Joshua 9 is an interesting passage. You have the response of the kings in verses 1-2. Then you have the response of the Gibeonites in verses 3-13. Verse 14 is the key verse, the failure of the leadership followed by the response of the leadership in verse 15. Verses 16-23 give the response of the Israelite people, the response of the Gibeonite people to Joshua's question in verses 24-25 and then the response of Joshua in verses 26-27.
This passage brings a number of thoughts to mind. First, the response of the Gibeonites to willingly become servants rather than die reminds me of the response of the psalmist - "better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord..."
Second, in this passage we see a very mystical aspect of God's grace. Just as Rahab was saved, so the Gibeonites experience the grace of God. But it is the result of deception and the failure of the leadership to inquire of God - something that takes us back to Ai and their failure to seek God before they went to battle.
Jesus reminds us to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. He also talked about the shrewd manager and how the people of the world are shrewd.
God also talks about the lust of the flesh and how we are to walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 4:18 talks about the unseen versus the seen.
Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan, although 1 Timothy 2 says that it was Eve who was deceived - Adam willingly chose to disobey. Esau was deceived by Jacob, who was then deceived by Laban.
Paul tells us to be aware of Satan's schemes and someday the antichrist will come and deceive the people, something Jesus says could almost happen to the elect in Matthew.
The bottom line: find out this Sunday at 10am. "Don't Be Fooled"!
1 comment:
That's true - years later David had to resolve what Saul did in 2 Samuel 21. There was a famine let the Gibeonites avenge thier slaughter by giving them 7 of Saul's descendents to execute.
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