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Learning Their Lesson

  Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along 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.

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[a] 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.”

 The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”

We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’  This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. (Joshua 9:1-15)

 

The unexpected thing in today’s passage isn’t really unexpected. The Israelites encountered people who claimed to be from far away, but weren’t. Joshua and the leaders allowed themselves to be convinced to make a treaty of peace. Later in the story, the Israelites express anger at their leadership because they discovered that they’d been conned. Joshua and the leaders were embarrassed and a little miffed. Why hadn’t God spoken up? Warned them? Why did God let these people con the Israelites? Why did He let this bad thing happen? In the last paragraph above, it says that the Israelites did not inquire of the Lord. That means neither Joshua or Eleazar, the high priest did so. They hadn’t done so before attacking Ai for the first time, either. And they didn’t learn their lesson.

We do the same thing. Why didn’t God tell us? Why didn’t God prevent it? Why didn’t God prevent us? Did we ask God about it? Did we wait for an answer? Or did we go with that seemed or felt right at the time? Aren’t we supposed to have faith? Aren’t we supposed to trust God, get out of the boat, and walk on water? Hasn’t God promised to work all things together for good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)? Sure, they made a mistake, but should they have to suffer for centuries for it?

Learning a lesson is good for us, even if it’s uncomfortable and even if the consequences are negative and ongoing. We like to think that if God politely clears His throat, we won’t make that mistake again. But God gave the Israelites very clear instructions about loving Him, serving Him, not taking what doesn’t belong to them, and lots of other things, and they didn’t listen. Our response to that is that we’re not like the Israelites. We would listen. How dare anyone doubt or judge us in this matter? We would listen.

May I politely suggest that putting God to the test in this way or bragging in this way is not likely to end well for us. But we all do it. We can only pray that we gain wisdom before God decides to take us up on it.

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