God is holy! This we dare not forget. After the great victory at Jericho, Israel had gone on to send some three thousand men to capture Ai, a small nearby city. But to their shock and consternation they had been routed, and thirty-six of their men had been killed in battle. Joshua and the elders fell down before the ark of Jehovah until evening. Distressed, Joshua cried to the Lord in his despair.

There are times when prayer is inappropriate. This was one such time. Jehovah told him to get up: Israel had sinned and had stolen from the spoil of Jericho. God’s command had been plain: burn and completely destroy the city and all in it, except to put all the silver, gold, copper, and iron into the treasury of Jehovah. This sin must be dealt with if God was to continue to be with His people and give them victory over their enemies.

What had happened was that one man, Achan, had taken a beautiful Babylonian mantle and some of the silver and gold for himself, and had hidden these items under his tent. Lots were cast, tribe by tribe, family by family, man by man until Achan was exposed. After he had acknowledged what he had done, he and his family were stoned to death, and they and all that he had were burned with fire.

Achan could hardly have hidden the stolen goods under his tent without his family’s knowledge. Furthermore, God sees His people as one. “Israel has sinned,” He said. We too are members one of another. What we do affects not only us but all God’s testimony.