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The Sin of Achan and the City of Ai

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Joshua 7: 24 - 25 (NIV)

"Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them."

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By the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites had now entered into Canaan. God broke down Jericho, the strong castle, by an amazing miracle. God was with Israel who followed His words.

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Before the fall of Jericho, Joshua told the people. "Don't touch anything in Jericho. Everything in Jericho is owned by God, who gives us victory. You will greatly be punished if you take anything that is not allowed by God."

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However, one man among the people became greedy. So he disobeyed Joshua's order and stole some of the things in Jericho. Then he secretly hid them at his house. However, nobody saw this.

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Joshua and the Israelites had a war with Ai, the castle next to Jericho. The people who examined Ai said to Joshua, "There are only a few people who can fight against us. We don't need to let all of us go to fight. Send only two or three thousand to attack Ai."

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Upon hearing this, Joshua sent only three thousand men but they came off worst than before. They failed greatly and thirty-six people died.

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Joshua was so sad that Israel had been defeated so he tore his clothes and before the ark of the Lord, he fell facedown to the ground. He wanted to know why the people of God, Israel had lost the war with Ai.

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The leaders of Israel also fell facedown to the ground like Joshua and to show their sorrow, they sprinkled dust on their heads. Waiting for the words of God, Joshua and the leaders stayed like that until evening.

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Finally, God said to Joshua, "The reason I was not with you is because one of you disobeyed my orders and took some of the things in Jericho. If you don't correct this wrong deed, you will never win the war. I won't be with you."

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The next morning, Joshua gathered all of the tribes. God decided to find the guilty man by drawing lots. For the first draw, the tribe of Judah was chosen.

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The tribe of Judah drew lots and the family of the Zarhites was chosen. From the many families of the Zarhites, the family of Zabdi was chosen. From the family of Zabdi, Achan was selected.

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Joshua said to Achan, "Achan, Glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him. Don't try to hide what you have done and tell me about it."

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Achan trembled with fear and said, "I have committed sin against the Lord. When I saw a beautiful robe from Babylonia, silver and gold, I coveted them, and stole them. I took them and buried them in the ground of my tent." So they went to Achan's tent and in there they found the things stolen by him.

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The people of Israel took the guilty Achan, his belongings and all that he had to a valley then put them to death. Over Achan, they heaped up a large pile of rocks. Ever since then, this valley has been called the Valley of Achor meaning the Valley of Pain.

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After that God stayed with Israel who no longer had any sins. Israel greatly won the war with Ai. The people of Israel were so happy that God was with them again and they learned that it is very important to follow the words of God.

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Jesus saved us by His blood and we have become the children of God and we are also like the new people of Israel. God only wants a few things from us, the children of God. He wants us to listen carefully to His words and He wants us to obey them. Let us sincerely learn, keep and follow the Word of God given today. Through following this, I hope you can give joy to our Father God, who is also the owner of the universe.

(You can change the conclusion of this sermon best suiting to your listeners of this sermon. We want to make it clear that the provided conclusion is only a sample conclusion provided by CTM.)