The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-12-09
A MAN WHO MADE
A NATION SUFFER
The international Sunday School les
son for December II is THE Sin of
Achan." JOSH. !.
(By William t. Ellis.)

This is a lesson on the tied-upness
Of life. II shows how the sins Of the
fathers are visited, not only upon the
children. but also upon the mothers
and fathers and cousins and neigh
bors. Everybody with even the germ
of an idea Of social relationship or OBJ
legation in his mind should read this
story of how one man cursed his ma |
ton; even as the seller of impure |
milk, the owner Of unsanitary tene-
ments, the mOney-lOan shark, the
sweat-shop contractor and the giver |
Of brides curses a whole community |
nowadays. Quite as it is possible for
a single miscreant to poison a village
well, so the anguish to a whole peo-
pie. AS The Youths Companion
remarks. THE way of the transgres-
sor's mother is also hard"
Although he came Of a good family
this man Achan was a common, low
down, sOrdid thief. Small, selfish
c~ovetOusness had dried up the springs
Of his religion. The whole story may
be old in a few sentences. jehovah
who had a far reaching enterprise On
hand in preparing naa for the
Jews. and the Jews for Canaan, had
ordered that all the loot of Jericho
should be devoted" that is, set aside
as sacred to him.. Blu AChan, like
every other CRATER, thought an excep-
ton should be made in his case. The
general law might apply properly to
the common herd; but his case pc
culiar." So he stole some fancy
Babylonish garments and fifty
shekels Of silver, and a tongue of gold.
(By the way, the translators were
afraid to render that word tongue"
literally, as they did not understand
that gold ingots were made into the
shape Of a tongue, as a specimen now
in the COnstantinOple Musium shows.
.--A 1911
melted silver into the shape Of shOes).
Oriental fashion, Achan hid the for
hidden loot in the earth under his
tent.
Like all political graft Of our day,
this act had consequences running faY
beyond the deed itself. 1t was a direct
violation Of the mandate of God,
whose sovereignty is the strength OF
the State. Achan defied Jehovah
detachment Of the Army of Israe'
went up to Jake the city Of Ais it was
put to rOut. The strategy was bad
being born Of oveF-cOnfidence; bu'
most OF all the failure was due to tn
withdrawal Of the favor Of the Lord
God could not bless any army tina
harbored on Achan in it's camp.
Why Thy Mother Walled.
That story has countless mOderl
counterparts. Some readers OF thes
words know of q mission which con
s~piciOuSly claimed success. One mis-
sionary's life was questioned on al
sides. The Board withdrew him
StraightwaY q revival visited the mis-
sion.
DIR. Truitt. Of Texas, tells a story o
q visit to a home whose only SON ha'
suddenly gon to open shame an
disaster. When he called at the hom
the mother, a member Of the church
~o,.O Ao.cnf - has,~ 0S~4lN, q
fault because she had Of late cease
to pray for her son.. She said it wa
her sin that had caused her sons de
feat The illustration is a Searchin
one as is the poet
H strength was as the strength
Because his heart was pure.
Only the clean life and the hol
church can prevail in the hour I
conflict. In a certain Southern cit
recently, the churchmen asked a wei
known c to represent them
q moral reform movement. Invest
CATION OF his ineffectiveness Shove
that he was a large owner Of proper
used for evil purposes. He was drive
from N fight with words OF ioathin
To every one Of us there will certain
come an hour Of crisis, il it a n
already arrived, when all our past "
be searched and tested. Upon tn
hou will depend all our future us
~fulness, as patriots and as Christian
Wisely did John b. Cough cry, in b
dying words. Young man, keep yo
record clean"
The Secret Of ~Sacredncss.
A certain man in high place has
haunting look of fear in his ey
which his friends seldom speak abO,
but which they we'll under-tand. I
would give all his position and pow
to be free from it. For it tells t
story of a past which may. like
~avenging murderer, lay in wait t
him around the next corner to 81
him. He fails to conquer his Ais /
cause there is an Achan experience
his life.
Could we but see as God sees
would perceive how this principle
sin in the camp runs through life
explains why one man abSents hi
Sali fEArn ura Aer-nne eating anOfl