And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.
The lot has singled Achan out, and Joshua asks him to give God glory by telling the truth. Achan answers that he has sinned against the LORD Himself. Two hard questions follow: what makes a confession real, and why this one did not spare him.
Joshua's plea sets the terms of Achan's answer. Everything here turns on the honour of the LORD.
Here is the all-important matter. "Give glory to Jehovah, God of Israel." All hinges upon this. The Lord's glory is the one perfect standard for judging everything. It is the perfect gauge for measuring everything. It is the perfect test for trying everything. In every age, and in every period of God's dealings, the one great question for the people of God is this: What suits the glory of God? In comparison with this, all other questions are less than secondary. It is not a question of what is suitable to us, or what we can tolerate or agree with.
Achan does not volunteer his confession. The sifting of tribes, families and households ends at one man, and only then does he speak.
When men honestly want to clear themselves from iniquity, God will help them sift until they find the seeds of the sin. When He begins, He will make an end. And more, the force of God's presence draws out from man the confession of sin. If the root of bitterness stays hidden, the reason is that God is holding back His hand because His people are in a carnal state. Wherever sin lies unconfessed, God is far off in our thoughts. You cannot stand before God and be anything but truthful, right down to the deepest depths of the soul.
Achan's "this is what I did" opens up the whole inner history of the act. He tells it step by step, in his own words.
Here the dark, defiling stream is traced up to its source in the heart of this unhappy man. How little he thought about whose eye was resting on him through this whole sad and disastrous affair! He thought of only one thing: satisfying his covetousness. He saw, he coveted, he took, he hid; and there, no doubt, he thought the matter would end. He would have his treasure, and no one would be the wiser.
The words Achan says are the right words. The problem is when he says them — after the whole nation already knows.
Achan confessed too late. After the lot had exposed him to his brothers, he said, "Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did." He stood convicted in front of his brothers, and he could do no less than admit his guilt. If he had confessed earlier, he would have been forgiven and cleansed. Now his confession could not shield him from the judgment of the Lord. If he had judged himself in his tent, he would not have been judged in the valley of Achor.
Commentators weigh Achan's failure differently. One points to the timing. Another looks at a wider pattern in Scripture, and at what was missing from the heart.
Here is something very remarkable. Many men in Scripture take the place of saying, "I have sinned," yet not all of them get cleansing. David, Nehemiah, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, the prodigal son, and the thief on the cross all took the place of sinners. They all got cleansing or blessing. But look at Pharaoh, Balaam, Achan, Saul, Shimei, and Judas. These all confess they have sinned, yet they perish... There was no hatred of the sin. There was no desire to turn from it and give it up. There was no true repentance.
God had given Achan time to speak before the lot fell on him. That delay carries a warning about a later and far more public exposure.
Achan had plenty of time to confess his guilt, but he clearly hoped right to the end that he would not be exposed. How foolish is the unbelief of greed! If people will not confess their guilt before God while He waits patiently, how humiliating the exposure of their guilt will be at the Great White Throne! (Rev. 20:11-12).
- Hidden. Achan's own words trace the path: he saw, he coveted, he took, he hid — and assumed the matter ended there.
- Exposed. God's presence draws the truth out. Hidden sin gets sifted until it comes to light.
- Owned. Real confession gives God glory. It measures the whole affair by His honour, not by what we can live with.
- Late. The same words in his tent would have brought cleansing. In the valley of Achor they could not shield him from judgment.
- Hollow. Many in Scripture say "I have sinned" and are cleansed. Others say it and still perish, because they never hated the sin or turned from it.
I saw among the spoils a beautiful mantle of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a golden bar of fifty shekels weight, and I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Here Achan tells his own sin from the inside. He names each step in order — he looked, he wanted, he took, he hid — and commentators read those four verbs as the path any sin takes into a life.
One writer sets the first step beside the first sin in Eden.
This man had followed his natural inclinations; he began where we all begin, where the first man began. "I saw." "When the woman saw" is said in Genesis 3:6. He had eyes that knew how to pick out the good things among the spoil. His eyes were the road into his heart, but there was no sentry on watch, no challenge sounded in case of attack. It is through the eyes that the accursed thing takes possession of the heart and stirs it to lust: "I coveted them." "Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin": "I took them."
Each item already had a place fixed by God, and none of them was Achan's tent. One writer weighs the haul and names where each part should have gone.
The silver would be about eight pounds in weight, the gold two pounds, and the value of these would be great. The Babylonian garment stands for idolatrous luxury, and it was marked for destruction. The silver and gold belonged in the treasury of the Lord.
The cloak from Shinar, which the writers call Babylonian, is the first thing named. Achan had to keep it buried, and one writer names the desire behind it.
Longings for the fine robe of Babylon are common enough. We want to glorify ourselves, and so rob God of His glory. Too many soldiers of the Lord in heaven have this buried in their tents. "How important I am!" is the secret name of this robe. In the tent, in the inner life, in the home circle, the truth about our desires comes out. And God sees us as we really are. Achan never wore the garment for all Israel to admire. Perhaps his friends praised its splendour. Perhaps he never once threw it over his shoulders. It made no difference before God, who saw the sin plainly.
The theft was private, but the whole nation lost. One writer traces this to how God sees His people.
Notice how the sin of one man has to do with all Israel: "But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things... and the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel." The people might have said: does that concern us? How could we have known about a hidden thing, and not knowing it, how are we responsible? To all that we reply that God always has the unity of His people before His eyes. He sees each person as part of one whole, and responsible for the others. The suffering and sin of one is the suffering and sin of all.
The practical lesson drawn from the hiding place is stated as a rule with two halves.
Let us take heed to these solemn examples, and beware of hidden sin. Sin concealed in the tent means blessing withheld in the camp. But sin confessed and judged before the Lord means victory throughout the tribes.
One writer sets the worth of the haul against what Achan already had.
Suppose we could have all the garments ever made in Babylon. Suppose we had all the gold and silver that ever came out of the mines of Peru, California and Australia. Suppose we had every pearl and diamond that ever glittered on the kings, princes and nobles of this world. Could they give us one hour's true happiness? ... How well it would have been for Achan if he had rested content with what the God of Israel had given him! How happy he might have been with the furniture of his tent, the smile of the LORD, and the answer of a good conscience!
- Saw — his eyes were the road into his heart, and no sentry stood at the gate; his story begins where Eve's began.
- Coveted — the wanting came before the hand moved, so judge the desire and not only the deed.
- Took — a robe marked for destruction and metal marked for the Lord's treasury; he served himself at God's expense.
- Hid — no one can wear a buried garment, yet God saw the sin plainly; He sees us as we really are.
- Troubled — one man's tent cost a whole nation its victory, because God counts His people as one.
And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Achan's confession has just named the exact spot. The loot lies buried in the ground inside his tent, with the silver at the bottom of the pile. Joshua's messengers run and find it exactly as he described. That raises the question this whole chapter presses: what does God do with a sin that stays hidden from everyone else?
The garment in the hole was not just expensive. Writers point to where it came from as the reason it was forbidden. The ESV calls it a beautiful cloak from Shinar; Shinar is the land of Babylon.
Achan was the first to break through the protective barrier that had been set up. He coveted and took a little of their silver and gold, and also a Babylonish garment. Now Babylon was the seat and stronghold of idolatry in the ancient world. This garment was Babylonish — that is, one used in heathen, idol worship.
The silver and gold had a rightful home, and it was not under a tent floor.
He admitted he had sinned against the Lord God of Israel and had stolen three things from the spoil of Jericho... and had buried them under his tent floor. The silver would be about eight pounds in weight, the gold two pounds, the value of which would be great... the silver and gold ought to have been put in the treasury of the Lord.
The burial was the last move in a short chain. Achan expected it to end there, with no consequences.
Here the dark, defiling stream is traced up to its source in the heart of this unhappy man. Oh, how little he thought whose eye was watching him through this whole sad and disastrous affair! He thought of only one thing — satisfying his covetousness. He saw, he coveted, he took, he hid; and there, no doubt, he thought the matter would end. He would have his treasure, and no one would be any the wiser.
The messengers do not return the goods in private or settle the matter out of sight. They bring it all into the open.
Achan confessed his sin and said out loud what had been in his heart. The messengers ran, dug up the accursed thing, and laid it out in the broad daylight before the Lord. They hid none of the shame of the sin. No one dreamed of hushing up wrongdoing for the sake of peace. Truth, not policy, prevailed — for the question on that solemn day of heart-searching was: the Lord, or man? All Israel shared in the dishonour done to the Lord, so all Israel joined hands in clearing their camp. They stoned him with stones and burned them with fire. They raised over him a great heap of stones, which stands to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. That is why the place was called the Valley of Achor — the valley of trouble.
Hidden sin does not stay inside one tent. It reaches the whole camp.
Let us take heed to these solemn examples, and beware of hidden sin. Sin concealed in the tent means blessing withheld in the camp. But sin confessed and judged before the Lord means victory throughout the tribes.
Achan did admit everything — but only once the search reached him. The timing is the point.
Achan confessed too late. The lot had already exposed him to his brothers. He stood publicly convicted before them, and he could do no less than admit his guilt. Had he confessed earlier, he would have been forgiven and cleansed. But now his confession could not shield him from the judgment of the Lord. If he had judged himself in his tent, he would not have been judged in the valley of Achor.
One writer applies the scene to the part of life no one else inspects.
May we learn from this the urgent need to watch over our hearts and over our private life. We need it so that evil may be judged and stopped at the very start. Then it will not bring forth its sad, shameful and sorrowful fruit in our daily life. Such fruit grossly dishonours the Lord and brings deep sorrow to those who share fellowship with us.
- Saw. The chain begins in the eye and the heart: "He saw, he coveted, he took, he hid" — and he assumed no one would be any the wiser.
- Hid. The tent floor hid a garment tied to idol worship, plus silver and gold that belonged in the Lord's treasury. Achan robbed God, not just Jericho.
- Exposed. The messengers ran, dug it up, and laid it out in daylight. No one hushed it up for the sake of peace.
- Spread. Sin hidden in one tent kept blessing from the whole camp. Sin confessed and judged brought victory across the tribes.
- Judged. Achan confessed only after the search reached him. Had he judged himself in his tent, he would not have faced judgment in the valley. So watch your own heart and private life, before evil bears fruit.
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before Jehovah.
Achan's confession names the spot: the spoil lies buried under his tent floor, and messengers run to dig it up. Why must the stolen goods travel from that hole in the ground to Joshua, to the whole nation, and then to the LORD Himself?
The verse moves the stolen goods from a private tent into open daylight. One writer reads that daylight as a test of whom Israel would answer to:
Achan confessed his sin, and said out loud what had been in his heart. The messengers ran, dug up the accursed thing, and laid it out in broad daylight before the LORD. None of the shame of the sin was hidden, and no one dreamed of hushing up the wrong for the sake of peace. The truth prevailed, not policy — for the question on that solemn day of heart-searching was: the LORD, or man?
Burying the spoil hid it from Israel. One writer explains why the defeat at Ai had to follow:
But the eye of the LORD, the God of Israel, was on him. No secret thing is hidden from that holy eye. It sees into the depths of the human heart, and it takes in at a glance every hidden spring of human action. Yes, God saw it all, and He would make Israel see it, and Achan too. That is why there was the terrible defeat at Ai, and everything that followed.
So what exactly did they carry out of the tent? Each item had a place God had already assigned:
He had stolen three things from the spoil of Jericho: a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. He had buried them under his tent floor (v.21). The silver would weigh about eight pounds and the gold about two, and their value would be great. The Babylonian garment stands for idolatrous luxury, and it should have been destroyed. The silver and gold should have gone into the treasury of the LORD.
Recovering stolen property was not the point of the search. One writer asks why God put the whole nation through it:
And why all this? Just to trace the evil to its source, bring it out, and have it judged in the sight of every creature. Every created being must be made to see and admit that the throne of God can have no fellowship with evil. The same power had levelled the walls of Jericho and carried out judgment on its guilty people. That power would now detect Achan's sin, and draw the confession of his terrible guilt out of the very depths of his convicted heart.
The goods go not only to Joshua but to the whole nation. One writer explains why God let no one stand aside:
They all took their part in it. God insists that there should be this clearing of themselves before His own name. Notice how all Israel have their part — in the consequences of the sin, and now in every step of its judgment from God.
Israel's defeat had a cause, and the cause was under one man's feet. Another writer turns this straight on the reader:
When Israel turned their backs at Ai, Achan did not need to search the tents of his brothers for the cause. It lay under his own feet, in his own tent, where he himself had put it. Depend on it — the cause of the blight on the gatherings of believers at home and abroad is locked up in your heart and mine. There will be no revival of life, vitality and power in those gatherings until the secret sins of morality and spirituality come to the light. Each believer must judge them before the Lord. Anyone guilty of the sin of worldliness, as Achan was, should confess it in his own tent and give it up. If not, he will face public exposure and judgment in the valley of Achor.
- Hidden. Achan took the spoil and buried it, and thought the matter was finished once the soil was smooth again.
- Seen. No secret thing is hidden from God's eye. He saw it all, and He used the defeat at Ai to make Israel see it too.
- Dug up. God traced the evil to its source and brought it out, because His throne can have no fellowship with evil.
- Displayed. The garment of idolatrous luxury and the LORD's silver and gold lie in broad daylight before the whole nation. Nobody hushed up the wrong for the sake of peace.
- Judged. Every believer has a tent. The blight on God's people lies under someone's own feet — bring it into the light yourself, before God exposes it in public.
Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the bar 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 up into the valley of Achor.
Joshua's men had just dug the stolen silver, gold and garment out of the ground under one man's tent. Now the whole camp goes out to a valley with Achan, his family and everything he owns — why should so much go for one man's secret sin?
Before the verse names Achan's family, it names the stolen silver, the cloak and the bar of gold. One writer explains what kind of cloak this was:
Achan was the first to break through the quarantine line that had been set up. He coveted and took a little of the silver and gold and also "a Babylonish garment." Babylon was the centre and stronghold of idolatry in the ancient world. This garment was Babylonish — that is, a garment to be used in some heathen and idolatrous practice.
Commentators differ on why the children went out too. One reads the law against executing children for a father's sin and concludes that the family shared the guilt:
Judgment follows the discovery of Achan's sin, and clearly his family suffers with him. The law forbade putting children to death for their father's sins. So we are driven to the conclusion that they shared the guilt of what he had done. The burial of the stolen things inside his tent would make that likely anyway. It would seem wrong to suppose, as some have done, that there was mob violence in a solemn judgment carried out in front of Joshua and all Israel.
Another writer points out that only the head of the family was stoned. He turns the scene into a question for every parent:
Is it not time to humble ourselves before the Lord, and to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?" "Is it in my family? In my tent?" Do not say you are not responsible for your family. Achan's whole family, his sons and his daughters, were brought into the valley of Achor, but only one man, the head of the family, was stoned. Achan was held accountable. His sin brought shame on his family, on his tribe, on his nation, and above all on the name of Jehovah.
One writer notes how openly Israel dealt with it:
Achan confessed his sin and said out loud what had been in his heart. The messengers ran, dug up the accursed thing, and laid it out in broad daylight before Jehovah. None of the shame of the sin was hidden. No one even dreamed of hushing up wrongdoing for the sake of peace. The truth won, not policy. For the question on that solemn day of heart-searching was this: Jehovah or man?
The verse says Joshua took Achan "and all Israel with him." One writer explains why the whole nation had to be there:
The whole assembly was involved in the evil. How was this? God's presence gave the whole assembly a unity. It bound them all together, so that the sin of the one involved them all. It was one assembly, and so no one could stand apart on his own. The sin of each was the sin of all, because God was among them, and He could not overlook unjudged evil. The whole congregation was involved, and had to clear itself of the evil before Jehovah could lead it on to victory.
One writer follows this valley into Hosea 2:15, quoted here in an older translation:
But, wonderful to say, we read in Hosea 2:15 this comforting word about Israel: "I will give her the Valley of Achor for a door of hope." Yes, beloved friends, it is always like this. God gives us blessing on the very doorstep of judgment. At the place of judgment, the soul finds the door of hope at the time of its conversion; it is there that it meets Christ. And later on, the believer finds the time of discipline to be the birthplace of hope and joy.
One writer presses all this on readers who speak much about grace:
These are weighty, solemn, searching words. They are much needed in these days of flippant, easy-going profession. The doctrines of grace are so much on our lips, but the fruits of righteousness are so little seen in our lives. May we learn from them the urgent need of watchfulness over our hearts and our private life. Evil must be judged and nipped in the bud, so that it does not bear its sad, shameful and sorrowful fruit in the way we live.
- Hidden. What Achan buried under his tent looked private. But his cloak came from Babylon, the stronghold of idolatry, and belonged to heathen worship.
- Uncovered. The messengers dug the goods up and laid them out in the open. Nobody smoothed anything over for the sake of peace; the question of that day was Jehovah or man.
- Carried out. Family, animals, tent and loot all went to the valley together. Commentators differ: did the children share the guilt, or did the head of the house alone bear the sentence?
- Shared. All Israel went out with Joshua. God's presence made one man's sin the whole camp's sin, and the camp had to clear itself before it could win again.
- Turned. The place of judgment is where the door of hope opens. There the soul meets Christ, and blessing starts on the very doorstep of judgment.
And Joshua said, How hast thou troubled us! Jehovah will trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.
One man's hidden theft cost Israel its first defeat in Canaan. This verse records his sentence in the valley named after the trouble he caused. Why his whole household? Why the whole nation as executioners? And why does Hosea later call this grim place a door of hope?
Joshua's sentence throws the man's own act back at him. The valley then took its name from that trouble.
They recovered the stolen goods from Achan's tent. Then he and the stolen property, his sons and his daughters, his oxen, donkeys, sheep and his tent were all taken to the Valley of Achor (meaning "trouble"). There Joshua pronounced sentence against Achan (v.25). He reaped trouble because of the trouble he sowed. All Israel had to stone them to death and burn them. The judgment included his sons and his daughters. This shows they knew of his crime and did not report it, for in Israel no children were to be put to death for their father's sins (Deut. 24:16).
The sin behind the theft is one the world still counts respectable. And his confession came only after he was found out.
His sin was the kind that in most ages, and certainly in this one, has been thought quite respectable — greed. It fitted the gospel of getting on in life: "get money; honestly if you can, but get it." Yet the twenty or thirty pounds' worth of goods he took was a poor price for selling his conscience and happiness. Covetous people who drive sharp bargains in buying and selling make terribly bad bargains when they sell their own souls. There is no evidence of repentance, only of remorse. He is not sorry for the sin, but for being found out.
There was a moment when this could have ended differently, and it passed.
Achan confessed too late. After the lot had exposed him to his brothers, he said, "I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did." Had he confessed earlier, he would have been forgiven and cleansed. But now his confession could not shield him from the judgment of the Lord. If he had judged himself in his tent, he would not have been judged in the valley of Achor.
The verse says "all Israel" — not the family, not the tribe. That detail carries the whole logic of the chapter.
The evil was not just a matter that affected Achan or his family or his tribe, but it affected all Israel. God held all Israel responsible for it because all the tribes were one nation. In His sight the whole nation was identified with the sin of Achan and defiled by it... So "all Israel stoned him with stones" (Joshua 7:25), and put the evil away. Then the Lord's anger turned and He was with Israel again.
The same principle turns up again in the church at Corinth.
We find the same thing at Corinth, adjusted according to the principles of grace. The wicked person must be put away. If not, they are all identified with the sin until they have put it away and have so "proved themselves innocent." In doing this they take God's side against the sin, and the relationship between God and the body returns to normal.
A heap of stones marked the spot. Some readers would like to soften a scene like this.
How deeply solemn all this is! Let us not try, under the false influence of one-sided notions of grace, to blunt the holy edge of a passage of Scripture like this. Let us read with earnest attention the inscription on that awful monument in the valley of Achor. What is it? "God is greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones"... And further, "Our God is a consuming fire."
The name did not stay a byword for disaster. Hosea takes this very valley and turns it into a promise.
But, wonderful to say, we read in Hosea 2:15 this comforting word about Israel: "I will... make the Valley of Achor a door of hope." Yes, dear friends, it is always like this. God gives us blessing right on the threshold of judgment. At the place of judgment the soul finds the door of hope when it is converted; it is there that it meets Christ. Later on, the believer finds the time of discipline to be the birthplace of hope and joy. And in this same valley where God pronounced their judgment, the people of Israel will one day be blessed by God.
- Trouble named — Achan sowed trouble for Israel and reaped trouble himself. The valley kept the name.
- Trouble's root — greed, the sin the world still counts respectable. His confession came only after he was caught: remorse, not repentance.
- Trouble avoidable — self-judgment in the tent would have spared him judgment in the valley.
- Trouble shared — one nation, one responsibility. All Israel stoned him because the sin defiled all Israel. Corinth shows the same rule.
- Trouble transformed — the stones stand as a warning. Yet Hosea makes that same valley a door of hope: blessing begins where sin is judged.
And they raised over him a great heap of stones, [which is there] to this day. And Jehovah turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called, The Valley of Achor, to this day.
The chapter that opened with defeat at Ai closes in a valley, over a pile of stones. Israel's sin came down to one man; the valley where he died still carries the name of his trouble, and there God's burning anger stopped.
The name itself carries the story, and the valley was a real place on Israel's map.
Achor means "trouble," and was the place where Achan was stoned for having troubled Israel by taking the devoted thing. Joshua 7:26. The valley was between Jericho and Ai, on the border of the tribe of Judah.
Joshua spoke the sentence, and the punishment matched the crime.
Then Joshua pronounced a solemn sentence against Achan (v.25): he reaped trouble because of the trouble he sowed… A great heap of stones rose over the remains, a testimony to God's holiness in judgment. Only this stern judgment of the evil calmed God's anger.
Israel did not leave this to a few leaders. The whole nation cleared its own camp.
All Israel shared in the dishonour done to Jehovah by their prince, so all Israel joined hands in clearing their camp… And more, Israel was in no mood at that hour to soften the memory of their sorrow.
The heap of stones speaks. One writer warns us not to blunt its edge with a one-sided idea of grace.
Let us read with earnest attention the inscription on that awful monument in the valley of Achor. What is it? "God is greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around Him." And again, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him." And further, "Our God is a consuming fire."
For Achan, that pile of stones replaced everything he could have owned in the land.
His days were short in the land of promise, and he lost his inheritance there. His name was cut off from Israel… He might have had his own share of land in the territory of Judah. Instead, all he had was a heap of stones over him in the valley of Achor. He sowed to his flesh, and from the flesh he reaped corruption.
The verse turns on one line: God's anger stops. That changes what God does next.
And now we have the Lord's full restitution of the people. They had gone out in self-confidence. They had taken the most serious check. But now that the sin was judged, Jehovah was free to act for them.
Discipline of this kind aims at something beyond punishment, though it leaves a mark.
Discovering sin in the assembly may be very painful, and it is always humiliating. But it happens so that the Lord's presence may be known among them again… The end of discipline is to restore. The restoration may not be to the same position as before, for the failure will always remain a fact. But restoring any believer always deepens the power of godliness in his soul.
The phrase "to this day" is not the end of the valley's story. Later prophets pick up the name and turn it into a promise.
But, wonderful to say, we read in Hosea 2:15 this comforting word about Israel: "I will give her… and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope." Yes, it is always like this. God gives blessing to us on the very threshold of judgment. At the place of judgment the soul finds the door of hope at its conversion, and there it meets Christ. Later on, the believer finds the time of discipline to be the birthplace of hope and joy. Joshua himself also recovered there in soul, to walk with God from then on as he led the people to victory.
That the prophets reach back to this scene at all is striking, given how severe it is.
Where evil exists, judging that evil is the only way anyone can enter into the forgiveness and favour of God… And Isaiah says that the Valley of Achor will be "a place for herds to lie down." That is because there is no place where hope shines as brightly as on the spot where sin has been judged. And there is no place for a sinner to rest like the foot of the cross.
after-note: DISCUSS not needed
- Trouble named. Achor means trouble. The man who troubled Israel reaped what he sowed, and his name was cut off.
- Trouble judged. The whole nation took part in clearing its own camp, because the dishonour had touched them all.
- Trouble marked. The heap of stones carries an inscription: God is to be feared among His people.
- Trouble ended. Only when the sin was dealt with did the burning anger stop — and God was then free to act for Israel again.
- Trouble transformed. The valley of trouble becomes a door of hope; hope shines brightest where sin has been judged.