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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