Lives of Scripture

After Jericho fell, God had commanded that everything in the city was "under the ban" -- devoted to destruction or to the LORD's treasury, with nothing kept for personal gain (Joshua 6:17-19). Achan, of the tribe of Judah, saw among the plunder a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold; he coveted them, took them, and buried them under his tent (7:21). Israel's very next battle, a small assault on Ai, ended in a shocking defeat with the deaths of about thirty-six men, and Joshua tore his clothes in grief before God, asking why (7:2-9). God told Joshua that Israel had sinned by keeping devoted things, and that Israel could not stand against its enemies until the sin was removed (7:10-13). Through a process of lots narrowing tribe, clan, family, and household, Achan was identified; he confessed exactly what he had done, and the stolen goods were found buried precisely where he said (7:16-23). Achan, his family, his livestock, and his plunder were destroyed at a valley afterward named Achor, "trouble," and the account closes with the LORD's fierce anger turning away from Israel (7:24-26). The episode is one of Scripture's starkest illustrations that hidden sin is never merely private -- it exposed the whole camp to defeat until it was uncovered and dealt with.