Joshua 7:22

_SO JOSHUA SENT MESSENGERS, AND THEY RAN UNTO THE TENT; AND, BEHOLD, IT WAS HID IN HIS TENT, AND THE SILVER UNDER IT._ Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent - from impatient eagerness not only to test the truth of the story, but to clear Israel from the imputation of guilt. Having discovered the stolen articles, they laid them out before the Lord, 'as a token of their belonging to Him' on account of the ban....

22._So Joshua sent messengers, _etc Although it is not singular for messengers to prove their obedience by running and making haste, yet the haste which is here mentioned, shows how intent all were to have the work of expiation performed as speedily as possible, as they had been filled with the greatest anxiety in consequence of the stern denunciation — I will not be with you until you are purged of the anathema. They therefore ran swiftly, not merely to execute the commands of Joshua, but much more to appease the Lord. The things carried off by stealth, when placed before their eyes, were more than sufficient to explain the cause of the disgrace and overthrow which had befallen them. It had been said that they had turned their backs on the enemy, because, being polluted with the accursed thing, they were deprived of the wonted assistance of God; it is now easy to infer from the sight of...

16-26 See the folly of those that promise themselves secrecy in sin. The righteous God has many ways of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness. See also, how much it is our concern, when God is contending with us, to find out the cause that troubles us. We must pray with holy Job, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me. Achan's sin began in the eye. He saw these fine things, as Eve saw the forbidden fruit. 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. It proceeded out of the heart. They that would be kept from sinful actions, must mortify and check in themselves sinful desires, particularly the desire of worldly wealth. Had Achan looked upon these things with an eye of faith, he would have seen they were accursed things, and would have dreade...

EXPOSITION THE DISCOVERY OF ACHAN'S SIN.— JOSHUA 7:16 THE FAMILY OF JUDAH. The expression מִשְׁפַתַת is remarkable. Many commentators would read מִשְׁפְחֹת, not without some MSS. authority. Keil objects that the Chaldee and Syriac have the singular. But the LXX. has κατὰ δήμους, and the Vulgate _juxta familias. _On the whole it seems more probable that as מִשְׁפַחַת occurs twice in this passage, it has been so pointed where the same letters occur for the third time, than that, with Peele, it means tribe (so also Gesenius and Winer); or that, as others suggest, it is used for _omnes _or _singulas genres. _See, however,...

SO JOSHUA SENT MESSENGERS,.... Directly to Achan's tent, to see if it was as he had said, and to bring the things with them: AND THEY RAN UNTO THE TENT; either for joy that the iniquity was discovered, as Kimchi; or that none of the tribe of Judah or of Achan's family or relations should get there before them, and take them from thence and make void the lot; so Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abarbinel; but, no doubt, it is remarked, to show the readiness and diligence of the messengers to obey the order of Joshua: AND, BEHOLD, [IT WAS] HID IN HIS TENT, AND THE SILVER UNDER IT; as Achan had said....

7. ACHAN'S SIN AND ISRAEL'S DEFEAT CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The defeat of Israel (Joshua 7:1)_ 2. The source of the defeat revealed (Joshua 7:6) 3. The transgressor found out (Joshua 7:16) 4. The judgment of Achan (Joshua 7:24) The insignificant place Ai brings defeat. Joshua sent men to view Ai. What authority was given to him to do so? There was no need to send spies once more, for the Lord had said, that the whole land was given to them. They report Ai a place without walls and recommend that only two or three thousand men be sent up. Defeat follows. Ai means “ruins.” It is mentioned for the first time in...

VII. ACHAN'S TRESPASS, ISRAEL'S DEFEAT, ACHAN'S PUNISHMENT. Joshua 7:1. The name should probably be Achar. The narrative presents no difficulties till the end of the chapter, where Achan's punishment is recorded. Joshua 7:2. Ai: probably 2 miles SE. of Bethel (p. 31). Joshua 7:9. And what wilt thou do for (or on account of) THY GREAT NAME? The meaning is that if Israel is destroyed there will be none to worship Yahweh; an interesting example of the ancient belief in the close connexion between the deity and his worshippers. Joshua 7:19. GIVE. LORD: _ i.e_., tell the truth, _cf._...

The Discovery and Punishment of Achan 16. _brought Israel by their tribes_ Joshua first caused the heads of the tribes to come before the Ark, and lots were cast for them, and the lot fell upon Judah; then the heads of the clans of Judah were brought, and the lot fell upon the Zarhites; then the heads of the houses of the Zarhites were brought before the Ark, and the lot fell upon Zabdi; then the men of his house were brought, and the lot fell upon Achan, the son of Carmi....

_The Sin Purged from Israel Joshua 7:22-26_ 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from

REPULSE AT AI, DUE TO ACHAN'S SIN The capture of Jericho is followed by an attempt upon Ai, a place of strategic importance, as commanding a main entrance into the interior of Canaan westward; the upper entrance into the valley of Aijalon being commanded by Ai and Bethel. This chapter has an interest of its own, as exhibiting Joshua in a new light, as the spiritual guide, drawing out, with the mingled sweetness and severity of a father (Joshua 7:19), the sinner's detailed confession (see on Joshua 7:20). The incident of Achan's sin and its effects upon the fortunes of Israel is an illustration (_a_) of the penalty of solidarity—the inevitable spread of the results of sin and pollution from a single member to the whole body; (_b_) of the conditional nature of God's promises of success. In contrast to