Achan Sins

The people, excited about their first victory against Jericho, send spies to check out the next city they must take Ai. The spies come back confident that this will be an easy victory and that they don’t even need to send all their men to battle. But when the battle takes place, they begin to lose, and Joshua orders a retreat. God shows Joshua that His hand has caused this because of a hidden sin within the camp of Israel. A wrong which must be made right before the people can proceed to take the promised land.

In our previous episode, God delivered the city of Jericho to the Israelites surprisingly and miraculously. With the shouts of His people, God had caused the walls of Jericho to collapse into rubble. The Israelites stormed the exposed city with God’s orders to destroy everything but the gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which were to be taken for the Lord’s treasury. They were warned not to keep plunder for themselves lest they bring trouble to the whole camp. Today we’ll learn of one man named Achan whose greed got the better of him and how his act of disobedience and deceit brings heartache to all around him. Joshua and his army will be left perplexed as they lose in battle, but the truth will come out, and the people will learn that God is not to be defied.