When The Obvious Is Not What It Seems

Joshua 9:14-15

Having so much free time as I recover from being in the hospital, I have done a lot of reading. I mostly read nonfiction, but I decided to include something just for fun to give my brain a little break. We had this book on our shelf, so I decided to give it a try. I found out I am a Sherlock Holmes fan. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have had a thing against law enforcement because he paints them as buffoons in his stories. They often jump to what appears to be the obvious conclusion, but the cases are often not what they seem. At the same time, Sherlock Holmes solves the case by following the logical clues he observes in the case. Joshua and the leaders of Israel learned the hard way that what appeared obvious was not what it appeared to be. They later learned that they had obviously been duped.

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Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

Joshua 9:14–15

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Let me give you a little backstory. Moses and Israel had defeated the armies of Sihon and Og on the east side of the Jordan river. They had destroyed their cities and taken them as a possession for the new country they were claiming. Joshua took over after the death of Moses and under his leadership, they defeated Jericho and Ai. Knowing that they did not stand a chance against the army of Israel, some of the elders of Gibeon put on disguises to make it look like they had been on a very long journey. They also packed moldy bread and broken wineskins to give the further appearance of a long journey far from home. After negotiating a peace with Israel, we come to our passage.

The taking of some of the "traveler's" possessions, the elders indicated that they bought into their story. Joshua gives another detail in verse 14, "but they did not ask counsel of the LORD". The elders of Israel agreed to a peace treaty with these strangers and did not take time to pray about it. Joshua also agreed to the peace and all of the nation of Israel was bound to this treaty.

In time, the people of Israel learned that these "travelers" were actually the people of Gibeon. This was a city of the people that God had told them to destroy. They had been tricked and made peace with their enemies. We often think of peace as being the answer, but peace is a terrible option if it means trading the godliness of your children and your children's children because of the evil influence of those we make peace with. The Gibeonites were pagans and now that pagan influence was going to live in the midst of them.

Some might try to make the argument that the people of Israel should have tried to be a Godly influence on them. After all, didn't Joshua allow Rahab and her family to escape Jericho and live among the people of Israel? There is a very big difference in these two stories. Rahab chose to leave her people and cling to God. Hebrews 11:30-31 identifies Rahab as one of the "heroes of faith". On the other hand, the Gibeonites tricked the leaders of Israel into sparing them and there was no such need to turn to God. Their peace and protection had been promised. That promise violated several commandments so God, but to violate that promise would have added another evil to their actions. Two wrongs never make a right.

Something as important as a lifetime commitment deserves prayer. Then again, something as long as a 5 year loan for a vehicle deserves prayer. How quickly we enter into long commitments and we do not seek counsel from God. Have you ever entered into a contract only to realize it was a mistake? Did you wish that you had taken time to pray about that decision? Oh the heartaches we could avoid if we only took time to pray and seek God's leadership. As the old hymn says, "Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer".

Father, we make so many decisions without seeking your will and then find out we are in a mess. I wonder how often others around us are affected by the bad choices we make? May we remember to pray without ceasing.