Fighting the Flesh #10: Covetousness

“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.”—Joshua 7:1

The nation of Israel had entered into the Promised Land and was subduing the land by defeating the current inhabitants in a series of military battles. One particular battle involved the Jewish leader, Joshua, sending a small contingent of soldiers to take the small city of Ai. But rather than quickly taking the city, the army was routed. The cause of the rout was not the military prowess of Ai’s army; rather it was because of the sin of one man, Achan.

Achan had stolen some of the “devoted things” set apart to God. Because of Israel’s loss in the battle (when they were assured victory), they inquired of God and discovered that their military loss was due to moral impurity in the camp. They cast lots (an ancient process whereby certain dice were rolled and God directed the outcome), which eventually resulted in the selection of Achan. Cornered by the reality of his sin, he confesses his crime:

“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 see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath”—Joshua 7:20-21.

Notice the progression of Achan’s sin. It began with what he “saw,” which he “coveted,” then “took,” and finally “hid.” He took for himself what was devoted to God. Israel’s success depended upon the holiness of its people, and Achan’s sin tangibly demonstrated the reality of that truth. Not only did Israel lose in battle, and thirty-six men lost their lives; fear fell upon the entire nation. It was a horrible choice that resulted in disastrous consequences.

Such a sin could not be tolerated, and the guilty party was to be executed because the sin was against God’s covenant and God’s people and had to be removed. After lots revealed his guilt, Achan and his family were taken to the Valley of Achor where they were summarily executed. It is presumed that his family were co-conspirators in his sin and thus guilty of his crime. Only after their execution was Israel’s holiness restored and God's name vindicated, and Israel was empowered to win in battle again.

Achan’s sin was of an egregious nature because it was against God. He wasn’t just guilty of covetousness, but stealing. And he wasn’t stealing from a fellow Israelite or even the Jewish leader, Joshua. He was guilty of robbing God. To steal from a man is one thing, but to steal from God is something else altogether.

Happiness doesn’t come with the accumulation of more stuff. As a matter of fact, “stuff” can’t give happiness at all, or at least not for any significant period of time. We all want more. As the Proverb says, “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man”—Proverbs 27:20. The belief that the accumulation of “things” gives one happiness and/or significance is known as covetousness. We don’t use the word much anymore, perhaps because we are so commonly guilty of it. We are addicted to the accumulation of stuff. We are the only culture in the history of the world that rents storage facilities just to house our extra stuff! And no matter how much we get, we aren’t satisfied with what we have. Whether it is the billionaire or the poor man, we still want “just a little bit more.” Which is why the author of Proverbs says,

“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” —Proverbs 30:7-9

He didn’t want “poverty” or “riches” because both will be temptations to sin. The only cure for covetousness then is contentment. The person who cultivates contentment will be able to cure covetousness. If Achan would have cultivated contentment, then Israel would have been victorious and thirty-six families would have still had their fathers.

We must be on guard against covetousness. It’s easy to think that the accumulation of more stuff will give us happiness, but only by finding satisfaction in God will our hearts be at rest. “Stuff” can’t fill the void in our hearts, only Christ can. Therefore, we need to ask God to fill us up with Himself so that we don’t long for the things of this world. The things of this world will pass away, but God will not. It’s best then to nourish our hearts on what will endure so that we might be content in the present, and looking to the future, when the fullness of our salvation will be realized and we no longer will long for anything, for our soul’s satisfaction will be found in Christ, our Savior. Amen.