So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
Achan and his family were to Israel at this time what Ananias and Sapphira were to the early church (Acts 5). They were a strong warning of the consequences of sin among God’s people. Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10), and Korah and his cohorts (Numbers 16), were similar examples. The fact that God does not judge sin today as He did on these occasions does not mean He feels any less strongly about it. He mercifully withholds judgment in most instances. Nevertheless sin still produces the same destruction and death.