Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 2.djvu/45

Rh which weighed fifty shekels, that is, twenty-five ounces. He could not plead that, in taking these, he saved them from the fire, (for the silver and gold were to be laid up in the treasury,) but they that make a slight excuse to serve in daring to commit one sin, will have their hearts so hardened by that, that they will venture upon the next without such an excuse, for the way of sin is down-hill. See what a poor prize it was for which Achan ran this desperate hazard.and what an unspeakable loser he was by the bargain. See Matt. 16. 26. (2.) He confesses the manner of taking them. [1.] The sin began in the eye. He saw these fine things, as Eve saw the forbidden fruit, and was strangely charmed with the sight See what comes of suffering the heart to walk after the eyes, and what need we have to make this covenant with our eyes, that if they wander, they shall be sure to weep for it. Look not thou upon the wine that is red, upon the woman that is fair; close the right eye that thus offends thee, to prevent the necessity of plucking it out, and casting it from thee, Matt. 5. 28, 29. [2.] It proceeded out of the heart. He owns, I coveted them. Thus lust conceived and brought forth this sin. They that would be kept from sinful actions, must mortify and check in themselves sinful desires, particularly the desire of worldly wealth, which we more particularly call covetousness. O what a world of evil is the love of money the root of! Had Achan looked upon these things with an eye of faith, he would have seen them accursed things, and would have dreaded them, but looking upon them with an eye of sense only, he saw them goodly things, and coveted them. It was not the looking, but the lusting, that ruined him. [3.] When he had committed it, he was very industrious to conceal it. Having taken of the forbidden treasures, fearing lest any search should be made for prohibited goods, he hid them in the earth, as one that resolved to keep what he had gotten, and never to make restitution. Thus does Achan confess the whole matter, that God might be justified in the sentence passed upon him. See the deceitfulness of sin; that which is pleasing in the commission, is bitter in the reflection, at the last it bites like a serpent. Particularly, see what comes of ill-gotten goods, and how they will be cheated that rob God, Job. 20. 15, He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again.

IV. His conviction. God had convicted him by the lot, he had convicted himself by his own confession; but that no room might be left for the most discontented Israelite to object against the process, Joshua has him further convicted by the searching of his tent, in which the goods were found which he confessed to. Particular notice is taken of the haste which the messengers made, that were sent to search, they ran to the tent, v. 22. Not only to show their readiness to obey Joshua's orders, but to show how uneasy they were till the camp was cleared of the accursed thing, that they might regain the divine favour. They that feel themselves under wrath, find themselves concerned not to defer the putting away of sin. Delays are dangerous, and it is no time to trifle. When the stolen goods were brought, they were laid out before the Lord, v. 23. that all Israel might see how plain the evidence was against Achan, and might adore the strictness of God's judgments in punishing so severely the stealing of such small things, and yet the justice of his judgments in maintaining his right to devoted things, and might be afraid of ever offending in the like kind. In laying them out before the Lord, they acknowledged his title to them, and waited to receive his directions concerning them. Note, Those that think to put a cheat upon God, do but deceive themselves; what is taken from him, he will recover, Hos. 2. 9. and he will be a loser by no man at last.

V. His condemnation. Joshua passes sentence upon him, v. 25, ''Why hast thou troubled us? There is the ground of the sentence, O, how much hast thou troubled us?'' So some read it. He refers to what was said when the warning was given not to meddle with the accursed thing, ch. 6. 18, lest ye make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. Note, Sin is a very troublesome thing, not only to a sinner himself, but to all about him. He that is greedy of gain, as Achan was, troubles his own house, Prov. 15. 27. and all the communities he belongs to. Now (says Joshua) God shall trouble thee. See why Achan was so severely dealt with, not only because he had robbed God, but because he had troubled Israel; over his head he had (as it were) this accusation written, Achan, the troubler of Israel, as Ahab, 1 Kings 18. 18. This therefore is his doom, God shall trouble thee. Note, The righteous Gcd will certainly recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people, 2 Thess. 1. 6. Those that are troublesome, shall be troubled. Some of the Jewish doctors, from that word, which determines the troubling of him to this day, infer, that therefore he should not be troubled in the world to come; the flesh was destroyed, that the spirit might be saved, and if so, the dispensation was really less severe than it seemed. In the description, both of his sin and of his punishment, by the trouble that was in both, there is a plain allusion to his name Achan, or, as he is called, 1 Chron. 2. 7, Achar, which signifies trouble. He did too much answer his name.

VI. His execution. No reprieve could be obtained, a gangrened member must be cut off immediately. When he is proved to be an anathema, and the troubler of the camp, we may suppose all the people cry out against him, ''Away with him, away with him! Stone him, stone him!'' Here is,

1. The place of execution: they brought him out of the camp, in token of their putting far from them that wicked person, 1 Cor. 5. 13. When cur Lord Jesus was made a curse for us, that by his trouble we might have peace, he suffered as an accursed thing without the gate, bearing our reproach, Heb. 13. 12, 13. The execution was at a distance, that the camp which was disturbed by Achan's sin, might not be defiled by his death.

2. The persons employed in his execution; it was the act of all Israel, v. 24, 25. They were all spectators of it, that they might see and fear. Public executions are public examples. Nay, they were all consenting to his death, and as many as could, were active in it, in token of the universal detestation in which they held his sacrilegious attempt, and their dread of God's displeasure against them.

3. The partakers with him in the punishment; for he perished not alone in his iniquity, ch. 22. 20. (1.) The stolen goods were destroyed with him, the garment burnt, as it should have been with the rest cf the combustible things in Jericho, and the silver and gold defaced, melted, lost, and buried, in the ashes of the rest of his goods, under the heap of stones, so as never to be put to any other use. (2.) All his other goods were destroyed likewise, not only his tent, and the furniture of that, but his oxen, asses, and sheep; to show, that goods gotten unjustly, especially if they be gotten by sacrilege, will not only turn to no account, but will blast and waste the rest of the possessions to which they are added. The eagle in the fable, that stole flesh from the altar, brought a coal of fire with it, which burnt her nest, Hab. 2. 9, 10. Zech. 5. 3, 4. They lose their own, that grasp at more than their own. (3.) His sons and daughters were put to death with him. Some indeed think that they were brought