The Passing of Time Does Not Diminish Its Seriousness

Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.

~ Joshua 7:11

Notice in this verse the six verbs that God uses with regards to the sin of Achan.

1. "Israel has sinned" - This is the general word for sin in the Old Testament. Incidentally, I noticed tonight that it is used in 27 of the 39 Old Testament books.
2. "they have also transgressed - The line of acceptable conduct had been crossed. This word is used in all but 3 of the Old Testament books.
3. "they have taken" - Property that was to be the Lord's had been moved to a different location.
4. "they have stolen" - Literally, someone had stolen from God.
5. "and lied" - As is so often the case, lies and deception accompany other acts of sin.
6. "and put them among their own belongings" - The sin of taking what was God's had been compounded by the location where they had been placed. The stolen property was put with their other belongings for their personal use.

I found these comments particularly insightful:

The seriousness of the sin was brought before Joshua with the use of six verbs within one verse, as the Lord identified the exact nature of what had taken place. It is a lesson as to the character of the Lord that the actions of one man, in doing what some would see as a simple and insignificant thing, had far reaching consequences and required detailed exposure and comprehensive judgment.

Any Christian who sins, and considers it an insignificant thing not worthy of confession before the Lord, ought to take note, as the Lord has not changed and neither has His attitude to sin amongst His people.

Such was the seriousness of the sin in the eyes of the Lord, that it not only had caused the defeat at Ai and the death of about thirty-six men, but it would continue to have an effect upon the children of Israel unless the cause of the sin was dealt with, in accordance with the Lord's instructions (6:18).

The children of Israel had to learn that sin cannot be overlooked and the passing of time does not diminish its seriousness.

~ S. Grant - What the Bible Teaches - Joshua