The Gibeonite Deception

Good morning,

When I titled this post, I thought of one of my favorite authors, Joel C. Rosenberg.  The title sounds like something he'd use for one of his apocalyptic, fictional works.  If you've not read any of his novels, I highly recommend them.

So, who were the Gibeonites?  Frankly, I was unfamiliar with them.  If you had asked me who they were, I would not have been able to tell you before studying Joshua 9 and 10 this morning.  Here's the story, as recorded in Joshua 9.  The Gibeonites were from the city of Gibeon, which was about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem.  The saw what had happened to the mighty city of Ai, their neighbor, and (like Rahab), saw the "handwriting on the wall", so to speak.  They concocted this plan to deceive Joshua and the Israelites.

As part of their deception, they put on old clothes, worn-out sandals, and took with them dry, crusty, moldy bread, making it look like they had traveled a great distance, from a "far country".  Then, when they reached Joshua, they lied about where they were from.  They had heard that God had commanded the Israelites to completely exterminate all the peoples of the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.  They had also heard that God had said to offer peace and to take as slaves peoples from outside the Land, but dwelling near it (Deuteronomy 20: 11, 12, 15).  The Gibeonites misrepresented themselves as being of the latter group.  So, they presented themselves to the Israelites as their servants in order to save their hides.

Look at Joshua 9:14-15 (HCSB)

14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord’s counsel. 15 So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.

The leaders of the Israelites "examined the evidence", but they did not go to the LORD for His wisdom or approval.  Big mistake.  They took the word of the Gibeonites at face value and swore an oath to them, by the Lord God Jehovah: an unbreakable covenant of protection.
Three days later, the Israelites realized their error.

22-23 But Joshua called the Gibeonites together and said, “Why did you lie to us, telling us, ‘We live far, far away from you,’ when you’re our next-door neighbors? For that you are cursed. From now on it’s menial labor for you—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24-25 They answered Joshua, “We got the message loud and clear that God, your God, commanded through his servant Moses: to give you the whole country and destroy everyone living in it. We were terrified because of you; that’s why we did this. That’s it. We’re at your mercy. Whatever you decide is right for us, do it.”

26-27 And that’s what they did. Joshua delivered them from the power of the People of Israel so they didn’t kill them. But he made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the Altar of God at the place God chooses. They still are.  

(The Message)

Woodcutters and Watercarriers in the house of God!  What a strange, but merciful, fate!  Why did God, working through the serious error of Joshua and the Israelite leaders, choose to spare this kingdom?  Perhaps it was because they realized His power and His purpose.  Or, perhaps they were just desperate to save their own skins.  We do know from verse 25 that they were terrified.  Who would not be?  They are to be commended in that, while in their terror, they chose to run toward the Lord God Jehovah as opposed to stiffening their necks to fight against Him.  They threw themselves on the mercy of God.  They were the ONLY Canaanite people group to do this.  And, God received them.  I wonder what would have happened had other Canaanite kingdoms had that same response?What an amazing and merciful God we serve!

An equally important lesson for us from Joshua 9, in our current day, is to not depend on our own wisdom or power in making decisions.  Instead, we are to trust the Lord with all our decisions, not depending on our own understanding of a situation.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Too often, we want to rush right into something, trusting in our own power, our own discernment...and often we end up with a result we don't like.  So easy to do, and so hard to fix!

Dear Lord, as we grow older in our faith, may each of us who call you Lord and Savior, depend more and more on you, instead of less and less.  Teach us to consider our ways and to look to You for wisdom and discernment, because You are the Source of these and, indeed, of all good things.  In Jesus' name, amen.