36 of Joshua’s men killed because of Achans sin?

[Open7]

In Joshua 7, Israel fights against Ai but are beaten by them, because Achan took plunder from Jericho when he wasn’t suppose to, and so God wasn’t with them when they battled against Ai, and as a result, 36 men of Israel were killed.

Im trying to think of reasons why it was just that these men died, when it was Achan who sinned in the first place.

Struggling to think of good reasons. Any help? Thanks

[FJK]

They died because they followed a sinful leader.

[Tristen]

1 hour ago, Open7 said:

In Joshua 7, Israel fights against Ai but are beaten by them, because Achan took plunder from Jericho when he wasn’t suppose to, and so God wasn’t with them when they battled against Ai, and as a result, 36 men of Israel were killed.

Im trying to think of reasons why it was just that these men died, when it was Achan who sinned in the first place.

Struggling to think of good reasons. Any help? Thanks

I don't see any reason to assume that the deaths of "these men" represented a specific punishment from God. They were just the unfortunate one's who suffered the consequences of going to war without God's favor. In the absence of God's favor, people die in wars. Or more generally, bad things happen to people in a corrupted world. Joshua's frustration and disillusionment are expressed in verses 6-9; basically asking, 'I thought we were doing what you asked - Why have we lost your favor?'.

The justice aspect of this incident was applied in verse 15 onwards.

More generally, the corrosive impacts of sin are rarely contained to the one committing the sin. Adam stole some fruit - and thereby condemned all of his descendants to corruption. Consider that sin is not from God. There is therefore no reason to assume that the effects of sin should be fair or "just".

 

[Tzephanyahu]

4 hours ago, Open7 said:

Im trying to think of reasons why it was just that these men died, when it was Achan who sinned in the first place.

Hi @Open7,

I hope you're doing good. 

It's an interesting question you pose. The way I see it is that this a matter of irresponsibility and negligence. 

Suppose an engineer in an army didn't fully test a tank before the day of a war, instead he just hoped everything would be okay. The next day the soldiers in the tank run into a preventable malfunction, whilst in conflict, and lose their lives because of it.  Who was at fault, the soldiers or the engineer? 

Achan's sin didn't immediately affect him but it resulted in the death of others, and their blood was on his hands. 

We all have responsibilities, some more than others. There is always a consequence for irresponsibility, sometimes more severe than others. Achan ignored his small part in a bigger picture because of selfishness, greed and lack of faith, and the repercussions were awful. I think there's a good lesson in his example for us in the church today. 

Peace. 

[Who me]

4 hours ago, Open7 said:

Im trying to think of reasons why it was just that these men died, when it was Achan who sinned in the first place.

All of Israel was involved  in the covenant with God.

They all benefited from the blessings and also from the curses  that obedience and disobedience brought.

Athan disobeyed and all of Israel suffered. 

[Jayne]

7 hours ago, Open7 said:

In Joshua 7, Israel fights against Ai but are beaten by them, because Achan took plunder from Jericho when he wasn’t suppose to, and so God wasn’t with them when they battled against Ai, and as a result, 36 men of Israel were killed.

Im trying to think of reasons why it was just that these men died, when it was Achan who sinned in the first place.

Struggling to think of good reasons. Any help? Thanks

Achan took things he was directed NOT to and also these things, in part [the gold and silver] were devoted to God.  He disobeyed God and stole from God.

Ergo, he contaminated the entire people of Israel.  God said that the people had to consecrate themselves.

Why did 36 men die in battle?  Two reasons.

[1]  They were in battle and God's hand was not on them.  I'm surprised it was not a whole lot more.

[2]  Joshua was too cocky and said to only send a couple or three thousand soldiers to fight as Joshua didn't want to bother his whole army and felt there were only a few men of Ai to fight anyway.  He trust in the previous victory and trusted in his army and didn't trust God.

[Open7]

Thanks everyone, very helpful.

@Tristen and @Tzephanyahu thank you, brilliant responses that have opened my eyes to things I’ve missed. I often get blinded to see things in scripture and kick myself when I get the answers, I’m very thank for you guys and this website for helping me over the years

[Dennis1209]

Some excellent and insightful answers above that I agree with. Another interesting detail is how many times they are called “accursed” in Joshua chapter seven.

As was previously said, they disobeyed God and put their trust in themselves. I am also amazed at God’s mercy, not destroying more of them.