Joshua Chapter 9 – When Trickery Met Integrity
The rulers of Israel, and Joshua especially, must have been conflicted when they discovered they had been deceived by the Hivites of Gibeon. When all the congregation murmured against them for sparing the Gibeonites, they could only defend themselves with the oath they had sworn by mistake (18-19). Otherwise, the law of God prohibited any form of covenant with the Canaanite tribes but to utterly kill all of them (Ex 23:32; Deut 20:16-17).
Very interestingly, at the very beginning of the Book of Joshua, God showed through the story of Rahab that there would be exceptions. Here the Gibeonites like Rahab, acted on their faith in the God of Israel (9-10) and chose to align themselves with His people rather than to die with their fellow Hivites and other Canaanite tribes. They were willing to be submit to the service of God and His chosen ones (8,25-27).
While God hardened the hearts of others, He allowed the hearts of Gibeonites to humbly turn to Him:
There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses [Jos 11: 19-20].
During the time of Solomon, the tabernacle of meeting with God was pitched at Gibeon (2 Chron 1:3). Almost a thousand years later, the Gibeonites were still dwelling in the midst of Israel as they rebuilt Jerusalem (Neh 3:7).
Israel’s leaders on the other hand, showed themselves to be men of integrity who despite knowing they were tricked, honoured their word to spare their lives (16-19). They also understood the character of God – that He will be angry with them if they were to break their covenantal promise (20, cf. 2 Sam 21:1). Do we as Christians reflect the character of God in being true to our word, even when we swear to our own hurt?
LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? [2] He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart… He who swears to his own hurt and does not change [Ps 15:1-2, 4]
God’s covenantal faithfulness is unquestionable (2 Tim 2:13 ) and He requires the same from His people.
