The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Deceive” it comes from the Hebrew Word “nakal” which means “to deceive, to act treacherously.”
A group of neighboring people trick Israel into a treaty through an elaborate disguise. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Joshua 9.
Hearing of Israel’s victories, kings throughout the region gather to fight together against Israel, but the inhabitants of Gibeon take a different approach. They disguise themselves cleverly, wearing old, patched sandals and clothing, carrying dry, moldy bread, and claiming to have traveled from a very far country specifically to make a peace treaty with Israel because of God’s great reputation. Though the Israelite leaders grow suspicious enough to examine their provisions, they fail to ask counsel of the Lord before making a covenant of peace and swearing an oath to let them live.
Three days later, Israel discovers the Gibeonites actually live nearby, well within the land they are supposed to conquer. Though the congregation is furious at their leaders, they honor the oath they swore, “nakal” in Hebrew describing how thoroughly the Gibeonites had deceived them, since breaking a sworn oath before the Lord would bring wrath on Israel regardless of how it was obtained.
Joshua confronts the Gibeonites directly, and though he curses them to become servants who cut wood and draw water for the congregation and for God’s altar, he still honors the covenant and protects them from Israel’s wrath. The Gibeonites explain they lied out of genuine fear for their lives, having heard everything God commanded Moses regarding the destruction of the land’s inhabitants, and Joshua allows them to live under this arrangement rather than putting them to death.
Israel’s leaders made a serious, costly mistake here simply by skipping one crucial step, asking counsel of the Lord before deciding. Even a seemingly reasonable, cautious decision can go badly wrong when it leaves God out of the process entirely. This account is a quiet warning about the danger of trusting appearances over genuinely seeking God’s guidance first.
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