“THE DECEPTIVE POWER OF RICHES”

8. (a) What heart attitude was manifested in Achan? (b) What lesson do we learn from this?

⁸ Let us remember the time when Jehovah God was leading the Israelites through the wilderness and they were about ready to take possession of the Promised Land. As firstfruits of the conquest, the city of Jericho “must become a thing devoted to destruction . . . it belongs to Jehovah,” they were told. God’s instructions forbade the looting of it, as was the usual procedure when capturing a city, but it was to be burned with fire. The silver and gold were to be given “into the treasure of Jehovah.” (Josh. 6:17-19) However, Achan, from the tribe of Judah, allowed his heart to become covetous. Later he confessed: “When I got to see among the spoil an official garment from Shinar, a good-looking one, and two hundred shekels of silver and one gold bar, fifty shekels being its weight, then I wanted them, and I took them.” (Josh. 7:21) The love for riches moved Achan to disloyalty, to dishonesty, to stealing from Jehovah. When Israel was attempting to capture the next city, Ai, Jehovah withdrew his spirit from Israel until Achan the wrongdoer was exposed. When singled out, Achan, his family and his entire livestock were stoned to death and burned with fire. What a price to pay for corruptible treasure!​—Josh. 7:1-26.

10. To what extremes can a covetous heart move one?

¹⁰ Then we have the example of one who had the marvelous privilege of being one of Jesus’ apostles, Judas Iscariot. Undoubtedly faithful and dependable at first, he undertook caring for the common finances of Jesus and the twelve; but later on he became a greedy, practicing thief. (John 12:6) For just thirty pieces of silver his covetous heart prompted him to betray his Master. To what end? After seeing that Jesus had been condemned, he went out and “hanged himself.” (Matt. 27:3-5) That is the danger with those who become slaves to riches!