the LORD and his
actions has caused foolhardiness in Israel which is supposed to be people of
better understanding than the surrounding nations.
It only takes one person to embolden other people to do the same thing.
With other nations to conquer, right at the outset God is halting the
idea that they can transgress his covenant at will by doing the same thing in
other battles, by helping themselves to the spoils unless God approves it
beforehand.
Jos 7:16
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought
Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
So the next morning Joshua begins the meticulous search
and all the tribes came before him and then he came to the tribe of Judah.
It is not certain how Joshua knew the
culprit was in the tribe of Judah, it may have been they cast lots.
Jos 7:17
And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the
family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man;
and Zabdi was taken:
The tribe of Judah was to have the largest lot in Canaan.
The Zarhites were the family of Zerah.
Of Zerah, the family of the
Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. (Numbers 26:13)
Then as God commanded he took the family of the Zarhites, man by man and
then Zabdi was taken who was a descendant of Zerah.
But the children of Israel
committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son
of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing:
and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. (Joshua
7:1) Zabdi would have been the
head of this household.
Jos 7:18
And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the
son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was
taken.