In Chapter 9 we'll find the Israelites being deceived by the Gibeonites. Has anyone ever deceived you? Has anyone ever misrepresented themselves to you or lied about their intentions? That's what we'll find the Gibeonites doing in our current chapter because they are in such fear of Israel, due to the destruction of Jericho and Ai, that they will deceive the Israelites into making a treaty with them.
The Gibeonites reside in the promised land and the Lord forbade the Israelites to make a treaty with any of the tribes and nations of the promised land: "Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against Me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." (Exodus 23:32-33) The Gibeonites devise a ruse in which they will pretend to be from outside the promised land. The peace treaty, once made, will be binding on both parties.
Why are the Israelites deceived by the Gibeonites? The Bible will tell us later in Chapter 9 that it's because they "did not inquire of the Lord". Haven't we all made some poor and hasty decisions by not taking time to ask the Lord if a particular thing or particular person is right for us? Naturally we don't have time all day long to stop and pray about everyone we meet and about every little decision we have to make; we make hundreds of decisions a day and a lot of them are minor decisions such as what to wear, what to eat, what brand of gas to put in our cars, what items to select at the grocery store, and so on. Those decisions are likely to have no bearing on our spiritual health. But when we are about to make big decisions, such as entering some type of alliance or partnership, we need to consult the Lord. The Lord knows everyone's true character. He knows if someone is really a true friend to us or not. He knows whether someone is going to be an honest business partner or not. He knows who we should date and who we should marry. These are the types of decisions that can have big consequences if we choose unwisely.
"Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things---the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and all the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)---they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel." (Joshua 9:1-2) "These things" is a reference to the news that spread far and wide about Israel's conquest of Jericho and Ai. The kings of the nations mentioned above made an agreement with each other that they would work together to drive Israel out of the promised land.
But the Gibeonites decided to employ a different strategy. They are going to worm their way in by deceit and instead of fighting against Israel they are going to trick Israel into making a peace treaty with them. "However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, 'We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.'" (Joshua 9:3-6) The Lord told Israel to rid the promised land of its current inhabitants but He did not say to rid the surrounding countries of their inhabitants. The Gibeonites are pretending to be from far away, hence the worn out clothing and the moldy bread. They've made it look as if it was a long journey from their land to Gilgal in Canaan.
Gibeon was the capital city of the Hivites. The Bible refers to these men as Gibeonites because they are from the city of Gibeon but they can also rightly be called Hivites because that is their national identity. The Bible uses these two terms interchangeably at times, as in our next passage. "The Israelites said to the Hivites, 'But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?'" (Joshua 9:7) The Lord has mentioned the Hivites a number of times already in the Old Testament; they are among the list of heathen nations He commanded the Israelites to wipe out. The Hivite territory is one of the territories about which the Lord said, "Do not leave anything alive that breathes...Completely destroy them...Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 20:16-18)
I don't know whether the Hivites had heard that they were on the list of nations destined for destruction but I think they suspected they were. They intend to deceive Israel into making a treaty with them---a treaty in the name of the Lord God of Israel---because they know the Israelites cannot break an oath made in the name of God. The Israelites will be trapped by their own words, and haven't we all been there before? Haven't we all made a promise we regretted making after we realized it was the wrong choice for us? Haven't we all committed ourselves to something only to realize later it wasn't good for us? The decision to make a treaty with any nation should not have been made without consulting the Lord. All the big decisions of our own lives should not be made without consulting the Lord. We will be saved many hardships and disappointments if we go to the Lord first to see what He has to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment