Who was Achan in the Bible?

Son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, who on the fall of Jericho kept some of its spoil, against the express command of Jehovah, hence called 'the accursed thing,' and was stoned to death with his family, and with his possessions burned with fire. Joshua 7:1. Called ACHAR, in 1 Chr. 2:7. All Israel were punished until the sin was discovered and avenged; showing in type that there cannot be evil in an assembly of Christians without all being involved.

Achan was the first who broke through the sanitary cordon that had been established. 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, i.e. one to be used in connection with some heathen and idolatrous practice.

But now let us turn from the causes of individual failure, and consider the cause of collective failure, as it is here exemplified. One unhappy man in the camp of Israel had secretly sinned, and thereby he had brought disaster upon his brethren. Achan was not an obscure person in Israel; he was of the royal tribe of Judah. He was the great-great-grandson of Judah himself, from whose tribe Messiah Himself would spring in due time.

The promise of prosperity in the wars in Canaan was contingent upon Israel's obedience. Now in Achan they had not only sinned; they had transgressed a plain command. The accursed, or devoted, thing had been taken in contravention of the command of God, laid upon Israel before the destruction of Jericho — "The city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: … and ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord" (Joshua 6:17-19). Not a shred nor a shekel from Jericho did God allow Israel for their personal glory or wealth. Nothing was to be appropriated by those who were called to execute the ban of God on the Canaanite. Now Achan had laid hands both upon the garment and the gold, both on that which was accursed to the fire, and that which was devoted to Jehovah's treasury. Achan was a prince in Israel, and it is often through the leaders, and not through the rank and file of God's army, that sin and sorrow are introduced. Achan coveted the garment of Shinar, the silver, and the wedge of gold, and he hid them in his tent; and thus were found in the midst of Israel the very things God commanded not to be touched.

These commandments of Jehovah were recited in the ears of the people before the downfall of Jericho, and Achan must have heard and known them fully. But he sinned in respect of them. He flatly disobeyed them. Led away by the lust of his eyes, he did the very thing he was forbidden to do. He took of the spoils of Jericho, and hid them in his tent. And the expedition to Ai proved a disaster for his people.

But Achan steeled his heart, and refused to admit even to himself that he was responsible for the catastrophe at Ai. The night passed, and Achan did not confess his sin. Jehovah had ordered that on the morrow lots should be cast, and by His own disposing of the lots, the secret sinner would be discovered. Accordingly, the twelve tribes assembled before the Lord in the morning. Surely Achan is now trembling in his shoes. Surely, he knows he will be soon detected, that the lot will fall upon him. "Oh, Achan, why not even now confess thy sin? why not acknowledge thy guilt? why not own before Jehovah thou hast broken His command, and that the stolen goods are in thy tent?" But his heart was obdurate. He had resisted the first whisperings of his conscience, and now he would not listen to its shouts. He hardened his heart, and his lips refused to confess his sin.

But look, Achan's tribe, the tribe of Judah, is taken by lot. Will he not confess now? No, his mouth is closed. Then, his family is taken; and then his household; but he still refuses to come forward. Then the lot falls upon him. His opportunity for confession is lost. All Israel knows that he is the offender. His was the sin that brought disaster upon the nation.

Joshua shows no hostility toward Achan, but pleads with him to at least now give glory to the Lord God of Israel by confessing candidly what he has done (v.19). What else could Achan do now but confess his guilt? He admitted he had sinned against the Lord God of Israel and had Stolen three things from the spoil of Jericho, a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels, and had buried them under his tent floor (v.21). The silver would be about eight pounds in weight, the gold two pounds, the value of which would be great. The Babylonian garment represents idolatrous luxury which should have been destroyed, while the silver and gold ought to have been put in the treasury of the Lord.

Achan's secret sin found him out, and brought its penalty. His days were short in the land of promise, and he lost his inheritance there. His name was cut off from Israel, and he perished as a witness for Jehovah against the iniquity of the Amorites. He might have had his allotment in the territory of the tribe of Judah, but all he had was a heap of stones over him in the valley of Achor. He sowed to his flesh, and of the flesh he reaped corruption.

The stolen goods being recovered from Achan's tent, 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"). Then Joshua solemnly pronounced sentence against Achan (v.25), he reaping trouble because of the trouble he sowed. All Israel was called upon to stone them to death and burn them. The fact that his sons and daughters were included in this judgment indicates that 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). Achan's animals also were destroyed, however. As to the silver and gold, we are not told whether this was brought into the treasury of the Lord. But of course it would not be destroyed by burning A great heap of stones was raised over the remains, a testimony to God's holiness in judgment. Only when this stern judgment of the evil took place was God's anger abated. The place was called "the Valley of Achor" (V.26).

(e) Judgment follows the discovery of Achan's sin; and it is plain that his family suffer with him. As the law forbad the putting to death of children for their father's sins, we are shut up to the conclusion that they were involved with him in the guilt of what he had done, as the burial of the stolen things in the midst of his tent would otherwise make probable. It would seem out of place to infer, as some have done, mob violence in a solemn judgment executed in the presence of Joshua and all Israel.