Thursday, February 4, 2010

Daily Reading: Joshua 8-10

Reading Through the Bible in a Year!
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  1. johnaraulersonFebruary 4, 2010 at 3:28 AM

    (Josh 9:14-17) Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. 15 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. 16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. NKJV

    Joshua and the Israelites made a covenant with the Gibeonites which was in direct disobedience to the Lord's command. They had allowed themselves to be deceived by the desperate and yet clever Gibeonites and did not find out until three days later of the mistake. Israel could have and wanted to blame the Gibeonites for their disobedience (isn't this typical?) but they had only themselves to blame. First, they failed to understand, "Not everything is always as it seems." It is wise to examine any matter before a making a big decision, especially a covenant, and foolish not to. Second, they failed to seek the Lord. God sees and knows all things. He could have revealed to Joshua the deception at hand or simply warned Joshua in his spirit against the covenant. Again, we are wise to seek God's face before any covenant we enter to protect all involved. A couple other notes: Desperate people do desperate things. The Gibeonites realized they were about to be destroyed unless desperate actions be taken. Therefore, they developed a clever scheme to hopefully protect themselves. Finally, although Joshua and the Israelites unwisely made covenant with the Gibeonites, they did not make another unwise decision by breaking the covenant. Instead, they honored the covenant. History proves God honored their faithfulness.

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