CHAPTER 9

(1451 B.C.)

ALLIANCE

¹And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the Great Sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;

²That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord (this is but an example of the enemy coming against the modern Child of God with reinforcements; however, as Joshua and Israel of old, if directions from the Lord are sought and received, victory will be sure).

THE GIBEONITES

³And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,

⁴They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles (wine skins), old, and rent, and bound up;

⁵And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

⁶And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal (Gilgal was about three miles east of Jericho), and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country (Gibeon was actually only about fifteen miles west of Jericho): now therefore make you a league with us (this was strictly forbidden in Exodus 23:32; 34:12).

⁷And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites (its chief city was Gibeon, but the people were Hivites), Peradventure you dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?

⁸And they said unto Joshua, We are your servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are you? and from where do you come?

⁹And they said unto him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the Name of the LORD your God: for we have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰And all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth (to buttress their deceit, they carefully neglected to mention Jericho and Ai, which were recent victories).

¹¹Wherefore our Elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make you a league with us.

¹²This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:

¹³And these bottles (skins) of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey (as stated, it was actually only about fifteen miles, which could be easily traversed in one day).

¹⁴And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the Mouth of the LORD. (The Holy Spirit is careful to delineate this failure on the part of Israel. At Ai, Israel trusted her own strength, and did not pray, and was defeated. At Gibeon, she trusted her own wisdom, and did not pray, and was defeated! The sharp lesson taught at Ai was quickly forgotten. Such is the natural heart!)

¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation swore unto them. (Satan is more to be dreaded as a humble supplicant than as a roaring lion. To make him flee, he only needs to be resisted; but to stand against his wiles, the whole armor of God must be employed. Had Joshua asked counsel at the Mouth of the Lord instead of putting the moldy bread of the Gibeonites into his own mouth, so to speak, he would not have fallen into this snare. Satan, through the mouth of the Gibeonite, abundantly quoted the Bible to Joshua [Vss. 6, 9-10, 24], just as afterwards he did to the greater than Joshua, but the Lord defeated him with three Verses out of the Law.

Had Joshua so acted, he would have gotten the victory as well.

Satan can only deceive the Christian when we take the management into our own hands, instead of consulting the Lord.)

DECEPTION DISCOVERED

¹⁶And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them (only about fifteen miles due west).

¹⁷And the Children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim.

¹⁸And the Children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

¹⁹But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them (the word of the Child of God is to be as the Word of the Lord).

PUNISHMENT

²⁰This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore unto them.

²¹And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them. (The Gibeonites became the Nethinim. The word means given, i.e., devoted to the Sanctuary of Jehovah. Their lives were spared because the princes of Israel had taken an oath to them in the Name of Jehovah; but, because of their deceit, they were condemned to be drawers of water to the House of the Lord. They were not condemned to domestic slavery to the Israelites, but rather to the congregation, which refers to the Tabernacle, and later the Temple. Grace, therefore, brought them into the glory and joy of Psalms 84:10, and instructed David to appoint them to high position in the Temple [Ezra 8:20]. In fact, they were the first to return with Ezra and Nehemiah from Babylonian captivity, pledging themselves to keep the Statutes given by God to Moses [Ezra 2:43-58; Neh. 7:60]. They are last read of in Nehemiah 3:26; 10:28; and 11:21, as making their homes outside the water-gate of Jerusalem. Why the water-gate? Because being near the water supply, they could more readily discharge the honorable bondage to which Joshua had condemned them, of being drawers of water to the Temple of Jehovah. Thus, a curse justly pronounced by Law becomes, by Grace, a Blessing.)

²²And Joshua called for them, and he spoke unto them, saying, Wherefore have you beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when (in fact) you dwell among us?

²³Now therefore you are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the House of my God.

²⁴And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told your servants, how that the LORD your God commanded His Servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing.

²⁵And now, behold, we are in your hand: as it seems good and right unto you to do unto us, do.

²⁶And so did he (Joshua) unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the Children of Israel, that they slew them not (as stated, the curse of the Law was turned to a Blessing).

²⁷And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the Altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose (to their credit, as stated, they ever remained faithful).