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The Beginning of the End
Joshua saw their defeat as an evidence of God’s displeasure. In
distress and concern he “tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his
face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders
of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.”
“Alas, Lord God,” he cried, “why have You brought this people
over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites,
to destroy us? ... O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back
before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the
land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the
earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
The answer was, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
Israel has ... transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.”
It was a time for prompt and firm action, not for despair and wailing.
There was secret sin in the camp, and it must be searched out and
put away. “Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy
the accursed from among you.”
One Family’s Sin Brings Defeat to All Israel
One of those appointed to carry out God’s judgments had ig-
nored His command, and the nation was held accountable for the
transgressor’s guilt: “They have even taken some of the accursed
things, and have stolen and deceived.” They were to cast lots to find
the guilty. This took a little time and left the matter in doubt so that
the people might feel their responsibility and be guided to search
their hearts and humble themselves before God.
Early in the morning, Joshua gathered the people together, and
the solemn and impressive ceremony began. Step by step the inves-
tigation went on. Closer and closer came the fearful test. First the
tribe, then the family, then the household, then the man was selected,
and the finger of God pointed out Achan the son of Carmi, of the
tribe of Judah, as the troubler of Israel.
After Joshua solemnly commanded Achan to admit the truth, the
wretched man made full confession of his crime: “Indeed I have
sinned against the Lord God of Israel. ... When I saw among the
spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver,
and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took
them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent.”
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