Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 9-11.
The Israelites were given instructions to not make a covenant with any of the inhabitants of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:2). Yet they let their guard down and allowed themselves to be tricked by the inhabitants of Gibeon into making peace with them.
“They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us,’ The men of Israel said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?’ But they said to Joshua, ‘We are your servants.’ Then Joshua said to them, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’ They said to him, ‘Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the Lord your God… So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, “Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, ‘We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us.'”‘ […]
“So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
“It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land” (Joshua 9:6-16).
The mistake that Joshua and the leaders of Israel made was in taking the people of Gibeon at their word. Caution, investigation, and determining God’s will would have prevented this error. Yet they did not consider the situation carefully. So they made peace only to quickly realize they had made a mistake. But by that point, it was too late – the covenant was already in place (Joshua 9:18).
We can be guilty of the same thing today – thoughtlessly taking people at their word, joining into fellowship with them, only to find out later that we have no right to have fellowship with them (cf. Ephesians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; 2 John 10-11). Then it becomes difficult to give up these associations in order to be wholly faithful to the Lord. Sadly, many choose to remain in fellowship with those in sin and error.
We do not need to be suspicious of everyone, but we do need to be watchful. Just because one’s words or actions suggest that he is a faithful follower of Christ, that does not necessarily mean that he is.
Tomorrow’s reading: Joshua 12-15
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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