We are living in days where we need to be constantly on our guard against scammers trying to steal our identity, our personal details and our money. They seem so genuine on the phone or on emails or social media. They use company logos on emails to make you think they are from the reported company. I know a few people who have fallen for their scams but have not lost too much money or their passwords or personal details.
We may think this is a modern thing, however, we know from this passage that it goes a long way back in the past as God’s people have been subject to a scam.
Joshua 9 v 3 to 4a: However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse:
Other translations replace the word ‘ruse’ with ‘craftily’. It’s the same word that’s used of Satan in the opening verses of Genesis 3, where “the snake acted craftily.”
Genesis 3 v 1: Now the snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’
You could say that Eve was subject to a scam by Satan, ‘did God really say that?’. Satan makes it sound so convincing that Eve falls for it and eats of the prohibited fruit. Satan is the master of the scam and will try every trick in his book to convince mankind that they don’t need God and do not need to take any notice of his commands.
Two points from this passage:
- The Israelites naivety
Joshua 9 v 12 and 13: This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and mouldy it is. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey
The Gibeonites set up a scam or ruse to convince the Israelites to take pity on them and then to make an oath with them. They come, and somehow or other they assemble some old mouldy bread, old wineskins and old sandals, to somehow trick Joshua into believing they were from a far-off country.
Several times in the account we read that their provisions, their bread, their clothes, their
sandals, their wineskins, were worn out. And they keep on repeating this phrase, “We’ve come from a very far country.” If they had come from that far, why were they bothered about coming to Joshua at this time. Why not wait and see if the Israelites will come to their far-off country. They might just pass them by and miss them altogether.
The repeating of the phrases should have given Joshua and his advisors a warning that perhaps all was not as it seemed. And if they were from so far away, why would they need to covenant with the people of Israel? They were no threat to Israel, and Israel would be no threat to them. This far-off land that they claimed to be from was no more than 30 miles away. They’re just north of Jerusalem.
Had Joshua asked even the simplest of questions, he could have easily caught them out and found out that they were lying to him. Joshua does begin to ask questions, very superficial ones:
Joshua 9 v 8: But Joshua asked, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’
Not the most probing of questions, like; what is the land like?, how many people live in the land?, how many days journey did it take you to get here? Joshua seems to be satisfied with their answer in verse nine, that “your servants have come from a very far country,” and then to say why it is that they have come.
This should have been the second warning for Joshua. If they did come from such a far-off land, how did they know what God had done to the kings of Sihon and Og. Communication at that time was a bit more primitive than today, with no emails, texts or phones. Living nearby they would have known about it all.
Ignoring the verbal lies, Joshua turns to the physical evidence before him, the mouldy bread, the cracked wineskins and worn out sandals, and accepts them as genuine. Before we all jump to the conclusion that Joshua was silly and we would never have fallen into such a trap as he did. I think we have all been guilty as some point of being taken in by someone who we thought was genuine.
Joshua’s final mistake, we find in verse 14:
Joshua 9 v 14: The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not enquire of the Lord.
Joshua had walked closely with God and sought his counsel and did all that God asked him to do, and because of his obedience he had gained great success over the people of the land. God would have made it clear to Joshua that this was a scam or ruse and not to go along with it.
We all need to be on our guard as our spiritual enemy is at work all the time trying to bring down God’s people at every opportunity.
1 Peter 5 v 8: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
- God’s honour upheld
Even though Joshua and the Israelites entered a bad alliance, due to the ruse of the Gibeonites, they kept their oath. To go ahead and kill the Gibeonites would have been an even worse act than swearing the oath to them. Two wrongs do not make things right.
After the failure, we also see the surprising faithfulness of God’s people. Granted, this is probably not the greatest thing that Joshua and the leaders had ever done. And they would have regretted it their actions the moment they found out they had been lied to. In a court today, if an act was based on a lie and it was discovered, it would not be worth the paper it is written on. Joshua and the Israelites were playing by God’s rules and not man’s rules. After all Paul writes to the church at Rome, saying:
Romans 12:19: Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
There is a bigger consequence for the Gibeonites to pay when they stand before God and must answer for their actions. Man’s wrath or God’s wrath, take your pick! Joshua does not add to the first sin or failure by adding another sin or failure to the first one, making the situation twice as bad. Even the Gibeonites know the game is up and probably thought the worse was going to happen to them.
Joshua 9 v25: ‘We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.’
I’m sure we can all understand the temptation that Joshua and the leaders must have felt. They must have thought, okay, we have all of our people who are mad at us, let’s do something about it.
We were supposed to destroy them, and we didn’t, so surely the answer is, let’s make the people happy and kill them all, then our people will be happy with us. Would this be the right thing to do? Would it make God happy? Definitely not. They decide not to go ahead and kill all the Gibeonites. This would have made a bad situation worse.
Joshua made a mistake and stood by the decision he had made. By doing so he held up the honour of God, by doing what God wanted him to do rather than what man wanted him to do. What happens when we make a mistake or give our word on something? Do we take it seriously and learn from it or try and get out of it if we know it is wrong? Do we do what is right and face the negative consequences of making a mistake and own up to it?
That’s what Joshua and the leaders did. It must have been very uncomfortable to come out before the congregation, who’s furious with them, and say, “We are not going to kill the Gibeonites,” “We own it. We let you down but we’re not going to let you add to one mistake by making another mistake.” They will be punished for their deceit:
Joshua 9 v 27: That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water-carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day.
I can imagine God saying to Joshua, ‘ You got it wrong, but made it right, well done good and faithful servant.
God’s will and plan will never be thwarted by our actions, he will always redeem the situation.