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Entire Family Must Die, Why?

I am troubled by what I am reading in the Old Testament. This morning while reading Joshua, I see that when Achan took some of the spoils of battle in direct opposition to what the Lord had instructed, not only was he put to death, but his wife, and children as well.

Especially troubling to me is that it appears as though Achan is confessing and sorry for his behavior, but he gets no mercy.

As has been discussed in other threads, there is a reason why the Lord needed to be so harsh at times in the Old Testament, but this seems different to me. In this case, it seems to me like Achan is confessing and sorrowful. Joshua sounds like a loving forgiving father or priest, "My son....make confession..." Achan says "I have sinned against the Lord..." In this case, I don't understand why he wasn't forgiven.

Even if it is necessary to make an example of him, why must his family also be destroyed. I realize a lot of it is to ensure others don't follow suit and it was important in the early days especially that the children of Israel be obedient, but this just seems over the top to me.

Now, I do understand that even today, when a man sins, his family pays for it. For example, if you don't go to Church, you probably aren't teaching your children to follow the gospel either. However, they at least have a chance as they mature and grow older to choose to live in accordance with the gospel themselves. Maybe not as much of a chance as if they had been raised with it, but at least they aren't totally condemned through no fault of their own.

What are your thoughts on this?

Why Die Family Entire

The thing about the Old Testament is that one verse may be so generalized that it either covers 100 years or does not tell the whole story. In my mind here are possible reasons for this:

1. Joshua may have felt that it is better that Achan and his family dies, rather than the whole of Israel starting to die (in those days that is how God worked)

2. Strict obedience was very necessary to have the presence of God among them and so if a man knew that his error could cause his family to also perish he might more likely not attempt evil

3. It might be that hi family also knew of Achan's evil and chose not to tell about it thus making them accomplices

4. It might be that Achan's household was already wicked enough that such things were 'common' among them (remember, this man had time to hide the valuables from the army, carry them all the way back, and then bury them. This shows long term planning)

Entire Family Must Die, Why? Studies Doctrine Mormon

This may be really off base here, but I remember reading recently something in the scriptures a commandment about not taking spoils of war...? Does that sound familiar to anyone? I'll have to go research this now, or it's going to bug me... But I'm sure I've read this very recently and so it was probably in the BoM.

Roz

Why Die Family Entire

FarSeer, in fact this is why Achan and his family are killed. They had been expressly forbidden to take the spoils of war, yet he did. My issue really is why weren't they given forgiveness or mercy. Also, why the entire family? JB has given some very good thoughts on this. Does anyone else have anything to add?

Edited: tenaheff on 29th Jan, 2004 - 10:00pm