Sin Can Have Catastrophic Consequences

This morning my daily Bible reading was the account of the children of Israel thoroughly demolishing Jericho and then getting routed in their attempt to take the city of Ai.

When Joshua hears of the defeat he prostrates himself before God. His biggest concern is that the other kings and people of Canaan will hear of this defeat and make it nearly impossible for the Israelites to conquer the land. God tells Joshua to "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned;..." The next morning each tribe passes by Joshua and the tribe of Judah is chosen, the clans pass by and then the families and finally it gets down to Achan. He confesses his sin. He has taken a beautiful robe, two hundred shekels of silver and fifty shekels of gold. In today's prices, maybe $500 for the robe, $2,872 in silver and $28,380 in gold, for a total value of $31,752. Joshua sends some men to Achan's tent and they retrieve the plunder. They take Achan, the plunder, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, sheep his tent and all that he had to the Valley of Achor.

The Biblical account doesn't mention how old Achan is, or anything about a wife, nor does it say there were son or daughter-in-laws or grandchildren. As I thought about the story, Achan would have been in the second generation of Israelites that was inheriting the promised land, so he could have been near 40 years old. His children were probably teenagers or in their early 20s, perhaps his wife had died in childbirth and Achan had not remarried. Can you imagine the terror in Achan's heart as he realizes that everyone he loves and everything he has worked for is being gathered up for destruction? I can't imagine the tremendous emotions he is feeling that make it almost impossible to speak to his children, to ask for their forgiveness. I can imagine Achan shouting to Joshua and the leaders "please don't do this to my family, they had nothing to do with my sin, please spare them." Losing everything for $31,752. From the Bible's account, it appears that only a short time transpires before Achan, his children and all he owns is stoned to death and burned.

As I thought about this story, I put myself in Achan's place. Would my sin ever have this kind of catastrophic consequence? Would I ever put my family in this kind of harm's way? The trouble with sin is that we rarely think through the consequences before hand. We don't pause long enough to make a "pro and con" list. In a moment of passionate violence, whole families and even neighborhoods and towns have been devastated by one person's sin. I thank God for living in a time when we experience His grace, mercy and forgiveness. I also thank Him for His word that reminds me that He can help me turn from sin and evil and follow His righteousness. And, when I don't do that, He forgives and restores.