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Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Joshua 9, Jeremiah 35, and
Psalms 81-83. This devotional is about Joshua
9. Now when news of this reached
all the kings west of the Jordan, those in the hill country, the
foothills, and all along the coast of the great sea toward
Lebanon, the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites,
and Jebusites, they came together to wage war against Joshua and
Israel. But the people of Gibeon, having
heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, acted deceptively,
and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks
and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn, patched
sandals on their feet, and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and
their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy. They went to Joshua
in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and the men of Israel,
We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.
But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, Perhaps you dwell
near us. How can we make a treaty with
you? "'We are your servants,' they said to Joshua. Then Joshua
said to them, "'Who are you, and where have you come from?'
Your servants have come from a very distant land, they replied,
because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard the
reports about him, all that he did in Egypt, and all that he
did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, Sihon king
of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashteroth. So
the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, Take provisions
for your journey, go to meet with them and say to them, We
are your servants, please 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 look, it is now dry and moldy. These wineskins
were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked, and
these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey. The men of Israel sampled their
provisions, but did not seek the counsel of the Lord. And
Joshua made a treaty of peace with them, to let them live,
and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. Three
days after they had made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the
Israelites learned that they were neighbors living among them.
So the Israelites set out, and on the third day arrived at their
cities, Gibeon, Shephira, Biroth, and Kiriath-Jerom. But the Israelites
did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation
had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel,
and the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders. All the
leaders answered, We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord,
the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. This is how
we will treat them. We will let them live, so that
no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.
They continued, Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and
water carriers for the whole congregation. So the leaders
kept their promise. Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites
and said, Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far
away from us, when in fact you live among us? Now therefore
you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters
and water carriers for the house of my God. The Gibeonites answered,
Your servants were told clearly that the Lord your God had commanded
His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all
its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our
lives because of you, and that is why we have done this. Now
we are in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good
and right to you. So Joshua did this and delivered
them from the hands of the Israelites, and they did not kill the Gibeonites. On that day he made them woodcutters
and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation
of the Lord and for the altar at the place he would choose.
This is God's word. What would you do if your country
was being attacked by a ruthless band of vagabonds who, despite
their limited means, were winning their battles with seemingly
supernatural help? That's the question the Gibeonites
were asking themselves during Joshua's conquest of Canaan. Their answer is recorded here
in Joshua 9. I think my answer would have
been unconditional surrender. Take us over. We're all yours.
Please be merciful to us. The Gibeonites, however, didn't
try this. It seems impossible, but perhaps
they had heard about the instructions God gave in Deuteronomy 7, 1
and 2, which says, When the Lord your God brings you into the
land you are entering to possess, and drives out before you many
nations, the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than
you. And when the Lord your God has
delivered them over to you, and you have defeated them, then
you must destroy them totally, make no treaty with them, and
show them no mercy." That's the end of the quote. And again,
that's from Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 1 and 2 in the NIV.
That last sentence, make no treaty with them and show them no mercy,
doesn't seem to leave any room for surrender, does it? Now again,
is it possible that the Gibeonites had heard about these instructions? That seems unlikely, but given
how much they knew and how much Rahab knew about God and his
work on behalf of Israel, maybe God's word and God's instructions
had spread, too, along with these reports. You can see verses 9
and 10 of our text today for what they knew about God and
what Rahab knew in Joshua chapter 2, verses 9 through 11. Regardless
of what they knew about Israel, the Gibeonites responded to the
threat of Israel through deception. They concocted a story about
being from a different country. We see that language in verse
6 and verse 9. And they backed up their story
with costumes and props that would support their story. You
can see verses 4 and 5 and verses 11 through 13. Their plan worked,
and Israel entered into a treaty with the Gibeonites without even
knowing where they were from. You can see verse 15 and 19 for
that. Verse 14 notes that the Israelites
sampled their provisions, but did not inquire of the Lord. Again, that's verse 14 from the
NIV. In other words, they trusted the information from their five
senses enough that they did not look to the Lord for wisdom and
insight. Note the contrast between Joshua
7 and today's passage in Joshua 9. In Joshua 7, Israel was defeated
by Ai, and Joshua started praying. We saw that in chapter 7, verses
6 through 9. But God told him to stop praying
and start rooting sin out of the camp. We saw that in verses
10 through 12. I take this to mean that Joshua
should have known there was a sin problem since God had promised
to defeat Israel's enemies and he had done so miraculously in
Jericho. So when they lost Ai, Joshua
should have known that there was a sin problem since God had
promised to defeat Israel's enemies and had already done so miraculously
in Jericho. Joshua and the elders of Israel
were asking God, why in Joshua 7, when they should have been
asking Him, who sinned? Now here in Joshua 9, they were
tempted to depart from God's clear instructions. And yet,
they did not think to ask God about the situation. Instead,
they decided to follow what seemed reasonable. You and I face this
kind of temptation too. We know what God has said, but
we think the option in front of us is some kind of exception
to God's clear word. When we do this, we are putting
ourselves at risk. At the very least, we risk making
an unwise decision. Often we are making a sinful
decision, one that will cause us great pain later. In this case, the Gibeonites
saved their own skin through deception. You can see verses
16 through 18 for that. That was not the most damaging
outcome that could have happened to Israel. But it did cause the
leadership of Israel to lose some credibility. You can see
that in verse 18d. My question about this passage
is this. Did Israel really need to honor this treaty? The Gibeonites
were completely dishonest. Their argument for the treaty
was a total lie and they sold their lie with further deceptions. Didn't these acts of dishonesty
invalidate the agreement? I think it probably would have
been permissible, morally, to break the treaty because of the
Gibeonites' deception. However, Israel's leaders were
at fault here too. They could have investigated
the claims of the Gibeonites more thoroughly, and they could
have and should have sought guidance from the Lord. Given that Israel
agreed to this treaty, foolishly so, but they agreed to it, it
may have been permissible morally to attack the Gibeonites. but
it was probably not the godly response. Joshua's statement
in verse 20, this is what we will do for them. We will let
them live so that God's wrath will not fall on us for breaking
the oath we swore to them. That statement by Joshua was,
at last, a godly way to look at the situation. Psalm 15.4b
says that a godly person keeps an oath even when it hurts and
does not change his mind. That's the language of the NIV
from Psalm 15.4b. And this is why Jesus cautioned
us not to take any oaths at all. You can see Matthew 5.33-37 for
that word from Jesus. Now here's the point for us.
Are there any promises you've made that you should live up
to even though they were made foolishly and will be more costly
for you to fulfill than you expected? Let this passage inform your
life. Be careful about what you commit
to. But if you do commit to do something,
make sure you do it. This is an approach that honors
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for going on this journey through the scriptures with me. And may
God bless you today. I'll see you next time.
Joshua 9
Series DailyPBJ Devotionals
This is a daily devotional about Joshua 9 from dailypbj devotionals. For more information, visit https://dailypbj.com. To receive these devotionals every morning in your inbox, visit https://dailypbj.com/subscribe. To support my work, visit https://dailypbj.com/support/
| Sermon ID | 74251921323634 |
| Duration | 12:51 |
| Date | |
| Category | Devotional |
| Language | English |
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