HOMILETICS. Vers. 16-26.-The detection. Objections have been raiseil to the morality of the whole narrative. We will ileal first with this subject, a.nil then turn to the religious and moral questions involved. I. ,VHY DID Goo NOT REVEAL THE OFFENDER WHEN HE REVEALED THE OFFENCE? Tl.ie answer is, tl.iat He miglit still further display the hardness of Achan's heart. He did not at once come forward and confess his crime. He not only bad offended against God's laws, but he persisted in his offence. His we,s not a tender con- science, sensitive to the least reproach. He saw what disaster he l111d brought upon Israel, yet he clung to his ill-gotten gains as long as be could. He wa,s not driYen, eitl.ier by remorse for the injury he had done his brethren, or by the clear eYi<lence that God had found him out, to confession and restitution. He concealed his guilt till concealment was no longer possible, and thus add~d as much 11s he could to his guilt. So do men in these da,ys hng their sins to their bosom as long as they are not found out. TJ,ey cry, "Tnsh, God hatl;t forgotten. He hideth His face and He will never see it;;, thus adding all possible e,ggre.vation to their guilt,. OH. VII. 16-26,l THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 127
II. Tim JUSTICE OF JosHuA is worthy of remark. Even Achan's confession was not rega,releel a,s _fina,l. The weclge of golel, the garment, and the silver were brought a_nel solemnly _fo1el out before Goel anel the congregation as p~oof of his guilt. Not till then wa,s Juclgment pronounceel. \Ve have· here a warnmg against hasty ancl unclrnritable juelgments. No man can justly be visited with censure or punishment until his guilt be fully proved. III. We should next observe THE NATURE OF AcHAN's srn. 1. It was sacri- lege, the most presumptuous of all sine. The tenelency of moelern thought is to ignore such sins. To steal what is devoteel to God's service is not worse than to steal anything else. To break an oath is not worse than to break one's word. Do not such reasonings ignore the personality of God ? And do not religious people very often unthinkingly surrender a fundamental article of their faith when they yield to such reasoning? If there be ineleeel a God-if He be nothing but the em- bodiment of the principle of humanity, as we are now taught, does it not aeld the most awful of all insolence to the sin in itself when we rob Him, or lie to Him? All sins are, it is true, a denial of His being; but that denial assumes a more nakeel and a bolder form when the offence is directed against Him. For then all disguises of self-interest are swept away, and the offender says deliberately in his heart, "There is no Goel.'' Let us take heed, therefore, how we "rob God," whether" in tithes and offerings," or in any other way. 2. The sacrilege was committed just when sacrilege was most inexcusable. The hand of God hael been clearly visible in the capture of Jericho. The dedication of the spoil to Him was an acknowleilg- ment of His awful power. Not long before God had dried up the waters of Jortlan before His people. They had but just renewed their covenant with Him by a general circumcision of the people, and had sanctified that renewal by partaking of the passover. And God foreknew that Achan would persist in his sin, in dis- believing in the Almighty power of God until his offence was brought home beyond the possibility of mistake to his own door. The lessons we learn from this event are four. I. TnE AWFULNESS OF THE SENTENCE AnAINST SIN. "The soul that sinneth it Rlrnll die." "The wages of sin is death." All unrepented sin is leading us up to this end. Achan is the type of impenitent sinners. He persists in his sin till the great moment of unveiling comes, as sinners persist in their sin until they are brought to the bar of Goel's judgment. Then is it too late to cry for mercy, when it is the time cf judgment. We must learn to confess and forsake our sin in time. II. THE CERTAINTY OF DETECTION. The heavens did not shake, nor the earth tremble, when Achan committed his sin. No lightning descended from aborn upon his bead. No sign appeareel in the earth or sky to betray him. The sun rose and set as usual. Nothing disturbed the ordinary routine of the camp until the reYcrse at Ai. Yet God saw all and meant to bring' it to light in His own gootl time. Achan fancied himself undiscovered, but he was mistaken. Antl so are they misto.ken who fancy that God does not see their secret sins. They may go on for years undiscovered, but God knows all, and can, antl often does, in the most un- expected wo.y bring all to light. If not before, yet on that do.y when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, shall the sin which the sinner bas hugged so closely to his bosom be displayed in its native hideousness before God, 0,ngels, anti men. III. THE NECESSITY OF CONFESSION AND RESTITUTION. Repentance which docs not involve these is no repentance at all. To repent of sin is to forsake it; but forso.l1ing sin is imposRible without confession anel restitution. Co11fession, that is, to the person whom we have offended. If we have sinned again&t God, we must confess our sin to Him. If we have done wrong to man, we must Rcknow· ledge the wrong we have done to him who has sufferetl by it. Restitution, again, is a sore trial to the offeneler ; he would fain persuade himself that it is unnecessary. But unless we restore om· ill-gotten gains we are persisting in the very sin we profess to ha,ve renounced. \Ve cannot rea,lly hate and desire to break off any sinfol habits, while we retain as our own that which those sinful habits have gained for us, Achan was oompelleel (1) to acknowledge the sin he hatl committed, and (2) 128 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [on. vu. 16-26,