Joshua 7:16-26
Whether for judgment or for battle Joshua gets up early. The matter must be settled promptly. When God has awakened our conscience, the matter in question must not be allowed to drag on. By drawing lots, the net closes around the unhappy culprit. Finally God’s finger points him out. "Achan . . . was taken" (v. 18). What could be more terrible than being unmasked in such a way by God Himself? At the last supper, with His disciples, Jesus identified the betrayer by passing the sop to Judas when He had dipped it (John 13:26).
"My son," said Joshua, "give glory to the LORD". God’s glory demands the whole truth at all times. And so Achan pours out his tragic story. It follows the pattern of all stories of covetousness, whose deadly chain reaction is shown to us by James (James 1:14-15): the eyes, then the heart, finally the hands which seize and hide. "I have sinned", Achan admits. "I saw this and that . . . I coveted them and took them and behold . . . ". The beautiful Babylonish garment, the silver and the gold were well hidden in the tent where God alone had seen them.
But we must not forget the end. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death". There is a painful duty to perform; the wicked person must be removed from the midst of the congregation of Israel! (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:13).