A Door of Hope

Character Study of Achan

Achan is a man who is not allowed to enjoy what perhaps could be considered the one brief moment of integrity we glimpse of his life. In such he is an arresting study in the resolve of a holy God to have a holy people.

Jericho, the first city inside the Promised Land, had been utterly destroyed—or so one is led to believe (Jos 6:24). Yet by the time Joshua invades Ai, it is all too obvious that things are not what they had seemed. At first Joshua suspects it is God who has broken faith, duping them into trusting his promise of taking the land (7:7). Jehovah curtly lets Joshua know the real reason for their failure is that, “Israel has sinned” (7:11). It should be noted that though one man, Achan, had taken things devoted to God, the entire camp was held accountable. (Hamilton, Victor. Handbook on the Historical Books. Grand Rapids: Baker 2001. 43) Perhaps this is because he could not have taken the gold, silver, and garment without someone having seen the theft. But it was only about six pounds of silver and gold and one robe; he could have kept this booty without anyone knowing. If so, God would seem to hold a whole community to blame for one man’s action—much like we were all made sinners by Adam’s disobedience (Rom 5:19) and are now devoted for eternal destruction. Even so, Ai had been “devoted for destruction” (Jos 7:12) but because of Achan’s sin, it is now Israel that is condemned.

This conviction is based on holiness or rather, the lack of holiness. God’s remedy will have the stolen items destroyed and the thief along with them (Jos 7:15). By a process of elimination, Achan is found out. It is not difficult to imagine this process took a very long time, first assembling the twelve tribes, then having one tribe singled out, then one clan, then one household, until each man is brought under scrutiny. In the elapsed time, Achan never confesses; yet, in the end, he is caught (lakad, Jos 7:18) Achan seems to think, like most of humanity seems to believe, that his sins will never catch up to him.

To his credit, Joshua is tender but firm with Achan, calling him “my son” as he holds him accountable (Jos 7:19), encouraging him to, in facing the facts, face his people, his God, himself, and by extension, his demise. It is no small thing that Achan does, even after avoiding it so long: he tells the truth. In doing so, he must know he is doomed. He may even realize or at least suspect that his family may suffer too but no protest is heard from Achan; no request for mercy is recorded. Nor is mercy given.

Achan, his children, livestock, and other belongs, including even his tent are stoned and burned and buried in a heap (Jos 7:25-26) in the Valley of Achor (trouble). Nothing Achan owned would be given to another even as nothing that was God’s should be had by anyone else. Other than a heap of stones and two brief reminders (Jos 22:20; 1Ch 2:7) of his cautionary story in scripture, Achan is forgotten. He is left behind in Joshua 8, as “30,000 men of valor” (as opposed to Achan’s weakness) move against Ai for a second time. This time the people are consecrated and have success. Because Achan (and his sin) had been rooted out and dealt with, Achan’s people were considered righteous once more. The result was that God would stand with them in battle again, going both before them and being their rear guard” (Isa 52:12). We might discover in Achan’s story this truth: that anything that gets in between God’s advance and rear guard, cuts one off from his protection, his promise, his favor. Further, it must be confessed and any consequences met before God will restore his favor. This of course, puts humanity in the dreadful position of being doomed (Rom 6:23) unless God himself “make[s] the Valley of Achor a door of hope.” (Hos 2:15, Hamilton, Victor. Handbook on the Historical Books. Grand Rapids: Baker 2001. 43)