ANOTHER MAN’S SIN (CAN IT AFFECT ME?)

KEY TEXT: Joshua 7:1 (KJV) – “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.”

“Achan’s sin brought disaster upon the whole nation. For one man’s sin the displeasure of God will rest upon His church till the transgression is searched out and put away. The influence most to be feared by the church is not that of open opposers, infidels, and blasphemers, but of inconsistent professors of Christ. These are the ones that keep back the blessing of the God of Israel and bring weakness upon His people.” – Patriarchs and Prophets, Page 497.2, Ellen G. White.

In Joshua 6, the Lord delivers Jericho into the hand of the Israelites and gives them instructions on what to do to destroy it.

These are the instructions that He gave them:

1. Joshua 6:3-5 (KJV) – “³ You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. ⁴ And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

The Israelites did exactly as God had instructed them to do, and the walls of Jericho fell flat (Joshua 6:20).

• The Lord instructed the Israelites to kill everything in Jericho but to spare the harlot Rahab and everything in her house. Rahab was to be spared because of hiding the spies (Joshua 6:17).

The Israelites obeyed and did precisely that by destroying all the people of Jericho and sparing Rahab and all that was in her household (Joshua 6:23-25).

• The Lord gave commandments concerning the accursed things and said this: Joshua 6:18-19 (KJV) – ” ¹⁸ And you by all means, abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. ¹⁹ But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”

Did they follow this instruction?

Let us find out:

Joshua 7:1 (KJV) – “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.”

As we can see in the above verse, one Israelite by the name of Achan chose to disobey God and went ahead and took the accursed things. While all the Israelites obeyed, only one man disobeyed. However, the anger of the Lord was not kindled against Achan only. God kindled it against all of Israel.

These are the consequences they faced as a result of one man’s (Achan’s) sin:

In Joshua 7:3, the spies came back after spying on the land and told Joshua not to allow everyone to go and fight the people of Ai. This was because the Ai people were few, so they could defeat them with a few people. Two thousand to three thousand men were more than enough to beat the Ai people.

Therefore the Israelites chose around three thousand men to go to war with the Ai people.

Since the Israelites had a vast army to defeat the Ai people, did they beat them?

Joshua 7:5 (NKJV) – “And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.”

As we can see, despite the Israelite soldiers being more than the people of Ai in number, they were defeated, and a couple of them were killed and chased away. Why were they defeated despite having numerous mighty soldiers? The reason is that God was not with them. Here we get to learn that much is useless when God is not in it as surely as little is much when God is in it.

Joshua 7:11 (KJV) – “Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their stuff.” In this verse, God did not say Achan has sinned. Although Achan was the only one who sinned, God said: “Israel has sinned”.

God was angry with the Israelites that He caused them to be defeated by people who were fewer and weaker than them. After they faced this severe consequence, Joshua went before the Lord with a humble spirit to seek answers (Joshua 7:6-8). Take note that sometimes God can allow us to face inevitable consequences so that we may come to repentance and be close to Him.

Have in mind also that Joshua was not the one who offended God. However, he went to God humbly tearing his clothes and putting dust on his head together with other elders, seeking God earnestly and diligently (Joshua 7:6).

Most times when we go to God to ask for a blessing; we go to God with pride assuming that we have not offended God. We go to God like, “God, I always return a tithe; why is my business not succeeding?” We assume that doing a couple of good deeds makes us righteous. Doing that is a great danger.

Never think that you have not offended God. Yes, you may be doing numerous good activities but with an evil motive. You can be the most charitable person in the world but maybe you are doing that so that people can speak highly of you. You may be in a top position in the government and appear to the eyes of the people that you are fighting corruption but deep inside your heart, you are just looking forward to the downfall of one man. Those are good actions but with wrong motives (that is why God tells you not to judge).

Never assume that your spiritual life is okay and that there is nothing to do about it. Mind due, negative emotions like fear, shyness, stress, worry, etc., are indications that your spiritual life is not perfect. At the same time, never assume that the good you have done is enough for God. The reason is that the good you have done will never match the good God has done for you.

After Joshua sought God, this is what God said to him.

Joshua 7:11-12 (KJV) – ^“11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their stuff. ¹² Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turned their backs before their enemies because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.”

In the above verses, God tells Joshua why the Israelites were defeated. In other words, the Israelites were facing the consequences of sin. Sin is very dangerous, no matter how small it may seem. Sin always has effects.

God may decide not to punish because God is not an occasional punisher, but sin will always has consequences even if God does not punish.

Let us look at some examples to elaborate on this statement:

1. You have sex before marriage, and suddenly, you start worrying about your partner if they are doing the same with someone else. These arguments lead to contentions and strife, making the relationship so unstable. God, in His mercy, decides not to punish you. As a result, He allows both of you to marry, but due to that one sin, there will still be instability in your relationship.
2. You have multiple sex partners. God, in His mercy, may decide not to punish you by preventing you from contracting STDs. However, you will still face the consequence of that sin, like confusion and bankruptcy caused by misuse of finances.
3. You cheat in exams. God in His mercy decides not to punish you by allowing you to graduate with a very high score. God, in His mercy, again will enable you to get a job. However, you cannot perform on the job because you have little or no knowledge of the work given. That is a consequence of sin.
4. You are in a position of handling public money and you decide to engage in corruption. God, in His mercy, decides not to punish you by preventing you from losing your job. However, you end up facing the consequence of that act of sin like feelings of guilt, emptiness, and depression.
5. You work tirelessly and fail to keep the seventh day (Sabbath day) holy as God has commanded. God may fail to punish you but you might end up getting fatigued which may lead to chronical health issues.

Sin inevitably has consequences, and as humans, we are limited in knowing how long they will last (1 Corinthians 13:12). Someone who does not know you in a small town in Europe may be affected by the sin you committed in a small village in Africa.

The same thing applies to righteousness. One simple good action, like telling someone something good in your local church in Kenya, may end up blessing someone in America.

These examples may sound far-fetched but let us elaborate with a few examples.

Biblical examples:

• Adam and Eve’s sin affected the whole human race (Genesis 3).
• God blessed Abraham’s generation and descendants because of the righteousness of Abraham only (Genesis 12:1) (Genesis 17:6).
• Through Moses, God freed the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 12).
• Hebrews 11:31 (KJV) – “By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace.” Rahab and all her household were spared, while all the people in Jericho were destroyed (Joshua 6:25).
• Ruth’s generation was blessed because of the righteousness of Ruth. Ruth was in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1).
• The whole world was saved by grace because of the one act of Jesus of dying on the cross (John 3:16).

Modern-day examples:

Dr. Henry Edward Roberts, a man that is not widely known, inspired Bill Gates in founding Microsoft. Dr. Roberts created the Altair 8800, a microcomputer kit that was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in January 1975. This was one of the first affordable personal computers, and it generated massive excitement in the tech community. This sparked the interest of Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen who took the initiative to develop a software for that personal computer.

Bill Gates has been able to establish an empire worth billions of dollars. He founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, helping thousands of people across the globe, from America to villages in Africa. Dr. Henry did not know that motivating Bill Gates would touch the lives of people he does not know thousands of miles away.

Benjamin Graham happens to be one of the people who assisted Warren Buffet in building his multi-billion dollar empire. Buffet donates 97% of his earnings to charities. Many people are benefitting from Buffet today. This was a result of the inspiration Buffet got from Graham.

You are in a romantic relationship, and some things may not be happening right. One of the reasons might be that your partner has taken account of his or her previous relationship experience and, since the experience was not good, decides to carry the thoughts on to the new relationship. Therefore, they do things that harm you because of their past relationship encounter.

The examples are endless.

One man’s sin can be highly dangerous, as surely as how one man’s good deed can be highly beneficial. Job understood this that is why he always offered sacrifices on behalf of his children, just in case they had sinned (Job 1:5).

Job never assumed that because he was righteous, the sins of his children would never affect him. Job can be paralleled to Eli. Eli was a servant of God and often did what was pleasing to God, but his children did not follow suit, which affected Eli.

The sins of Eli’s sons affected Eli. Therefore, do not think that your friend’s sin is none of your business or that your brother’s sin cannot affect you. It is your business and it will affect you.

Let us look at a simple example: You are on a tight budget, and you are just about to sleep, then your friend who had gone drinking calls you and tells you that he has been arrested, and therefore, you feel mercy for him as a friend and send him money, probably all that you have. Hasn’t that sin affected you? Yes, it has. If he had not gone drinking, would you have been affected? No, you won’t.

People sometimes face curses not because of their sins but because of a sin passed down from generation to generation. John 9:1-2 (KJV) – “¹ And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from His birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or His parents, that He was born blind?” Exodus 20:5 (KJV) – “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

How, then, do you stop those curses from affecting you?

Joshua 7:24-25 (KJV) – “²⁴ And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.”

Joshua and all of Israel did exactly as God had commanded them (Joshua 7:15). They took away the accursed thing, Achan, and all his possessions and burned him with all he had. This was to signify that they did away with the sin ultimately.

Most of us want to do away with sin halfway. For example, I have stopped drinking and abusing all drugs; I will only be smoking weed. Or, I am not yet married, but I will continue with premarital sex as long as I am faithful to one partner. Or I do not always lie; I only lie once in a while. As you repent, you must stop that one sin you are holding onto completely. Submit to Jesus wholeheartedly.

Therefore when you pray, do not just pray for yourself. Pray for all your friends and your enemies. Avoid generalizing, i.e., “Dear God, I pray for all my friends.” Be specific because God himself is specific.

Genesis 2:1 (KJV) – “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” If you look at this verse carefully, it does not say, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,” leaving the statement there. After saying, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,” it continues to say, “and all the host of them.” By saying all the host of them, God going deep into details and specificity.

When God gave Noah instructions on the measurements of the ark, He was precise in all measurements (Genesis 6). Effective prayer is specific, i.e., “God bless Mary, lead her to righteousness, help her to stop this habit in Jesus name.”

If you do not like the governance of your country, instead of constantly criticizing them, pray for them. If someone has a behavior you do not like, kneel and pray for them instead of gossiping about them. Do that for a couple of days with faith. You will be surprised by what will happen. Therefore, confess the sins of your friends, enemies, relatives, parents, brothers and sisters, and ancestors to God because their sins may affect you directly or indirectly.

REMEMBER. You are always your brother’s keeper.

GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU WALK ALONG THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WAY, SHALOM!

Prayer

Lord God, open my eyes to the hidden sins that may be affecting my life and the lives of those around me. Help me to walk in obedience, humility, and truth. Teach me to intercede for others and take responsibility where needed. Cleanse my heart, my church and my community from anything that brings dishonor to Your name. May my actions draw Your presence, not drive it away. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Activity

1. Reflect – Take a quiet moment and ask God to reveal any hidden sins or wrong motives in your heart or family/work/church environment.

Try to answer the following questions:

• Why do you think Achan’s sin affected all of Israel?
• Have you ever seen someone’s poor choice hurt others?
• Can you think of a time when someone’s obedience to God inspired or protected others?
• How can we help keep each other accountable in our group?

2. Write it Down – On a piece of paper, write any actions, attitudes, or relationships that God brings to mind, whether yours or others’ that may be affecting you.
3. Pray & Repent – Pray over the list and ask for God’s forgiveness and guidance on what to change or how to address it.
4. Burn or Tear – Destroy the paper as a symbolic act of turning away from those things and asking God to cleanse your camp (your life, household, or group).
5. Intercede – Spend some time praying for your family, church, or nation, asking God to have mercy and help others walk in truth too, just like Joshua did on behalf of Israel.

Author: Mark Alex   

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