Project 119: Joshua 9
| Project 119 | Tim Sanderlin
It is boiling down to battle time. God had promised Moses and the Israelites all the land they could find, and He also promised that those who opposed the Lord and His people would be destroyed. People in the area catch wind of this—they hear about the plagues of Egypt, and the fall of Jericho and shudder (and rightly so). Specifically, the neighboring country of Gibeon decides to be proactive in their approach to stopping the Israelites from wiping them out. This passage is known as “The Gibeonite Deception.”
Essentially, a handful of Gibeonites disguise themselves as weary travelers who will offer what little they have in exchange for the Israelites to make a covenant with them for their safety. The Israelite leaders do not consult with the Lord; rather, they accept this exchange and enter into covenant with the Gibeonites. After three days, the covenant is validated, and it comes out that the Gibeonites from their rivaling country. Although the trust of the Israelites has been bridged, the people of the Lord stay true to their covenant with these traders. They spare the lives of the deceivers and give them small jobs amongst their tribe.
We see two things about the Lord in this story: God’s reputation precedes Him, and God upholds His covenants, even when the world would say break them.
Before the Israelites even introduce themselves, people know who they are and Whose they are. When the enemy hears the God is on the move, darkness is forced to used deception because it does not stand a chance in the fight.
Secondly, a covenant of the Lord is more than a contract, dependent on the two parties involved upholding their end of the deal; it is a promise that is sealed and sustained by the Lord. The people of Israel told their leaders that the covenant must be broken and an example must be made out of these liars. God would not have it that way. The Lord has promised good and His word, our hope secures.
Christ came and made a new covenant with God’s people—one that is received by faith, given by grace, and is founded on His saving work on the cross. He carries the fulfillment of this, and all His covenants, with us.
Joshua 9 (ESV):
As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. 6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” 8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?”9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord.15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. 17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us?23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, in the place that he should choose.