Hidden Things

Hidden Things

A Sermon on Joshua 7:1 — Achan and the Hidden Sin

By A Disciple of Jesus Christ · Pleasant Springs Church · July 26, 2026

Key Texts: Joshua 7:1 • James 1:14–15 • Mark 7:21–23 • 1 John 1:8–10 • Ezekiel 33:11

Jericho has fallen. But at the next, smaller city — Ai — Israel is routed and thirty-six men lie dead, and no one can see why. The answer is buried in the ground beneath one man’s tent. This sermon traces the anatomy of hidden sin — how it grows in the dark, how the unseen powers exploit it, and how the God who exposed the accursed thing under Achan’s tent still brings hidden things to light — not to condemn, but so that we will turn, confess, and live.

Jericho has been defeated, and the people were told not to take any of the spoils from Jericho, because the spoils — the precious metals — were consecrated to the Lord’s treasury (Joshua 6:17–19). Now they are facing the city of Ai, which was small in size and population. Joshua sends out spies, and they come back saying there was no need to send the whole army — that two or three thousand should be sufficient. But the little village puts the Israelites on the run, having killed thirty-six Israelite soldiers!

So many times we pray for victory over a particular sin or weakness that we face, and God shows up and shows out on our behalf, equipping us and giving us strength to overcome whatever we are facing at the time. But the next thing you know, we are defeated again! So what happened? We let our guard down.

That’s exactly what happened with Israel. In verses 2–3 the spies come back from Ai saying they were few, and would only need two or three thousand to overcome them. Their focus seems to appear on their own abilities, which may have been a contributing factor. But the defeat happened because God’s presence had been withdrawn because of covenant violation. Achan broke the covenant with hidden sin.

We too often get caught up in rejoicing in our victories that we lose sight of our own weakness, never thinking about what could be around the corner — and that’s when the enemy plans a surprise attack, leaving us wondering, “How did I let that happen?” Too often that is when we are most vulnerable, because:

Once inside, it begins growing until it is either dealt with or manifests itself openly — consuming the individual and infecting those around them. Consider the example of Achan’s sin (Joshua 7:19–21):

Sin always follows a pattern. First he saw. Then he desired. Then he took. Then he hid. Every hidden sin begins long before anyone else ever sees it — and often what is on the inside will reflect on the outside.

Manifest means: visible, evident, known, appear, shine, be seen.

Notice: we are drawn away, and enticed. So who is doing the drawing and enticing? Even though the works of the flesh are present, we see it is the powers in the unseen realm who exploit our sinful desires.

What is lust? Lust is the longing for that which is forbidden. Even the Lord Himself was tempted:

The prince of the power of the air … a spirit.

Just as God exposes Achan’s sin in Joshua 7:19–21, so God speaks in Matthew 5:27–28 of a man who looks upon a woman and lusts — he is just as guilty as if he had done it. And Numbers 32:23 warns, in the latter part of the verse, “be sure your sin will find you out.” Jesus looks on the motives of our hearts, not on our deeds or appearances:

Before Jesus can free and save us from our sins, we must come into agreement with Christ about the sin. Once we come into agreement with Him about our sins, confessing them to Him, He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The bottom line is: we cannot hide anything from God.

To read Joshua 7 well, it helps to know the moment it describes and the word at its center. The following background is offered for deeper study — the same Author-and-Audience approach we use across the Discipleship School, with the Septuagint (LXX) and ESV set beside the preached text.

Jericho was the “firstfruits” of the conquest, and as such the whole city was placed under the ban — Hebrew ḥērem, “devoted thing.” Everything in it belonged to God: the silver, gold, bronze, and iron went into the Lord’s treasury (Joshua 6:19), and the rest was to be destroyed. To take from the devoted thing was not petty theft; it was to lay hold of what had been given wholly to God, and it brought the ban upon the taker himself. That is why one man’s hidden pocket of loot could bring defeat on the entire nation — Achan had made himself, and by extension the camp, ḥērem.

LXX word worth keeping: anathema (ἀνάθεμα) — the Greek for Hebrew ḥērem, “a thing devoted / accursed,” set apart and given wholly over to God. Paul later takes up the very word for the severest of consequences (Romans 9:3; 1 Corinthians 16:22; Galatians 1:8–9). The KJV “accursed thing” and the ESV “devoted things” are two faces of the same idea: what belongs entirely to God is not ours to hide in a tent.

The threads in this sermon — the compromise within, the unseen powers that exploit our desires, the heart that must be made new, and the confession that brings cleansing — each open into a fuller study. Keep growing: