A Deathbed Confession
A Deathbed Confession
Joshua 7:20-21a & 25a And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. …” And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones.
Before we start casting stones at Achan here, who among us has never stolen from God in like manner? Who among us has never coveted our neighbor’s things? Who among us has never withheld money from the offering plate to buy a piece of furniture or a TV subscription or a pair of shoes? As our Lord said to that horde of Pharisees in their mad rush to stone a prostitute, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,” so I hear Him whispering that same word to me through the discomforting pile of rocks that covers the landscape of Joshua 7.
That said, capital punishment like this stirs in my gut the sort of perplexity that David felt when hearing of God striking dead that priest who tried to keep the ark from tottering. “Why won’t You show mercy here?”, I asked the LORD in my perplexity. “You showed mercy to Abraham when he adulterated with Hagar, and to Aaron, when he fashioned that golden calf, and to Judah, when he sold Joseph into slavery, and to Jacob, when he stole Esau’s fortune, and to Adam, when he disobeyed your one command!”
But the LORD stilled my emotions with two truths: first, that death is the just consequence for Achan’s rebellion, and secondly, that there’s a silver gospel lining outlining this dark cloud, expressed in 1 John 1:9: “For if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Achan’s deathbed confession of sin to God is a far greater thing than the consequence of his sin, in the same way that Moses’ eternal reward in heaven is far greater than his earthly banishment from the Promised Land. While the consequence of Achan’s sin is shame and death, the result of his genuine confession is glory and everlasting life!