JOSHUA 7

 

Greed is a classic 1924 silent movie that was originally ten hours long. It was in black and white with hand-tinted gold highlights. The director Eric von Strohein based it on a Frank Norris novel McTeague, which was taken in turn from the real life story of a San Francisco dentist, his friend and his miserly wife who hoards gold which the dentist takes after killing the wife. Pursued by his friend, the two of them end up in Death Valley handcuffed together. The dentist kills the friend, but can't find the keys to the handcuffs, and his mule dies. So the last scene shows him with all his gold handcuffed to a dead man together with dead mule and slowly pans back to show the vast desert he is in the middle of. We often risk a heavenly treasure for things worth much less. Thus the scriptural warning: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

This chapter contains the well-known story of Achan holding back some of the treasure of Jericho, when God had given clear instructions that the whole city was devoted to Him for destruction. Achan makes three mistakes: he thinks it won't be known (but God is omniscient), it won't harm him (but he was executed), and it won't hurt anyone else (all of Israel was punished, and his family was killed). This is the same pattern that started with Adam and Eve in the garden. We have to keep in mind the concept of corporate sin and consequences.

Francis Schaeffer: Look at what Achan kept: money (understandable) and a Babylonian garment usually worn only by the powerful and influential (which appealed to his pride).

One story in the NT has often been cited as a parallel: Ananias and Sapphira. Look at the similarities and differences (Acts 4:34-35; 5:1-11). Their sin was identified by God as not defrauding Him or disobeying a specific command, but lying. As with Achan, Ananias and Sapphira wanted to keep some of the money for themselves and yet be well thought of by other Christians (pride). How does this translate to today's terms?

The Structure of Joshua 6-8

1. The Destruction of Jericho (6:1-27)

begins--"I have given unto your hand Jericho, with its king..."

ends with a curse on the city (see I Kings 16:34)

2. Achan's Sin (7:1-26)

begins and ends with mention of Yahweh's "burning anger."

1'. The Destruction of Ai (8:1-29)

begins--"I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his...city, and his land."

ends with a curse on the king (see Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

Summary Ceremony (8:30-35)

By sandwiching the crucial center section between two showing the fate of those peoples who would 

oppose Yahweh, it is demonstrated that the same fate awaits the Israelites if they do not live up to the 

demands of holiness. This point is emphasized by reading the blessings and curses in the ceremony at 

Mt. Ebal.

Then look again at the overall organization of the book:

Structure of the Book of Joshua

I. Conquering the Land (ch. 1-11)

A. Introductory Scenes (1:1- 5:15)

B. Cities for the Lord (6:1-8:29)

C. Taking the Inheritance (8:30-11:24)

D. Summary of Conquered Kings (ch. 12)

II. Dividing the Land (ch. 13-24)

C'. The Tribes' Inheritance (ch. 13-19)

B'. Cities from the Lord (ch. 20-21)

A'. Final Scenes (ch. 22-24)

This chart helps explain why so much time in the book is devoted to taking of these first two cities. 

They are special – the first fruits – and thus belong wholly to God.

The cities mentioned in the parallel section (chapters 20-21) are also set apart by Yahweh. This time, 

however, they are set apart for the good of the Israelites, not devoted to God. The cities of refuge in 

Chapter 20 provide for the removal of guilt from individuals and preserve the unity of the nation by 

preventing feuds between tribes and families. This same theme of “holy cities” for man's benefit is 

seen in the allotment of cities to God's special people, the Levites, in Chapter 21. Levitical cities are to 

function as places for the teaching of God's ethic to the new nation.

Parenthetically, the literary center of the book (Chapter 12) demonstrates that Yahweh conquered not 

just a particular group of 31 kings, but the whole idea of earthly kingdoms. As Butler says in another 

context, “No one ruler nor any ruling class may slice up the land for itself. The land belongs to 

Yahweh. He gave it to his people, just as he conquered it for his people.”