When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated and completely destroyed Ai and Jericho, two large and impressively fortified citadels in the land, they became scared and conspired to deceive Joshua and the Israelites.
They disguised themselves as ambassadors, dressing in old and tattered rags and worn-out shoes. On their donkeys they placed old and torn sacks and old, battered, leaking wine bottles. In their provisions they had nothing but dry and moldy bread. This deceptive appearance complete, they set out to meet Joshua.
The story the men told Joshua was pitiful and Joshua’s initial perceptiveness became skewed. At the first, he posited that they came from one of the neighboring villages and that there was no way he would be able to make a league with them. The lie of who they were and where they came from and what their intents were stuck and Joshua and his counselors believed.
“…the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”
Joshua made peace with the inhabitants of Gibeon and thus violated God’s commandment to utterly destroy all the inhabitants of that land. Not only Joshua, but all the princes of the congregation swore that they would be let to live in peace. When the Israelites entered their cities, they did not kill a single one of them because of their oath and because of the fear of what God might do if they broke their oath.
Yes, Joshua cursed these people and yes, their culture and people became servants to the Israelites from that moment on, but they existed as a thorn in the side of the Israelites, a culture God had commanded them to destroy and now could not because they had taken it into their bosom.
What is it in our lives that has disguised itself and has proclaimed a tale of woe. What enemy of God and of our future prosperity stands before us now begging us not to destroy it but to make a league with it? What are we overlooking in our desire to be the “good guy” and thereby bypassing God and what He has to say?
It’s a bit frightening to think we can be deceived in this way. I don’t believe Joshua’s downfall in the Gibeonite situation was that he was deceived, but that he went ahead and did what he felt was right… instead of asking God what he should do about it.
