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. 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