THE SPIRIT OF ACHAN…. this evil spirit works against the voice of spiritual authority. Joshua was the spiritual authority of Israel. Remember Moses just passed away….Joshua was now in charge of God’s people.
God was now speaking with Joshua….when Moses was in charge God spoke to Moses.
Joshua 6:7-8
7 And he said to the people, Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the Lord.
8 So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
THE PRIESTS BLEW THE TRUMPETS….
THE ARK OF GOD ONLY MOVED WHEN THE TRUMPETS SOUNDED
THOSE WHO ARE ARMED….WITH WHAT?…..the Word of the Lord
Joshua 6:10
10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, Shout! Then you shall shout.
JOSHUA, THE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY, DETERMINES WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH.
IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO YOU….
YOU WILL ONLY SPEAK WHEN THE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY OVER YOUR LIFE TELLS YOU TO SPEAK
Verse 10…..”until the day I say to you”
AND WHEN YOU DO SPEAK, THE SOUND OF YOUR VOICE MUST BE IN LINE WITH THE SOUND OF EVERY OTHER VOICE IN THE CAMP. EVERYONE SPEAKING AND SAYING THE SAME THING.
Joshua 6:13
13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.
This was a well ordered procession
Right in front of the ark….the most treasured possession of Israel were armed men
In the present day context….the Word of God…our weapon of choice….went before everything and everyone else.
the Word led the whole procession
behind the Word were the priests….those who were set apart…consecrated….wholly devoted to God…..they were not going for a casual stroll…they were blowing their trumpets.
Then the ark…the very Presence of God….protected on all sides
Joshua 6:17
17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
There is a protective covering over the house of the sinner….over the house of the biggest brothel owner in the city of Jericho….for one reason…she placed everything she had, including her life, and she hid and covered the two spies from Israel in her roof. she made a covenant that she honoured. She did not care about all her customers….she was afraid of the God of Israel….Jehovah God.
Joshua 6:18-19
18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.
This was a direct, simple, plain, easy to understand instruction from the father. Do not touch anything that is cursed by God. There are secret things that the father will warn his sons about….Do not touch. We have to rise to a level of maturity where we are able to quickly follow the exact instructions of the father without doubting the instruction. The father’s interest is always in the safety of his sons. Achan was part of the congregation that was addressed by the leader…Do not touch!
Joshua 7:1
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.
The man did not listen….he touched the cursed thing and he took it and hid it from his father.
But listen to this….one man touched the cursed thing..God held the entire nation responsible…..the entire nation of Israel paid the price for the sin of one man…this is frightening! the scriptures say that the children of Israel committed a trespass. God held the nation of Israel responsible for the sin of one rebellious individual. Even in our own household of faith, one man’s sin will affect our entire family. Listen to this, I do not see all that you do, or who or what you are touching, but My Father in Heaven sees all things….and I am here to tell you that He responds. Be careful. Do not let the anger of the Lord burn against our entire household because of one rebellious individual.
THE COVERING OF GOD IS REMOVED OVER ISRAEL
Joshua 7:3-6
3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few. 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
The first thing you will notice is that that you will be defeated by the simplest of challenges.Israel sent 3000 men to battle against a few men of the enemy. God’s hand of protection was removed from His people. A few men from the enemy caused 3000 men to run. In the process the lives of 36 men were lost. All because of the sin of one rebel in the father’s camp. Do not take the judgements of God lightly. His judgements are real. His hand of protection must always be upon us. When sons are lost from our churches, check if there is a Achan in your household. verse 6 says Joshua tore his clothes and fell on his face and remained before the ark of God until the evening.
THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD
Joshua 7:10-16
10 So the Lord said to Joshua: Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you. 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. 15 Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
This is amazing!
God tells Israel…this is not the time for prayer. This is not a time for fasting. This is a time for action.You know what you have done.
Get up from the floor. The Heavenly Father is saying that He hasl removed His covering over us. The action is to remove the spirit of Achan from among us who has violated the spiritual authority of the spiriual father.
God says that unless this happens we will be defeated by every enemy that is coming against us. We will never experience victory unless this happens.
God passes His sentence….death by burning!
Joshua 7:20-26
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day. So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.
Here you see the confession of Achan…too late…the damage was done.
Achan and his entire family their animals and all his possessions were burned in the Valley of Achor. This is how serious sins against spiritual authority are. This may be new to you, but we cannot remain as simple men and women in the Kingdom of God. You ever wondered why you are not receiving your breakthrough? Check to see if you have violated spiritual authority.
We thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord who is able to forgive us our transgressions. We now live by grace. Thank you Lord!
Grace is only released when sons repent of their sins against their fathers.
REPENT QUICKLY WHILE YOU HAVE TIME
CCF International Church 