Tricked by evidence
This week's verses are Joshua 9:3-15:
These verses take place in the Old Testament, but they have a timeless lesson in them. They're one of the times where Israel was tricked by their neighbours and turned their back on what God wanted them to do. In this case, God had told them to kill anyone who wasn't a Jew who was living in the land of Canaan, kind of like the holocaust, only in reverse. News got out to the many non-Jewish tribes who were living in Canaan. A lot of them banded together to make war on Israel, kind of like the "native Americans" did when a similar thing was happening in the 1800s. The residents of Gibeon, however, decided to come up with a different plan.
As the verses say, it was a clever plan. They didn't have to go to war and probably lose. They didn't have to deal with the other tribes betraying them or not sharing power if they won. All they had to do was pull off a hoax and scam the Israelites into believing they were from one of the far away tribes who weren't scheduled for genocide. It's kind of like when someone sends you an email pretending to be the IT department, asking for your passwords, credit card numbers, and permission to use your camera, only in this case they were phishing for a guarantee of protection instead. It worked!
How could it have worked? The men of Israel seem to be aware of the possibility that someone might try to trick them out of killing them, but they get fooled anyway. The reason they get fooled is that they only take into account what their eyes are telling them, and not what God is telling them. They didn't have access to the Holy Spirit back in those days, but they did have prophets and some kind of "magic 8-ball" rocks they would use to ask yes/no questions of God. They had plenty of ways to ask God if they wanted to.
How many times do we do that though? How many times are we confronted with a too-perfect story and think to ourselves "seems legit" only to fall for a scam? Maybe the scam is for money, but maybe it's a scam to get you to trust someone you shouldn't, or to not trust someone you should. Maybe it's a scam to harden your heart. Maybe it's a scam to eat the fruit from the tree you're not supposed to touch. All of us have been tricked by our eyes, or our emotions, or our sense of logic and reason, at one point or another. Our senses can give us an incomplete picture, like Isaac's did when Jacob showed up wearing a goatskin and claiming to be Esau.
Most of the time our senses will tell us the right things, but every now and then we need divine perspective in order to make the right call. We should feel free to pray and see if God wants to weigh in on any decision that may result in us doing something wrong. If Israel had stopped to ask God, he would have revealed the deception. Armed with that info they wouldn't have been stuck going against God's command and protecting the enemies they were supposed to drive out of the land.
When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, they did something clever. They collected some provisions and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched. They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread was dry and hard. They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.” The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live near us. So how can we make a treaty with you?” But they said to Joshua, “We are willing to be your subjects.” So Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” They told him, “Your subjects have come from a very distant land because of the reputation of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth. Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects. Make a treaty with us.”’ This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you, but now it is dry and hard. These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey.” The men examined some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord’s advice. Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community sealed it with an oath.
These verses take place in the Old Testament, but they have a timeless lesson in them. They're one of the times where Israel was tricked by their neighbours and turned their back on what God wanted them to do. In this case, God had told them to kill anyone who wasn't a Jew who was living in the land of Canaan, kind of like the holocaust, only in reverse. News got out to the many non-Jewish tribes who were living in Canaan. A lot of them banded together to make war on Israel, kind of like the "native Americans" did when a similar thing was happening in the 1800s. The residents of Gibeon, however, decided to come up with a different plan.
As the verses say, it was a clever plan. They didn't have to go to war and probably lose. They didn't have to deal with the other tribes betraying them or not sharing power if they won. All they had to do was pull off a hoax and scam the Israelites into believing they were from one of the far away tribes who weren't scheduled for genocide. It's kind of like when someone sends you an email pretending to be the IT department, asking for your passwords, credit card numbers, and permission to use your camera, only in this case they were phishing for a guarantee of protection instead. It worked!
How could it have worked? The men of Israel seem to be aware of the possibility that someone might try to trick them out of killing them, but they get fooled anyway. The reason they get fooled is that they only take into account what their eyes are telling them, and not what God is telling them. They didn't have access to the Holy Spirit back in those days, but they did have prophets and some kind of "magic 8-ball" rocks they would use to ask yes/no questions of God. They had plenty of ways to ask God if they wanted to.
How many times do we do that though? How many times are we confronted with a too-perfect story and think to ourselves "seems legit" only to fall for a scam? Maybe the scam is for money, but maybe it's a scam to get you to trust someone you shouldn't, or to not trust someone you should. Maybe it's a scam to harden your heart. Maybe it's a scam to eat the fruit from the tree you're not supposed to touch. All of us have been tricked by our eyes, or our emotions, or our sense of logic and reason, at one point or another. Our senses can give us an incomplete picture, like Isaac's did when Jacob showed up wearing a goatskin and claiming to be Esau.
Most of the time our senses will tell us the right things, but every now and then we need divine perspective in order to make the right call. We should feel free to pray and see if God wants to weigh in on any decision that may result in us doing something wrong. If Israel had stopped to ask God, he would have revealed the deception. Armed with that info they wouldn't have been stuck going against God's command and protecting the enemies they were supposed to drive out of the land.
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