I Chronicles 2:7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.
Giver or Taker?
If you stop to think about it, most people you know are either givers or takers. Most of us are eager to be around givers. They give encouragement, honesty, candor, or help in some other way. We tend to avoid the “takers” of life because they seem to drain us. The day will come when people will try to characterize your life in a simple statement. So it is important to remember that most of us will be defined by what we give or what we take.
I Chronicles 1:7 is a verse that jumps out from a long list of names that seem to have no face. That verse says, “And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.” This is talking about Achan. If you had not read Achan’s story in the book of Joshua, this verse would tell you everything you would need to know about Achan. His very name meant trouble.
More important than what his name meant was what his life illustrated. The etymology of his life was the same as his name; he was trouble because he was a taker. That word “accursed” in the account in Joshua is used both of what Achan stole and of Achan himself. God had told Joshua, “When you take Jericho, everything in that city is accursed.” The word “accursed” there essentially means, “something that is dedicated to God or to destruction.”
Everything that was in Jericho was to be dedicated as firstfruits to God. Furthermore, anyone who stole those things became themselves dedicated to destruction. The Bible says that Achan saw, coveted, took, and hid something that the Bible describes as “accursed.” He took silver, gold, and a beautiful garment. He may have hid those things from people, but one can never hide anything from God. Achan was found out because God never lost sight of him, and he was judged severely. It cost him his life and the lives of those in his family.
Achan was a thief not because he took something from a Canaanite; he was a thief because he took what belonged to God. He took what God would have given. I cannot think of anything more senseless or futile than that. So many people try to take with force what God would give. I’m not suggesting we be passive. In fact, if anyone should be a hard worker and a person of vision, it should be people that know Jesus Christ. But there is a difference between going through life merely wanting to get whatever you can for yourself and going through life realizing that God is giving to you in order to give through you.
Achan was trouble. He was a taker not a giver. But you and I still have a choice. At the end of your life, will your life and work be defined by what you took or by what you gave? Let’s receive God’s gifts with gratitude and use them to enrich the lives of those around us.