Seek God Before You Proceed

April 23

Joshua 9-10

Psalm 50:1-6

Proverbs 11:30-31

Luke 15:1-10

Seek God Before You Proceed

“So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask for the command of Yahweh.  And Joshua made peace with them and cut a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.”  Joshua 9:14  LSB

Gibeon was one of the cities of the Hivites in the Promised Land.  Numerous times in Exodus and Deuteronomy, Moses listed the Canaanite people that were facing God’s judgment always including the Hivites.  Interestingly, the last time the children of Israel had contact with the Hivites is found in Genesis 34 where Shechem, a Hivite, raped Dinah, one of the daughters of Jacob.  Shechem’s father attempted to make a covenant with the Israelites.  Levi and Simeon deceived the Hivites by telling them they needed to be circumcised to enter a covenant with them.  While the men were healing from the procedure, they went into the camp and killed all of the men to avenge their sister’s rape.  Deception was a common theme in their encounters with the Hivites.   

When the Gibeonites heard about the Israelites’ victory over Jericho, they feared for their own survival.  They had heard that God had given His people clear directions to destroy all the inhabitants of the land so they sent a group of people to Joshua pretending to be from a distant land.  They wore old clothes, worn sandals and had dry bread to create the appearance that they had travelled a long distance.  The Israelites believed their story and entered into a covenant with them promising to protect them and spare their lives.  They did not seek God’s wisdom and advice before entering into the covenant.  When they discovered that the Gibeonites were actually from a nearby city, Joshua and the leaders honored their commitment and spared the Gibeonites lives. They sentenced them to be servants who cut wood and carried water for the children of Israel as Moses had instructed them in Deuteronomy 29:10-12 about sojourners in their midst.       

There are several lessons we can learn from this encounter.  They did not seek God before making the covenant.  If they had sought God, He would have given them discernment and wisdom to not believe the Gibeonites.  The Gibeonites were among the inhabitants of the land that they allowed to live among them that eventually led them astray to follow foreign gods.  They could have avoided many problems they later faced if they had sought God before making such an important decision.  We, too, need to seek God in all our decisions.  He is available to give us wisdom and direction that will help us avoid future problems.  The leaders did act wisely in honoring their oath even when they discovered that it had been made foolishly.  As followers of God we need to be people of our word.  If we make an agreement, we should do everything we can to honor our commitment.  Like Rahab, the Gibeonites believed the stories they heard about God’s chosen people and they believed in God’s power.   They humbled themselves and begged for mercy.  Ultimately, God’s mercy allowed the Gibeonites to be spared and they were blessed by their connection and covenant with God’s chosen people.  Humility and faith pleases God.