Gibeonite Deception
Shared By Mark Flippo
When Israel was fulfilling the Lord's command to take possession of the Promised Land and drive out its inhabitants, the Gibeonites, who were among them, recognized what was happening and concocted a plan.
They disguised themselves as worn out, weary travelers and approached Joshua, telling him they were from a far away land. They "acted with cunning" (Joshua 9:4) to escape being destroyed along with the other Canaanite nations.
They knew they couldn't ask Israel to just leave them alone. They had to secure some kind of positive, ongoing relationship. So, using their disguise, the Gibeonites urged Joshua to become allies. "Make a covenant with us," they pleaded (9:11).
Their cunning worked. "Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live." But note: the Bible makes it clear that the Gibeonites' deftness wasn't the main reason Israel got fooled. (Joshua 9:15) clues us in on why Joshua and the other leaders fell for the Gibeonites' trick: they "did not ask counsel from the Lord."
Yikes. That was a big slip. Joshua and the people of Israel were on track to drive out all the Canaanites, just as the Lord had commanded them (Numbers 33:51-52). But then they unwittingly enter into covenant with a whole nation of them.
It was an epic failure. Joshua and the leaders of Israel presumed to be wise enough to handle the situation on their own, and they ended up compromising on what the Lord had commanded them.
There's a lesson in that for us: do not go about life trusting in your own strength.
By Tyler Kenney
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com
Shared By Mark Flippo
When Israel was fulfilling the Lord's command to take possession of the Promised Land and drive out its inhabitants, the Gibeonites, who were among them, recognized what was happening and concocted a plan.
They disguised themselves as worn out, weary travelers and approached Joshua, telling him they were from a far away land. They "acted with cunning" (Joshua 9:4) to escape being destroyed along with the other Canaanite nations.
They knew they couldn't ask Israel to just leave them alone. They had to secure some kind of positive, ongoing relationship. So, using their disguise, the Gibeonites urged Joshua to become allies. "Make a covenant with us," they pleaded (9:11).
Their cunning worked. "Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live." But note: the Bible makes it clear that the Gibeonites' deftness wasn't the main reason Israel got fooled. (Joshua 9:15) clues us in on why Joshua and the other leaders fell for the Gibeonites' trick: they "did not ask counsel from the Lord."
Yikes. That was a big slip. Joshua and the people of Israel were on track to drive out all the Canaanites, just as the Lord had commanded them (Numbers 33:51-52). But then they unwittingly enter into covenant with a whole nation of them.
It was an epic failure. Joshua and the leaders of Israel presumed to be wise enough to handle the situation on their own, and they ended up compromising on what the Lord had commanded them.
There's a lesson in that for us: do not go about life trusting in your own strength.
By Tyler Kenney
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com