Wildside 08.04.19

Wildside Aug 4, 2019

Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai

Bible Passage:

Main Point: God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

Small Group opening

(10–15 minutes)

Large Group Bible study

(25–30 minutes)

Small Group activities

(25–30 minutes)

Leader BIBLE STUDY

When the Israelites conquered Jericho, God told them not to take anything. Everything in the city was to be destroyed and set apart for God. Achan must have assumed no one would notice if he kept a few things for himself. The cloak was beautiful, and he sure could use some pieces of silver and a bar of gold. No harm, no foul. Right? Wrong. God had commanded complete obedience from the Israelites.

Imagine Joshua’s surprise when a few men in Ai defeated his army of a few thousand men. Had God failed to keep His promise to protect them from their enemies?

The next morning, God revealed that it was Achan who had sinned. Achan and his family were stoned to death. The Israelites covered their bodies with a large pile of stones as a reminder of the consequences of sin.

The Israelites faced the people of Ai again. This time, God was with them. He had helped them destroy Jericho; now He would help them destroy Ai—except this time God allowed them to plunder the city, keeping goods and livestock for themselves.

The story of Achan demonstrates that God hates sin. (See .) God is just to punish sin. Here’s the bad news: We are all sinners, and “the wages of sin is death,” but here is the good news: “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” ().

God’s presence with Israel was tied directly to their obedience to Him. As you present the gospel to kids, help them understand that it is our faith—not our obedience—that gives us right standing with God. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, God is always with us and we are victorious over our enemies of sin and death.

The BIBLE Story

Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai

Joshua had led the Israelites into the promised land. Now the Israelites had to defeat the people living there. God was with Israel, and He promised to fight for them.

The Lord had helped the Israelites take over the city of Jericho. He had given them specific instructions about what to do with everything in the city. He told them what to destroy and what to set apart for the Lord. But the Israelites did not obey God completely. They kept some things for themselves, and God knew. So when the Israelites attacked the city of Ai (AY igh), God did not fight for them. The men of Ai chased away the Israelites, and some of the Israelites were killed.

Now all the Israelites were afraid. Joshua was sad. He did not understand why Israel had lost the battle. But God said to Joshua, “Israel has sinned. They took some of the things I told them not to. This is why they cannot defeat their enemies.”

God told Joshua how to deal with the people’s sin. So the next day, the Israelites came together and God showed Joshua which man had sinned. The man’s name was Achan (AY kuhn). Achan confessed that he had taken from Jericho a beautiful cloak, some pieces of silver, and a bar of gold. Achan had buried the things in his tent. So the people of Israel killed Achan and his family.

After Achan was punished for his sin, God told Joshua to attack Ai again. This time, God promised to give them victory over the city.

Joshua gathered an army. He sent some of the army out at night to lie in wait behind the city. Then early the next morning, the rest of the army went toward the city.

The king of Ai saw them and sent out his men to fight them. When the enemy army got near, Joshua and the Israelites ran away, just as they had before. They pretended to be afraid, so the army of Ai chased them away from the city. The people of Ai had no idea that Joshua had men hiding on the other side of the city. The army of Ai left the city completely unprotected.

Joshua held out his sword, and the men who were hiding took over the city and set it on fire. This time, the Israelites did just what God said. The army of Ai realized that they were trapped, and the Israelites defeated them.

Joshua built an altar to the Lord. The Israelites sacrificed offerings to God, and Joshua read aloud the words of the law. All of the people heard the laws that Moses had commanded.

Christ Connection: The punishment for Achan’s sin was death. It seems harsh, but the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. () Because we sin, we deserve to die too. Jesus came to die in our place. When we confess our sins and trust in Jesus, we are forgiven and saved from spiritual death.

Small Group Opening

Session Title: Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai

Bible Passage:

Main Point: God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

Welcome time

Greet each kid as he or she arrives. Use this time to connect to your group and make sure each student is checked in.

As kids arrive, invite them to think about a time they did something wrong when they thought no one else was watching. You may allow a couple of volunteers to share their experiences.

Say • Is it OK to do something wrong if you don’t get caught? Why or why not? Today’s Bible story is about someone who sinned when he thought no one was watching.

Transition to large group

Table Wars

Large Group LEADER

Session Title: Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai

Bible Passage:

Main Point: God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

Leader • Raise your hand if you remember what city the Israelites conquered when they first entered the promised land. (Jericho) Now Jericho was just the first city the Israelites needed to conquer. God had given them the victory at Jericho, and the Israelites needed to keep trusting Him for victory.

Big picture question

Leader • Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us. Now, when you trust someone, you should obey him. Like if you trust your mom and she tells you to finish eating your carrots, you should obey her. Your mom wants what is best for you. One way to show your trust is to obey.

Well, when the Israelites took over Jericho, they did not completely obey God’s instructions. Not everyone trusted that God knew what was best. Let’s find out what happened.

Tell the Bible story

Open your Bible to . Let’s watch the Bible story video “Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai.”

Leader • Let’s see if you can answer these questions about the Bible story.

When the Israelites attacked Jericho, God told them not to take anything for themselves. He told them to destroy everything! Is that what happened? (No, Achan kept some things for himself.)

Achan disobeyed God. He did not trust that God’s plan was best. Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

How did God show the Israelites that He was unhappy with their sin? (He was not with them in the battle against Ai, and they were defeated.)

Joshua was confused. He knew God had promised to give them victory. Something was wrong.

God showed Joshua that Achan had sinned. Achan tried to hide his sin from everyone, and he might have gotten away with it but God knew. God sees everything. God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

The Gospel: God’s Plan for Me (optional)

Point out that Achan disobeyed God, and the punishment for Achan’s sin was death. Explain that God was just to punish Achan in that way. The Bible says that the punishment for sin is death. Everyone who sins deserves to die. That’s the bad news.

Leader • The good news is that God’s Son, Jesus, came to earth to die for our sins. He took the punishment we deserve when He died on the cross. When we trust in Jesus, God forgives our sin and gives us eternal life. Our faith in Him—not our obedience—gives us right standing with God. Because of our faith in Jesus, God is always with us and we are victorious over our enemies of sin and death.

Discussion starter video

Leader • Did the punishment for Achan’s sin seem fair? Have you ever received a punishment that did not seem to fit the wrong thing you did? Check this out.

Show the “Unit 7, Session 4” discussion starter video. Guide kids to discuss the pranks in the video. What made one prank more serious than the other?

Point out that the importance of the person being pranked affected the prank’s seriousness. Relate this to sin; sin against God—even sin that seems small—is a big deal because of who God is.

Key passage

Show the key passage. Lead the boys and girls to read together .

Leader • Has anyone memorized our key passage? Raise your hand if you’d like to recite it from memory.

Call on volunteers to say the key passage. They may also lead the class in reviewing any motions you created to help boys and girls memorize the verse. Kids may use their own actions, or use these suggested actions:

commanded—Point forward.

strong—Flex arms.

courageous—Put hands on hips and hold up head.

do not be afraid or discouraged—Shake head.

Lord your God—Point upward.

wherever you go—Spread arms wide.

Pray

Invite kids to pray before dismissing to small groups. Ask God to help kids understand the seriousness of sin. Thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from sin.

Dismiss to small groups

Small Group LEADER

Session Title: Achan’s Sin and the Defeat of Ai

Bible Passage:

Main Point: God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

Key passage activity

Assign each kid a word or phrase of the key passage. If your group is large, form two or more smaller groups. Instruct kids to write their assigned words on a piece of paper. Then lead kids to wad up their papers.

Guide each group to form a circle. Explain that when you say “go,” the group should toss its papers around the circle like popcorn. When a paper ball hits the floor, a kid should pick it up and toss it in the air. Give groups several seconds to “pop” around the words.

When you say “ding!” kids should let the papers fall to the table. Prompt groups to collect the paper wads, open them up, and arrange the words in the correct order. Then lead everyone to say the key passage together.

Say • Great job, everyone! These are the words God said to Joshua when He called Joshua to be the Israelites’ leader. We heard in today’s Bible story how God fought for His people at Ai. The Israelites could be courageous because they could trust God to give them victory. Whom can we trust? We can trust God to take care of us.

Bible story review

Give each kid a pencil, a Bible, and an index card. Guide kids to turn to . Explain that each kid should write a sentence about the Bible story. Kids may choose to write a true statement or a false statement. Encourage them to note the Scripture reference revealing the truth.

When kids finish, allow them to take turns reading their sentences aloud. The rest of the kids should guess whether the statement is true or false. If the statement is false, the reader should announce the Scripture reference for the kids to look up the truth. Choose a volunteer to read the verse or passage aloud. Then invite another kid to share a statement.

If time allows, kids may share more than one statement, or you may consider sharing statements such as these:

The Israelites obeyed God completely. (false, they did not obey God completely; ,)

Achan confessed to taking a beautiful cloak, pieces of silver, and a bar of gold. (true, )

Achan was put in jail for his sin. (false, he was killed; )

God fought for His people at Ai. (true, )

Say • God had promised to be with His people in the promised land and to fight for them. But God allowed Israel to be defeated at Ai. He was not with them. Why? (They had not obeyed Him completely. Achan had sinned.) Achan’s sin was a big deal. God hates sin, and the Israelites’ sin separated them from God. God punished Achan for his sin. Then God fought for His people at Ai.

We know that we sin. Everyone sins. Like Achan, we deserve to die for our sin. That’s very bad news. Can anyone tell me the good news? [Allow kids to respond.] Yes. Jesus came to die in our place. When we confess our sins and trust in Jesus, we are forgiven and saved from spiritual death.

prayer

Distribute pencils and prayer cards. Remind kids that Achan tried to hide his sin. Other people may not have seen what Achan did, but God saw. Prompt boys and girls to write about a time they wanted to or tried to hide from God. What happened? How did they feel?

Say • We cannot hide our sin from God but we can repent, or turn away from our sin, and ask God for forgiveness. Jesus took the punishment we deserve. When we trust in Jesus and confess our sin, God forgives us! [See .]

Make sure students write out prayer requests and then close in prayer.