Today’s passage: Joshua 9:1-27
Helpful thoughts:
- At this point, it is clear that Israel has come for conquest. The peoples seemed to have two options:
- Unite and fight, or
- Deceive and hopefully survive…the people of Gibeon chose the second option.
- While it is clear the Israelites had their doubts concerning the claims of the Gibeonites, they did not consult with the Lord.
- This treaty would continue into the reign of King David (2 Samuel 21:1-6), and eventually resulted in some assimilation as evidenced by the Gibeonites return from the Babylonian exile and participation in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:7, 7).
Questions to consider:
- In what ways did Israel fail in the midst of this deception by the Gibeonites? What could they have done if they had doubts?
- How can choosing the right actions get harder and harder when the situations we are in are the consequence of sin (Either the sin of others or our own)?
- How should Christians today consult the Lord during difficult decision making times? Where can we go to find the help we need (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?