The story of Achan establishes a principle that drives the Christian world to anger and denial.
What am I talking about?
I’m talking about the fact that God has held ALL of Israel accountable for the sins of just one man, Achan.
In other words, all Israel is bearing a kind of communal responsibility for Achan’s sin.
Does this mean that all of Israel was guilty because of Achan’s crime?
The answer is NO.
But, and this is a whopping huge “but”, all of Israel was paying the consequences for Achan’s sin.
Many pastors and preachers will say that while this idea of communal responsibility for sin may have existed during “Old” Testament times, all that changed when Yeshua came.
They argue that with the ushering in of the New Covenant, now no one is responsible or bears the burden of anyone else’s sins except their own.
They are wrong and they are wrong because they are dealing with a topic that is only lightly touched upon in the New Testament but fully explained and fleshed out in the Torah.
There is a big difference between being held legally guilty for another person’s wrongdoings and…
…bearing the consequences caused by another person’s wrongdoings.
Here in Joshua chapter 7, it is the latter that’s being demonstrated homies.
But and this is another huge whopping big “but”, the former hasn’t necessarily been done away with either.
Can you be held guilty for the sins of your father or your ancestors?
The answer is yes you can.
Think about it.
Every human being reading this blog article right now descended from Adam and Eve, our original parents, and bears the guilt of their sins…in a legal sense.
Heck, that’s why we need Messiah’s sacrifice in the first place.
Plastered all over the place in the Scriptures are statements making it clear that we bear personal guilt because of the sins of our first parents Adam and Eve.
Once Adam sinned and became separated from Hashem, in some mysterious way, his spiritual DNA was corrupted and that corruption was passed down unto every human being who would ever be born after him…and that includes you.
There is only ONE group of people who no longer bear the guilt of Adam’s original sin.
“Which group might that be?” you ask.
All those folks who place their faith in Yeshua the Messiah.
Yeshua’s divine mission was to free us from the shackles of the situation the whole world is currently under due to Adam’s original sin.
Yeshua’s sacrifice accomplished something that not even the blood of bulls or goats could ever accomplish.
His sacrifice atoned for the guilt of Adam or the “sin nature” (as theologians put it) that was placed upon the whole human race.
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