Do you know what to do if you are caught in sin? Joshua 6-10

Joshua 7:16-20 (NASBStr)

The Sin of Achan

 So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken. He brought his household near man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken. Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:

The sin of Achan (like the sin of Annanis in Acts 5) is an example to us of a little leaven makes the whole lump of bread rise (1 Corinthians 5:6,7).   Achan

(whose name means, "trouble" in Hebrew) was a man, like all of us, that was distracted from God's will by shinny things.   He saw something that was pleasing to the eye and he took it, despite the command of Joshua from The Lord (see Genesis 3 and how Eve was lead astray by the pleasing attributes of the forbidden fruit).   God provided a way for them to take Jericho with few limits.  But, Achan could not withstand the temptation.   But, note how Joshua conducts his interview and confrontation with Achan.   He shows Achan that since he did not glorify God in his life at Jericho he could still glorify God via his confession.   By confessing our sins to God we give Him glory.  We are stating that we agree with God that He is holy and His way holy and that we are sinful and sinning.   This was not a mistake by Achan, it was sin.  This was not a momentary lack of memory loss.  It was sin.  This was not the fault of his mother and father.  It was sin.  We don't give glory to God unless we agree that the thing we are doing is sin and we are sinners.   Achan goes on to confess it as sin and, despite the confession, he still had to suffer the consequences for his sin: Death!    Confession can give glory to God but does not remove the consequences of the sin.   God is glorified in our confession.   That is the only part we should be concerned about.  If God chooses to remove the consequences, change them, or diminish them, or, allow them to continue on, that is up to Him.  That also brings glory to God as it fulfills His Word.   We ought not make excuses for our sin.   We ought to give glory to God in our confession of them.