Raising a Family is Hard

But the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things... -Joshua 7:1a

So the Israelites are reveling in their defeat of Jericho. God told them to kill all of them except for Rahab and her family and to get rid of all their stuff.  Especially the "devoted things."  God was raising a new tribe to bless all other tribes... a family. The difficulty was that the new things God was trying to teach them were very weird in that time in history.  It was hard to get used to the ways of this new God, and whenever the people saw the way "other families" lived, they longed to be a part of that "old" way.

When Achan found some of the devoted things of Jericho he coveted them and took them home. This was so early in this new family's formation, it just could not be overlooked by God. It was too important to keep this young tribe pure from old habits. Achan was dealt with severely and brutally in typical old testament fashion.

I wonder if this new tribe learned anything? Raising a family is hard. Even for God.

God of Families,

Those of us who have raised families feel your pain. Help us to be good sons and daughters of the Perfect Father. Amen.