Chapter 9 shows us more of the exploits of the Israelites and the decisions/ consequences of their journey.
Because of their reputation, the inhabitants of the land began to conspire how to deceive them and distract them from their victory. Be assured that whenever God is at work, so is the enemy. The Hivites (Josh 9:7) approached the Israelites at Gilgal (Josh 9:6) and asked to be accepted among them as servants. They claimed to be people who journeyed from far away. The Israelite leaders were a bit suspicious (Josh 9:7), but dismissed their suspicion without seeking God and accepted the foreign deceivers (Josh 9:14). The result was a slight loss of confidence in the Israelite leaders by the people and a constant presence of enemy in their midst (Josh 9:27).
God gives us a voice that speaks into our situations. He is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth if we will only slow down long enough to listen and wait.
Proverbs 1:7 is the takeaway today. Gaining wisdom and acting wisely is never divorced from knowing God, His will, and pursuing His ways.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Interesting to me that the word states in v.14 that they did not inquire of the Lord. How often that happens to me I think I know the way and don't want to bother God about the small things. But here it is pretty clear God wants us to bother Him, He wants to be part of all of it!
Question for the Pastor... The Gibeonite's did not want to be killed by Isreal. Was there any way at this point to have their lives spared. It seems like the book of Joshua is a series of wars and fights. They lied to have their lives saved and it worked, they were cursed in the end but they were not killed. Could they have turned to God and spared...?
Amanda,
It is a good question. Of course, we find no direct answer in the text because the situation did not arise. We then have to look to the charact of God and draw our conclusions from there. Was Rahab a sinner? We would agree that she was. She was spared judgment by asking for mercy from God's people. She was spared. We can also look to the New Testament and see that God never desires for sinners to perish, but for them to repent (2 Peter 3:9-10). So, I would conclude that if these people had repented, asking for mercy, they would have found it.
Great question.
Grace,
Post a Comment