They did not seek counsel of the Lord

Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. – Joshua 9v14

The Gibeonites were sharp. Residents of Canaan they had heard about the power of Israel and the victories that they were having over the other people in the land. They had heard that Israel were going to conquer all of Canaan and therefore feared for their existence.

The Gibeonites hatched a plan to stay alive. The purposefully aged their provisions and their clothing and marched out to meet Joshua. ‘Look at us,’ they said, ‘We started out with fresh food and brand new clothes and now everything has gone off and worn out. We have heard about you and your army and just want to be your servants.’

How could that be bad? So they agreed to a treaty. They would let the Gibeonites live if they would serve Israel.

They finally discover the deceit and learn that the Gibeonites only lived three days away. It was too late though because they had made a promise. The consequences would be severe as they had to deal with the Gibeonites from there out.

My mind heads in a couple of directions here. The first is obvious, the second maybe not quite so obvious and maybe only a personal observation.

First, the problem that Israel had is that they did not seek God’s counsel, but acted on their own. That is juts asking for trouble. Whatever decision we face, even if the answer seems obvious, we need to remember to seek God’s wisdom and His way. To head off on our own is simply bull headed and foolish. There are always consequences to face when we, like Israel, do not seek His counsel.

The second point is just a personal point so take it or leave it. Sometimes we use Canaan to picture living the Christian life. There are indeed a lot of similarities. We too face many enemies in our life with Him. As we live our Christian lives we should totally vanquish our spiritual enemies, the things that get in the way of total victory. If we don’t defeat those enemies, but instead compromise with them, we too are going to face struggles. There is no room for signing a peace treaty with our spiritual enemies, no matter how tempting the offer.