Jos 9:9-15 | KingComments | STEP | The Gibeonites use flattery. In the same way, there are nominal Christians who would like to join the believers of a local church and say pleasant things about God and the Lord Jesus. They talk as the believers like to hear it. Therefore, the church must be careful and always ask for the Lord’s will when people want to have fellowship. This will keep them from being misled on the one hand, and on the other hand, they will not painstakingly repel believers who belong to God’s people. All who meet the conditions of the Scriptures must be accepted in the church. The Gibeonites do not speak about what happened to Jericho and Ai. They behave as if they know nothing about it. They only talk about what can be assumed to be known from people who come from far away. They pretend that they are not aware of what has happened recently. Their testimony of the long journey is supported by their worn out clothes and dried bread. Joshua and the heads find their story plausible. The remarks about the LORD sound respectful. Their whole appearance seems to underline what they say of themselves. It is sufficient to give up the necessary vigilance and to receive this company.

‏ Joshua 9:9-15

The Gibeonites Justify Themselves

The Gibeonites use flattery. In the same way, there are nominal Christians who would like to join the believers of a local church and say pleasant things about God and the Lord Jesus. They talk as the believers like to hear it. Therefore, the church must be careful and always ask for the Lord’s will when people want to have fellowship. This will keep them from being misled on the one hand, and on the other hand, they will not painstakingly repel believers who belong to God’s people. All who meet the conditions of the Scriptures must be accepted in the church.

The Gibeonites do not speak about what happened to Jericho and Ai. They behave as if they know nothing about it. They only talk about what can be assumed to be known from people who come from far away. They pretend that they are not aware of what has happened recently. Their testimony of the long journey is supported by their worn out clothes and dried bread.

Joshua and the heads find their story plausible. The remarks about the LORD sound respectful. Their whole appearance seems to underline what they say of themselves. It is sufficient to give up the necessary vigilance and to receive this company.

Peace With the Gibeonites

The Israelites take their bread. By testing the ‘proofs’ themselves they come to the conclusion that the story of the Gibeonites is true. Their senses are the norm. That is the error. By taking their bread, they express their fellowship with them spiritually. Now they can’t go back. Where human senses and perceptions become the norm of assessment, the enemy has gained access. Then the LORD will not be consulted. He remains out of sight. The remark of the Holy Spirit “and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD” speaks volumes.

Not asking for the counsel of the LORD, for a statement of Him, brings the people to a covenant and thus to something that is forbidden by an earlier statement of Him. If we take steps without having asked for the Lord’s will and thus without having received a clear answer from Him, the consequences of those steps will always haunt us. Joshua and the heads make this covenant. The most responsible take the lead in the error. Satan has succeeded in his stratagem.

Jericho is taken by faith. After an initial defeat with Ai, that city is also taken when the people have removed the ban from their midst. Both cities fall into the hands of the people because obedience to what the LORD has said has been acted upon. The third city, Gibeon, is not conquered because the people did not ask for the will of the LORD.