June 20, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Joshua? Here’s today’s reading:
Joshua 9 (NIV)
The Gibeonite Deception
1 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)— 2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel...........Continue Reading
Joshua and the Israelites forgot a crucial step! Counsel with the Lord before these great decisions. We should consult God on all our decisions to be sure we are walking the path God wants for us.
Joshua 9
The Lord’s protection extended to provide for woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly and altar. Ingenious!
Joshua 9
My guess is that the Lord might have “suggested” waiting a few days to test the validity of their story.
Joshua 9
Being deceived like this must have been difficult for the Israelites just as it is for us. They did their own evaluation, but they did not inquire of the Lord. So two important lessons here…be honest ourselves and make sure we access the wisdom God makes available to us as we ask and believe. It is also interesting to read how the reputation of God and the victories that He provided had permeated the land. May we do what we can to tell others about the good things that God consistently does for us.
A good lesson in how important it is to start with God’s council. Even when we do something that feels and looks right, if it’s outside of God it is not.
24They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. 25We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”
26So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. 27That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose.
Joshua, a man clearly walking in step with the Lord, fails to consult Him! We so often use logic and reason to address our circumstances instead of consulting the Lord. I know I do! I am more and more realizing, especially in studying Joshua (twice in a row), that consulting the Lord should be first, prayer should be first. Prayer is not a defensive weapon tacked on the end when all hope is lost, prayers is an offensive weapon that should be used first. As someone on Youtube I have been listening to says, “prayers are nukes!”