One Man and One Family Disobeyed God

And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. Joshua 7:15-22

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

God had warned everyone not to take anything out of Jericho when they conquered it. Joshua 6:17-19. But there was a man and he lusted so heavily after silver, gold, and clothing that he took some of each for himself, even though he knew that God had forbidden this. When God decided to confront this He went through an investigative judgment and found Achan, and found that Achan’s family had gone along with this. Achan, and his family were stoned for such a radical, and clear cut disobedience of God’s explicit commands. God means what He says.

Prayer for Today: God, You know that we have often been rebellious against Your commands and yet You have allowed us to live. Help us to not tempt You to harm us, or to leave us alone to our own craziness. Please deliver us and please get our thinking clear so that we will always be in harmony with You. Thank You for Your mercies toward us.