The Gibeonites Trick Joshua

Kings in a line. When the kings heard about Jericho and Ai, “they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord” (9:2). That was an open attack. A different plan. Gibeon did not march out to fight. “They worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors” (9:4). An ambassador is a messenger sent from a faraway king. Two kinds of danger. The devil fights God's people in both ways. He “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He also deceives, “as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness” (2 Corinthians 11:3). The costume. Old sacks, torn wineskins, patched sandals, old clothes and moldy bread (9:4-5). Every detail was chosen to make a lie look true. Why the trick? Gibeon had heard what God did at Jericho and Ai (9:3). They were afraid, and they knew they could not win a fight against the Lord. Stay alert. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Wiles means sneaky tricks. What this means for you. Not every danger looks dangerous. Some wrong choices look friendly and harmless. Stay close to Jesus and His Word, and He will help you see what is true.

An alliance (9:1-2). The Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites joined “with one accord.” Nations that often fought each other united against God's people, as kings do against the Lord's Anointed in Psalm 2:1-2. Gibeon (9:3). Gibeon stood about six miles northwest of Jerusalem. Joshua 10:2 says it “was a great city, like one of the royal cities,” and that “all its men were mighty.” A strong city chose a trick instead of a battle. Craftily (9:4). The Hebrew ormah (say: or-MAH) means shrewdness or cunning. A related word describes the serpent in Genesis 3:1 as more cunning than any beast of the field. Hivites (9:7). The Gibeonites were Hivites, one of the nations God had told Israel not to make a covenant with (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). The disguise was built to get around that very command. Two tactics. The open enemy roars (1 Peter 5:8). The hidden enemy disguises himself: “the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Paul adds that Satan can even pretend to be an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Props for a lie (9:4-5). The details were carefully planned: old sacks, torn wineskins, patched sandals and moldy bread. A lie dressed up as evidence is still a lie. The armor (Ephesians 6:11). “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The Greek word for wiles, methodeia (say: meth-oh-DAY-ah), means a scheme or a planned trap. Application. The more harmless something looks, the more carefully you should bring it to God. “Be sober, be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8).

Many kings joined together to fight Israel. That danger was easy to see. But the people of Gibeon used a trick instead. Tricks are much harder to see. The devil works in both ways too. Sometimes trouble comes at us like a big army. Other times it sneaks in with a smile. The Bible says the devil is like a roaring lion. It also says he tricked Eve like a sneaky snake. So we need to stay close to God. God is stronger than any trick. He helps us see what is true. We can pray when something seems too good to be true.

Some kings came to fight Israel. Other men tried to trick Israel. God can help us see tricks. We can ask Him for help.

A story full of God. The men said, “We have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt” (9:9). They used true facts about God to make their lie sound good. Old news only. They had heard about Jericho and Ai (9:3), but they talked only about Egypt and the kings across the Jordan (9:9-10). Those were old stories that a faraway people might know. Good questions. Israel asked, “Perhaps you dwell among us” (9:7), and Joshua asked, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” (9:8). They asked good questions, but they asked only the visitors. The missing prayer. “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord” (9:14). They checked the bread, but they did not check with God. Our memory verse. “There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the Lord's counsel—that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21). Counsel means advice and direction. Israel made a plan without God's counsel. God gives wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5). What this means for you. Ask God about the big choices and the small ones, especially the ones that seem easy. Prayer is not the last thing to try. It is the first.

Covenant (9:6). The Gibeonites asked, “make a covenant with us.” A covenant, berit (say: beh-REET), sworn in God's name could not be undone. Your servants (9:8, 11). They offered themselves as servants. In that world a weaker people often accepted a stronger nation's protection in return for service. A selective story (9:9-10). Verse 3 says they had heard about Jericho and Ai. Yet they mentioned only Egypt, Sihon and Og, events far away and long ago. A truly faraway people would not yet have heard the latest news. Arranged evidence (9:12-13). The bread, wineskins and garments were real. What they were meant to prove was false. Evidence can be arranged, but “the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The missing step (9:14). “But they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Israel had the high priest and the Urim to seek God's will (Numbers 27:21), but nobody used them. Counsel (Proverbs 19:21). The Hebrew etsah (say: ay-TSAH) means a plan or advice. Israel's plan seemed wise, but only the Lord's counsel stands. “There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30). A repeated failure. At Ai Israel trusted numbers (7:3). At Gilgal they trusted their senses. Both times they leaned on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Application. Prayer is not a backup plan. Bring God the decisions you feel sure about, not only the ones that frighten you.

The men told a story about a long trip. They showed old bread and cracked wineskins. Israel's leaders looked closely at the bread. They even tasted it. But they did not ask the Lord. They trusted their eyes instead of God. So the trick worked. Things are not always what they seem. That is why we need to pray. God knows everything, even what we cannot see. Our memory verse says people make many plans. But God's plan is the one that will stand. Israel's leaders could have prayed right then. God would have shown them the truth.

The men showed old bread. Israel looked at it. But they did not ask God. Always ask God first!

Found out. “At the end of three days… they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them” (9:16). Lies do not stay hidden for long. Grumbling. “All the congregation complained against the rulers” (9:18). Some wanted to attack anyway. A promise kept. The rulers said, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them” (9:19). They had sworn by God's name, so God's honor was at stake. Keeping your word. Psalm 15 describes a person who may live close to God: “He who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Psalm 15:4). That means keeping your promise even when it costs you. Mercy and work. The leaders decided, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation” (9:21). God never breaks His word. God's promises are sure, “in which it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). What this means for you. Think before you promise, and pray before you promise. Once you have given your word, keep it, because your word shows the world the God you belong to.

Three days (9:16-17). It took Israel only three days to reach Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth and Kirjath Jearim. The far country was a short march away. An oath before God (9:18-19). The rulers had “sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel.” An oath in God's name bound them even though the Gibeonites had lied. God's law said not to swear falsely by His name (Leviticus 19:12). Wrath (9:20). They feared “lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” Centuries later this proved true: when King Saul tried to wipe out the Gibeonites, God sent a famine on Israel (2 Samuel 21:1-2). Psalm 15:4. The person who may dwell in God's presence “swears to his own hurt and does not change.” Integrity means keeping your word when it costs you. Making the best of a mistake (9:21). The leaders could not undo the oath, but they gave the Gibeonites useful work. God would later turn that work into a privilege (9:27). The faithful God. He is “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9). If Israel had to keep a promise made by mistake, how much more will God keep the promises He made on purpose? Application. Jesus taught His followers to let their yes mean yes and their no mean no (Matthew 5:37). Be a person whose word can be trusted, because you belong to a God whose word never fails.

Three days later, Israel found out the truth. The people were upset with their leaders. They grumbled and complained. But the leaders would not break their promise. They had made it in God's name. Breaking it would bring shame on God's name. So Israel let the Gibeonites live. Keeping a promise can be hard. It is still the right thing to do. God always keeps His promises to us. He wants us to keep ours too. People can trust us when we keep our word. That shows them what God is like.

Israel made a promise. The men had tricked them. But Israel kept the promise anyway. God keeps His promises too!

Why the lie? Joshua said, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us?” (9:22). Lying is always sin, even when we are afraid. A hard result. “Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves” (9:23). Their lie had real results. The truth at last. “We were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing” (9:24). The Gibeonites believed God's word about the land. Like Rahab, they feared the Lord. In his hands. “And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us” (9:25). They stopped pretending and gave themselves up. Saved. Joshua “delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them” (9:26). Near the altar. They became “woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord” (9:27). People who had been under a curse now worked at the very place where sacrifices for sin were made. A rescue coming. In the next chapter, when enemies attacked Gibeon, God fought for them (Joshua 10). What this means for you. You don't need a disguise to come to God. Come as you really are. Jesus will never turn away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37).

The house of my God (9:23). Joshua said they would serve “for the house of my God.” Their work would center on worship, not on Israel's farms or homes. Real fear of the Lord (9:24). The Gibeonites had been “clearly told that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land.” They believed it. Their method was wrong, but their fear of God was real, much like Rahab's: “our hearts melted” (2:11). Surrender (9:25). “Here we are, in your hands.” This is how every sinner must come before God: no bargaining, only trust in His mercy. Delivered (9:26). Joshua “delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel.” The leader of God's people stood between them and death. Later history. Gibeon became a city of the priests (Joshua 21:17). The tabernacle stood there in David's day (1 Chronicles 16:39), and Solomon met God there in a dream (1 Kings 3:4-5). Men of Gibeon later helped rebuild Jerusalem's walls (Nehemiah 3:7). God's protection (10:6). When the Amorite kings attacked them, the Gibeonites cried, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us.” Israel came, and the Lord fought for Gibeon. Ephesians 2:19. Outsiders are made “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” The Gibeonites' story shows how deep God's mercy goes. Application. Come to God without a disguise. “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

Joshua asked the Gibeonites why they had lied. They told the truth at last. They were afraid of being destroyed. They had heard that God was giving Israel the land. So they put themselves in Joshua's hands. Joshua saved their lives. The Gibeonites became helpers at God's altar. They cut wood and carried water for God's house. They got to be near the altar every day. They had been outsiders, but now they served near God. God has room for anyone who comes to Him. Jesus welcomes everyone who trusts Him.

The men told the truth at last. Joshua let them live. They got to help at God's house. God is kind!