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But one wicked man named Achan,
thinking no eye saw him, disobeyed the command, and took some of the
riches which he found, and went and hid them. Joshua did not know
what was done, and the people did not know; God alone saw Achan's
wickedness; but He did not tell Joshua of it directly. There
was a city near Jericho called Ai, and the Israelites asked Joshua to let
them go there, and take the city. They said, "It is a small
place, and we shall soon take it; we need not all go; a few soldiers will
be enough to conquer Ai." But the Israelites forgot that they
had no power of themselves. It was God who helped them to conquer,
and if He hid His face from them, their power was nothing. A
few of the people went up to fight against Ai. Did they
conquer? No; their enemies smote and killed many of them, and drove
the rest away. Why was
this? Because God was angry, and He was not now fighting for
Israel. And why was God angry? Why did He turn away from his
people, and refuse to help them? Joshua did not know; but he saw
that God was displeased, and this made him very unhappy. He rent his
clothes and put dust upon his head, and fell down on the ground. Was
this all he did? No; he did what all God's people ought to do when
they are unhappy,—he went and prayed to the Lord. All day he lay
before the ark; and he asked God to return to His people again, and to
help them as He had done before. The Lord heard Joshua's prayer; for
He is always ready to attend to us when we pray, and to comfort us when we
are in sorrow. He commanded Joshua to arise, and then He told him
why he did not fight for Israel now. He told him that one man had
sinned, and had stolen, and hid his stolen things in the tent; and He
commanded Joshua to seek that man, and to put him to death; because God
could not fight for His people when sin was among them. Joshua
obeyed directly. He called all the tribes, and all the families, and
God helped him to find the right man. Achan was taken. God's
eye saw him among all the thousands of Israel, and pointed him out to
Joshua. Then Joshua called Achan, and spoke very solemnly to
him. Joshua was not angry, but sorry to think how wicked Achan had
been; and now he told Achan to confess his sin, and to pray for pardon,
and warned of the wickedness of denying what he had done. Then Achan
confessed all; he said, "I saw among the riches of Jericho, some
silver, and gold, and a beautiful garment; and I coveted them, and stole
them, and hid them in my tent." So Joshua sent men to the tent;
and there they found the silver, and gold, and the garment, and they
brought them to Joshua; and every thing that belonged to Achan they
brought too; his wife, and children, and possessions. Then Joshua
commanded that Achan and his family should be stoned, and afterwards burnt
with fire. When they were dead, the people went again to Ai; and God
was with them then, and helped them to fight; and Ai was soon taken and
destroyed. Joshua built an
altar to the Lord; and upon the stones of the altar he wrote the law of
Moses. Then the Israelites stood round the altar, half of the tribes
over against Mount Ebal, and half of them over against Mount Gerizim, as
God had before commanded, and then Joshua read to them the words of the
law; all God's curses against those who would not obey Him; and all His
blessings to His own people and servants. The Israelites had much to
do at this time; they were busied with their wars and conquests; but they
did not refuse to attend. Whatever
we have to do, we ought always to find time for reading God's word, and
serving Him, and never say we are too busy to attend to holy things.
Nothing will go on well without God's blessing. We must seek it
every day we live, and in every thing we do. And how thankful we
ought to be, that we have the Bible to read, and a kind God waiting to
hear our prayers, and to love and bless us!
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