One Year Bible and Readings for Thursday, April 14th "What the Israelites Did Right and ...Wrong!"

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Joshua 9:3-10:43

The Israelites did a couple of things right and a couple of things wrong when they were approached by the Gibeonites to make a peace treaty.  

1. The Gibeonites pulled one over on the Israelites by feigning they were from a distant country. They went as far as to bring moldy bread and put on worn out sandals to fuel the hoax. Joshua was sympathetic, but his fatal flaw is revealed in verse 14 when it says, "The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord." 

2. The Israelites made a treaty with Gibeonites based on this assumption and promised not to attack them. Soon thereafter when they figured out they were their neighbors, they had a decision to make. Should they attack them because they lied to them. But Joshua and the Israelites kept their word, "But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel." verse 18

They took quite a bit of flack from the people, but they reasoned that they had made their oath to the Lord so they could not break it. I think this showed a lot of integrity. They were tricked and getting pressure from the inside, but they kept their word. 

3. The Israelites did not kill them but put them to use by having them be wood cutters and water carriers. Through Joshua and the men keeping their word we see the following ramifications. 

"Significantly, there seems to be no complaint from the Gibeonites. They simply say, “here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.” Essentially, they were happy with the prospect of being incorporated into Israel, and by being made servants of the LORD, even if it was in menial service." - Guzik

Gibeon becomes a priestly city; the Ark of the Covenant stayed at Gibeon often in the days of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 16:39-40 and 21:29).

At least one of David’s mighty men was a Gibeonite (1 Chronicles 12:4).

God spoke to Solomon at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4).

Gibeonites were among those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7 and 7:25).

 Prophets such as Hananiah the son of Azur came from Gibeon (Jeremiah 28:1).

These are examples of the great things God can do with people who are sinners but come to Him in humility and love.

The Sun Stands Still

Meanwhile the king of Jerusalem receives word of all that has happened. As the King realized the Israelites had  become allied with Israel, he knew he had a problem on his hands. So he rallied four other Amorite kings and talked them into attacking Gibeon. When the king of Gibeon saw this, he cried out to Joshua for help. After the Lord assured Joshua he had given them victory over these Amorites, Joshua took his best fighting men to go after them. 

Then we see the Lord intervening in three miraculous ways on their behalf.

1. He threw Amorites into confusion. 

2. He hurled large hailstones upon them and more died from that then the swords of the Israelites.

3. In an usual move Joshua asked God to stop the sun and the moon in the sky for a half day, and God did. 

Seeing God’s miraculous hand in action gave Joshua the boldness to ask for an even more remarkable miracle – to keep the day going, to keep the sun from setting, so that Israel had time to accomplish a complete victory before darkness fell. - Guzik

Apparently the five Amorite kings all abandoned their men and were hiding in a cave when Joshua found out about it. Joshua eventually had the stone rolled away, and the men were put on poles as an example of what God would do to Israel's enemies. 

Once again we see the familiar refrain from Joshua with the words he himself received from the Lord, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight."

The chapter ends with Joshua and the men conquering many of the Southern cities including: Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Debir, Eglon, and Hebron. 

And what was the key to the success, "All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel."

Click Here To Read Luke 16:19-17:10

Click Here to Read Psalm 87

Proverbs 13:4






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