Achan and His Gold Coins

Once upon a time, after the death of Moses, God chose Joshua to be the next leader of the Israelites.
Joshua’s task was to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. To accomplish this task, Joshua and his army had to wage battles against the enemies. All the campaign was carried out under the direction and supervision of God Almighty who was the real leader of Israel. God commanded that every citizen of Israel must lead an honest, transparent and holy life. They should have a life of integrity. Every one was bound to obey the Law, which was the Word of God. Slight deviation or disobedience lead to punishment of the culprit. God intended a clean and exemplary lifestyle from the nation of Israel because He had chosen them and loved them as His own people.
So Joshua was all set to invade and settle down in the Land. The fist campaign was the city of Jericho, which was a grand success under the clear guidance of God. Indeed it was a strange victory they had without any bloodshed. All they had to do was march around the city seven times for seven days and on the seventh day the walls of the city collapsed. Wow!
Joshua had commanded his people that no one was supposed to keep any loot for his own self. Every thing was to be deposited to Joshua. Later the spoil would be divided according to the instructions of God.
Achan was a soldier who was a little selfish and greedy. His only aim was to see his profit in everything. He wanted to do things for his personal gain only. Therefore his motives behind his actions were sometimes wrong. He was a man of weak character. He was not able to trust God Almighty for his needs. All that he bothered was to provide for his family and children. To do that he did not mind breaking God’s rule.
So as they were gathering the spoils, Achan happened to come across a huge iron chest where he found thousands of gold coins, fine garments and costly cloths. Achan was tempted. He wanted to keep a few coins for himself. He quickly looked around him. Yes! No one was watching him. Achan pocketed a few gold coins. The rest he carried faithfully to Joshua his commander. He was very sure that no one had seen him but missed some one who was constantly watching his every move.
Months passed by, Joshua planned the next campaign. It was a small city compared to Jericho. So Joshua took lesser soldiers to invade the city of Ai. Alas! At the nick of the moments, Joshua’s army lost the battle and was utterly defeated. Joshua was aghast. What went wrong? Was his strategy not according to God? Why did they have to face shame and defeat from a weak enemy?
With total confusion Joshua went to the presence of God. God said that there was some one among his solider who had violated His Law and therefore he has withdrawn His hand of blessing from the entire community.
Joshua was shocked. Who would have done that? Immediately, he sent for his people and asked his assistants to have a through search among all Israelites.
Achan was trembling when the search party entered his tent. What would happen now? And surely the few gold coins were found out.
Joshua was enraged. Because of the selfish act of a single man, the entire army faced defeat, not only that few lost their lives in the battle too.

Achan was miserable when he was brought before the whole community. Every one looked accusingly at him. He could not control his greed and fell to his temptations. Above all, he lost the blessings of God.
Achan was severely punished which cannot be described for it is a sad ending. Yet we can be sure that no matter what we do, God is watching over not only our actions but also our thoughts. Achan failed to surrender his feelings at God’s feet and was doomed forever.