The book of Joshua records the conquest of Canaan. It shows us the triumph of faith at Jericho, and reveals, in Israel's defeat at Ai, the far-reaching consequences of sin.

After Israel, with God's help, conquered Jericho, He instructed them: "And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD." {Joshua 6:18,19}

Joshua, with full faith in God's power to take such a small city, sent 3,000 soldiers into Ai. "And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few. So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water." {Joshua 7:3-5} It came as quite a shock to Israel when this little town stayed the attack and killed 36 Israelites. Joshua was despondent and beside himself. How could such a thing happen?

"Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all--to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! 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?" So the LORD said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff." {Joshua 7:6-11} God forsook Israel because there was sin in the camp.

Joshua brought out the children of Israel, tribe by tribe, to examine them. Finally, Achan's turn came. "Now Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me." And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 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, with the silver under it." So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it." {Joshua 7:19-22}

What did Joshua do with Achan? "Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones." {Joshua 7:24,25} One commentator correctly commented: "Public executions are public examples."

Years later, after they conquered Canaan, Israel recalled Achan's sin. "Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity." {Joshua 22:20}

We need to remember that Achan did not perish alone. Thirty-six of Achan's comrades, plus his sons and daughters, died because of his sin. I do not know much about Achan, but I feel certain that if we could speak with him today, he would say he had no idea so many lives would be affected by his sin. It's tragic that he gave no thought to the sorrow his sin would bring to others. Hindsight is always 20/20.

None of us lives in a vacuum. Our actions often have a bearing on someone else's eternal destiny. "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself." {Romans 14:7} Have you ever thought about how your sin affects others? When parents forsake the assembling of the saints, their children suffer the consequences. They grow up without a proper understanding of the importance of God in their lives and without knowing they need to grow in Christ and should desire to be part of His family. Far too many parents wait until their children are nearly grown before they try to teach them about God and the Bible. Most of the time, it's "too little, too late." We need parents who do more than teach their children to pray, read the Bible, and attend church services. Parents need to set godly examples before their children, showing them that God comes first in their own lives (Matthew 6:33). Our examples must mirror our teachings; otherwise, we send our children mixed signals.

In the case of a divorce, even when the innocent parent has Biblical grounds for the divorce, it is the children who pay the highest price. They pay for the selfishness and immorality of one, or the other, parent. Nothing good comes from divorce, and many innocent people suffer because of this sin. The divorce story could be retold by thousands of people whom it has touched. In the past, I have done volunteer tutoring in the public schools. I do not believe it to be mere coincidence that all the children I tutored came from broken homes. Why did they need help? There was no help at home.

Sometimes, parents have to pay the price for their children's sins. "A foolish son is the ruin of his father." {Proverbs 19:13} The children do not inflict grief on their parents because they hate them; I'm afraid it's because they just don't care. A foolish child gives in to his friends' tempting him to drink at a party. One drink leads to another. Later, he gets behind the wheel of a car, drives while under the influence of those drinks, and hits another car. Someone's son or daughter dies; another becomes a cripple; and the driver goes to the hospital to receive treatment for serious injuries. What is his most serious injury? He must deal with the truth that his careless actions led to the death of one young person and the crippling of another! Who helps them put their lives back together and deal with the ramifications of their actions? The parents. They didn't mean to hurt their parents, but they did, because they thought their actions affected only themselves. Lessons learned too late.

I pray that we learn a lesson from the story of Achan and that we don't learn it the hard way. *** (Edited--KMG)