Behold

A Behold picture book

Finders Keepers

Andy found something shiny. He should have left it alone.

  1. The army of Riverton won a big battle. The Voice said, "Everything in that city belongs to me. The silver and gold go into my treasure room. Don't keep any of it for yourself."

  2. But a soldier named Andy saw a beautiful coat, a bag of silver, and a bar of gold. He wanted them. So he took them. He hid them under the floor of his house.

  3. In the next battle, Riverton lost. Thirty-six soldiers died. The leader, Josh, fell on his face and cried until evening.

  4. The Voice said: "Someone took my things. That is why you lost. Find him. Burn him with fire, and everything he has."

  5. The next morning, the Voice picked out the guilty family, step by step. First the group, then the family, then the house, then the man. It was Andy.

  6. "I did it," Andy said. "I saw them, I wanted them, and I took them. They're under my floor." They dug them up. It was true.

  7. Then they took Andy, the treasure, his sons, his daughters, his cows, his donkeys, his sheep, his house and everything he had. They went to a valley outside of town.

  8. Everyone threw stones at them. They burned them with fire. They piled a big heap of rocks on top. Then the Voice stopped being angry.

The End.

The source, revealed

The Fine Print

Joshua 6:17–19; Joshua 7

Read it yourself

Where it's from

Joshua 7. It happens right after the walls of Jericho fall, one of the most famous Sunday school stories.

Who's who

In our story In the Bible
Riverton's army The army of Israel
The big battle The fall of Jericho
The next battle The attack on the town of Ai
Andy Achan
Josh Joshua
The Voice God (the LORD)
The Voice picking the family Choosing by tribe, family, household, then man, as "the LORD taketh"
House Tent

What the text says

  • Plain words: God said: Whoever took the forbidden things must be burned, with everything he has.

  • KJV (Joshua 7:15): "he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath"

  • Plain words: They took Achan, the stolen things, his sons, his daughters, his animals, his tent, and everything he had.

  • KJV (Joshua 7:24): "took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had"

  • Plain words: They stoned and burned them. Then God stopped being angry.

  • KJV (Joshua 7:25-26): "And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger."

What we kept

  • God says everything in the conquered city belongs to him; silver and gold go to his treasury.
  • One man takes a fine coat, silver and a bar of gold, and hides them in the ground under his tent.
  • The army loses the next battle and 36 men die.
  • Joshua falls on his face until evening.
  • God says the loss happened because of the stolen things, and orders the thief burned "and all that he hath."
  • God picks him out step by step: tribe, family, household, man.
  • He confesses: "I saw … I coveted … I took."
  • His sons, daughters, animals and tent are taken to the valley with him.
  • Stoning, burning, a heap of stones, and God's anger turns away.

What we changed

  • Names, and today's world.
  • A tent became a house.
  • The Bible says it was a "Babylonish garment," 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels. We said a coat, a bag of silver and a bar of gold.

Look closely

Thirty-six soldiers died in the lost battle (Joshua 7:5). They didn't take anything. And elsewhere, the Bible's own law says children must not be put to death for their parents' sins (Deuteronomy 24:16).

How it's usually taught

Many teachers say it shows that one person's sin can hurt a whole community, and that God's commands must be taken seriously. Some readers point out that the text says "stoned him" and "burned them," and think only Achan was killed while "them" means his animals and things. Others answer that God's order was to burn "he and all that he hath" (7:15), and his sons and daughters were brought to the valley with him (7:24). Read 7:15 and 7:24–26 and decide.

What the story doesn't say

The story never says his sons and daughters did anything wrong. It doesn't say they knew. And it calls God's anger finished once the punishment is done.

Talk about it

  1. Was it wrong for Andy to take the things? What would be a fair punishment?
  2. The 36 soldiers didn't take anything. Was it fair that they died?
  3. Should kids be punished for what their dad did?
  4. Why do you think the story says the Voice "stopped being angry" only after the burning?
  5. Do you believe this is good advice?

One last question

If a town did this to a family today, what would the news call it?

Read Joshua 6:17–19; Joshua 7 yourself