Joshua 9-11

March 8

Joshua 9-11

God was faithful to Israel. He empowered them to win victories over more powerful adversaries. He hurled large hailstones down on the Amorites, He stopped the sun from going down for a day, He fought for Israel as He gave them the land He had promised their ancestor Abraham so many years before. God proved himself faithful.

Joshua was a great leader. He was chosen by God to lead Israel at such a time. Joshua was a man of prayer. He sought God’s guidance and God encouraged Joshua to be strong and courageous. Joshua was a man of integrity, a man of honor, but Joshua made a mistake that caused Israel to stumble.

The people of Gibeon heard about what God had done when He delivered Jericho and Ai into the hands of Joshua and his army. They heard about how the God of Israel was fighting for them. They realized that they did not stand a chance as Israel came in and took over the land God was providing them. The Gibeonites sent a delegation to Joshua seeking treaty with the Israelites. They put on old clothes, took old bread, and went to Joshua claiming to have traveled a long distance. Joshua questioned the Gibeonites about their origin and they claimed they came from a long distance. Joshua messed up when he did not inquire of the Lord.

Joshua made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites and it was ratified by Israel’s leaders. Three days later they found out that the Gibeonites were their neighbors. The Israelites were upset that they had been fooled, but they stood by their agreement. They did not kill the Gibeonites but they did make them servants. The Gibeonites realized the power of God and decided it was better to be servants of God’s people than to try to fight them.

Often we get in situations where we think we know the right answer. We know what we are doing. Some decisions are easy to make. When the major decisions come, we are quick to seek God’s counsel. But the easier decisions, we try to take care of those ourselves. Joshua’s experience reminds us that we should inquire of the Lord in all our decisions. God knows the truth of the matter. God wants what is best for us, even if it is not what we think is best.

James wrote; "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." (James 1:5-6, NIV)