f his death.

"_And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against
the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw
among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels
of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I_
coveted them,_and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in
the midst of my tent, and the silver under it_."

He saw--he coveted--he took--he hid! The covetous eye was what led
Achan up to the wicked deed that brought sorrow and defeat upon the
camp of Israel.

We know the terrible punishment that was meted out to Achan. God seems
to have set danger signals at the threshold of each new age. It is
remarkable how soon the first outbreaks of covetousness occurred.
Think of Eve in Eden, Achan just after Israel had entered the Promised
Land, Ananias and Sapphira in the early Christian Church.

A ROOT EXTRACTOR.

"_For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows_."

The Revised Version translates it--"_a root of all kinds of evil_."
This tenth commandment has therefore been aptly called a
"root-extractor," because it would tear up and destroy this root. Deep
down in our corrupt nature it has spread. No one but God can rid us of
it.

Matthew tells us that the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word of
God. Like the Mississippi river, which chokes up its mouth by the
amount of soil it carries down. Isn't that true of many business-men
to day? They are so engrossed with their affairs that they have not
time for religion. They lose sight of their soul and its eternal
welfare in their desire to amass wealth. They do not even hesitate to
sell their souls to the devil. How many a man says, "We must make
money, and if God's law stands in the way, brush it aside."

The word "lucre" occurs five times in the New Testament, and each time
it is called "_filthy_ lucre."

"A root of all kinds of evil." Yes, because what will not men be
guilty of when prompted by the desire to be rich? Greed for gold leads
men to commit violence and murder, to cheat and deceive and steal. It
turns the heart to stone, devoid of all natural affection, cruel,
unkind. How many families are wrecked over the father's will! The
scramble for a share of the wealth smashes them to pieces. Covetous of
rank and position in society, parents barter sons and daugh