Joshua 9

Joshua 9

Once again, it seemed like all was well in Israel. They had now soundly destroyed two major cities in the Promised Land and were ready to move on to their next great battle. They had been so successful that all the nations around them had begun to team up against Israel. The nations were scared that they would be next. They had seen what God had done for Israel up to this point, and they knew that He would take care of them as well. Through their conquest, God’s name was becoming known throughout all the land. The Egyptians, the nations on the eastern side of the Jordan, and the nations in the Promised Land had all discovered Him. They were being destroyed for their disobedience to Him, but He was also giving them a chance to come to Him. Rahab was one of the stories that showed how God was not only reaching out to Israel. Sadly, there were not many Rahab’s in the land, and instead of following God, the nations only continued to reject Him.

In fact, the people who lived in Gibeon developed a scheme to preserve their lands. They really had two choices: start following the God of Israel or continue to live in disobedience and be destroyed by the God of Israel. They chose to remain in their disobedience but took a step further. They disguised themselves and made it look as if they were poor. They then went out to meet Israel and told them that they were travelers from a distant land. Then, instead of actually following God, they lied about their desire to be followers of God. They told of how they had heard of the great things He had done for them and asked to be aligned with Israel. They desired to have a covenant, which would ultimately ensure their protection against Israel’s conquest of the land.

This left Israel with two choices: either investigate the situation some more and decide what to do with the people later on or give in to their suggestions and make a deal. Sadly, Israel made a covenant with this group of people in God’s name. They were quick to use their Law to make a covenant in God’s name, but they neglected to go to Him in the first place. Joshua and the leaders of Israel made the covenant without even asking God for guidance. As a result, they later discovered that they had been tricked. They were able to go around and take the land from some of the other nations that had been aligned with Gibeon, but Gibeon was protected.

Joshua realized his mistake and did his best to resolve the problem. Israel had been told to not align with any nation. They were in the land for one reason only, destruction. They were to completely take over the land, taking care of all the different nations within its boundaries. There were no exceptions. Yet after neglecting to turn to God for help, they found themselves in a position that they should have never been in. They had no choice but to allow Gibeon to stay, but Joshua made them the lowest slaves in the land. The people did not argue, for they were just glad to still be alive, knowing that if they had not tricked Israel, they would have been dead. They agreed to Joshua’s commands, and Joshua was able to make some good out of a costly decision.

The lesson here is to always go to God for guidance. Israel was really confused as to what to do with Gibeon. They did not know the people, did not know if they were telling the truth, and did not know if they could be trusted. Yet instead of going to God, they made what they thought was their best decision. Our finite wisdom can get us in a lot of trouble. Why depend on our wisdom when we can go to the One who has all the answers?

Matt