The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 181

them. Ye! Achan disregarded the understood agreement. Nor must it be forgotten tlrnt Isrnel stood in e. peculiar relationship to the Abnighty, who promised to bless them 1f they adhered to the terms of the covenant, which required them to be very obedient unto every commandment which the Lord should give by the mouU1 of His accredited messel.'gers. A similar co,·emmt is re-affirmed under the gospel dispensation, only it is pre-eminently a covenant of grace, not of works. Jesus died that they who lived should henceforth Jiye unto Him who died for them. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all other things shall be added unto you,'' was the stipulation of the great Teacher. To " sin wilfully '' is to count the blood of the c0Yenant 'II-herewith we are sanctified an unholy thing (Heb. x. 29). Jesus is the l\fodiat0r 0f a" new covenant." The same epistle concludes with a prayer that the Go,l who, in ,irtue of the blood of the everlasting covenant, raised Cluist from the dead, may peifect His people in every good work, that thus on both sides the "conditions" may be observed. YI. SECRECY IS THE USUAL ACCOMPANlM'ENT OF SIN. Acbau did not wear the " garment" or exhibit the "gold," but hid his plunder " in the earth in the midst of his tent" (ver. 21). The attempt to cloak sin may arise either from a feeling of shame. or from the fe11r of detection and punishment. This last is 11 baser motive than the first. Sha.me is au evidence that the me.n is not wholly bad,. that the voice of conscience has not been totally silenced. That after the Fall our first parents did not set their faces like a flint was a testimony that evil had not acquired complete mastery o,er them. Oh that men visited with these compunctions of conscience would att.end to the self-attesting nature of sin I We may rejoice in the endeavoru· to conceal crimes, so far as it indicates that society is not yet so corrupt as unblnshingly to acknowledge sin as such. Since God mentions the ~• diss.em- bling" of Achan as aggravating his offence, it is probable that he was afraid of the ,,engeance which discovery would bring upon his.head.- Already sin was inflicting its punishment. There could not be open, Ulll'estrained fi:u.ition of ill-gotten gains. Rejoicing naturally demands the presence of others to share our joy, and by parti- cipation to increase the common stock ; but there can be no such gathering to greet the result of sins, for they- " The cloak of night being plucked from off their backs, Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves." Conclusion. Thankfulness for a Saviour, born to " save his people from their sins," the Light of the world revealing our natural dark, degraded condition, but bringing to us, if we will bask in His rays, knowledge, purity, and happiness. "God be merciful to me a sinner," the prelude to" They shall- walk with me in white, for they are worthy."-A. • Ver. 1.-The wwy of the i,ransgressor. In order to understand Achan's sin, we must bear in mind the absolute nature of the decree that everything belonging to Jericho should be devoted to the Lord-all living beings slain, and destructible mate1ials consumed as a sacrifice to His offended Majesty ; all indestructible ma- terials-silver and gold, vessels of iron and brass-consecrated to the service of the sanctuary. The sin was, therefore, something more than an act of disobedience. It was a ,iolation of the Divine covenant. It was sacrilege, a robbery of G.od, an impious seizure, for base, selfish purposes, of that which belonged to Hirn. And the secrecy wiih which the sin was committed was a defiance of the Divine Omni- science. Trifling as the offence may seem on a mere superficial view of it, it thus contained tbe essential elements of all transgression. The penalty was tenible; but the moral exigencies of the time demanded it. The sovereignty God was assert- ing so solemnly over the Canaanites could suffer no dishonour among His own people; "Judgment must 1,egin at the house of God.'' The point of interest in this pa,s- sag,; is the view it gives of the connection between Achan e.nd ~11 Israel m tbls transgression; it speaks of his deed as the deed of the whole natwn, and one that brought down on it the anger -0f the Lord... -Consider (1) .the. relation of Achan nod his in to the people; (2) the relation .of the people to Achan'B sin. .:  tit. vn. :-6.] 'I'HE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 119