"The men of Israel…did not inquire of the Lord" Joshua 9:14
Meanwhile, throughout Canaan
Satan is a subtle enemy, and lying is one of his tactics. If he can’t get us to flagrantly disobey God, he may appear as an "angel of light" and deceive us.
Various kings in Canaan formed an alliance. It made sense from a human perspective. The first battle of Ai said they only needed more men and swords. But from God’s perspective, they forgot what God did at Jericho.
Not everyone agreed, Gibeon chose another path. (see 10:2) They came to another conclusion about the Israelites (9:3)
Even the Gibeonites missed the message of Rahab! They did allow their accurate knowledge to lead them to proper actions
A Shrewd Strategy
Gibeonites had done their homework well (9:4-6, 9-10)
God forbade any treaties with Canaanites (Exod. 23:31-33)
God had made provision for people outside of Canaan (Deut. 20:10-18)
Caught Off Guard
Was Joshua too trusting? He was acting as God said he should in circumstances such as this seemed to be!
It took 3 days to discover the mistake (9:16) Then, the Israelites made the long journey just to find out
It was no rumor, and two wrongs never make a right
It is better to serve and live, so said the Gibeonites
Another painful lesson (10:3-4)
4 Principles
#1) Christians can be led astray by making superficial judgements based upon the Bible
#2)
We can be deceived if we use the Bible mystically
#3)
We can be deceived if we read and study the Bible subjectively and without good principles of interpretation
#4)
We can be deceived if we bring circumstances to bear on Scripture rather than evaluating circumstances in the light of Scripture
