And the men took of their victuals, but they did not inquire at the mouth of Jehovah.
Canaanites arrive at Israel's camp in worn-out sandals, carrying dry, mouldy bread and claiming to come from a far country. Verse 14 records the quiet omission that decided everything: God's people settled the matter without asking Him.
The men handled the bread and drew their conclusion from it. Commentators note how small the act looks and how much it carried.
The bait had taken, the mischief was done, and its effects worked for a long time. The men of Israel, who were not without fears at the start, allowed themselves to be trapped. If Joshua led, we should not be surprised that the rest followed. They "took of their provisions" — the sign of fellowship in its measure — "they took of their provisions, and did not ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord."
Taking food together was not a casual gesture in that world. It was how agreements were sealed.
When the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the heads of Israel, "the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD, and... swore to them." To this day in the East, a stranger who gets the head of a tribe to eat with him knows he is safe. The shared meal counts as a covenant.
This was not simple carelessness. They thought hard, examined the evidence, and reached a verdict. They used their own minds where God's mind was there for the asking.
But here they failed. They did not wait on God. He would have guided them. He would have told them who these crafty strangers were. He would have made everything clear for Israel, if only they had waited on Him, aware of their own ignorance and weakness. But no; they would think for themselves, judge for themselves, reason from what they saw, and draw their own conclusions. So the tattered garments of the Gibeonites achieved what the frowning walls of Jericho had failed to do.
The crowd did not fall first. The men trained to weigh matters did, and their training was the weak point.
The inhabitants of Gibeon pretended to have come from far away. The princes of Israel use their own wisdom instead of asking counsel of the Lord. This time it is confidence, not in the strength, but in the wisdom of man. The princes of the congregation are used to reflecting and guiding, so they are more likely to fall into this snare. The people are bad in their unbelief. Yet they are eager for the result, and they are often nearer the mind of God, to whom the result is certain. The princes had some misgivings, so they have no excuse.
The failure went deeper than one bad decision. They had let go of their dependence on God.
The awareness of our nothingness as instruments keeps us in constant dependence on the hand that uses us. This is the pathway of power... The Israelites' chief fault in Joshua 9 was that they "did not ask counsel from the LORD" (v. 14). At the close of the previous chapter we saw that the word of God had recovered its importance for them. But here they forget to go to God for communion with Him about His mind for them.
A natural defence is that Israel was lied to. Commentators refuse the plea, because the deception only worked in God's absence.
They made the fatal mistake of receiving them on their own word without asking counsel from the Lord (v. 14)... If we think Israel was not to blame since they were deceived, then let us think again: if they had taken the matter to God, would they have been deceived? No! If we are in proper communion with the Lord, we shall not be deceived, for the Lord is not deceived.
Israel had sworn in God's name. The treaty stood, and they never took the trouble back to Him.
They felt that they had been tricked. This was true. But they did not think that being deceived left them free to break the oath of the Lord. We too must be careful. When we have committed ourselves to something wrong, we must not treat that name carelessly. No; the thing was done: it could not be undone. They had made a double error. They entered into it without the Lord. And once it was done, we do not find that they laid the difficulty before Him.
The bill did not fall due that day. It fell on later generations.
Peace with Gibeon only robs us of victory. It brings other wars and troubles on us, for the presence of what is not of God always opens the door to Satan... In the days of David there was a famine for three years. It came because of Saul and his bloody house, because he had killed the Gibeonites. All this came from the little act of not taking counsel with God... The enemy is so cunning. Leaning on our own wisdom in the ways of God is almost as bad as leaning on our own strength for God's battles. Peace with Gibeon and war with Ai both end in defeat and shame.
- Counsel skipped. The whole disaster hangs on one clause: they tasted the bread and never asked the Lord.
- Counsel replaced. Human reasoning filled the gap. Ragged clothes and stale food won where Jericho's walls had failed.
- Counsel needed. The leaders were trained to weigh evidence. They walked into a snare the ordinary people half-sensed.
- Counsel protects. Being lied to is no defence. God is not deceived, and those in communion with Him are not deceived either.
- Counsel dropped. They never brought the ruined situation back to God. So the oath stood, and the trouble ran on to David's day.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the assembly swore unto them.
The men of Gibeon came with worn-out sacks, cracked wineskins and mouldy bread. They claimed to be travellers from a far country. Verse 15 is the result. It comes one verse after Israel "did not ask counsel from the LORD."
Being deceived was no excuse. The trick only worked because no one asked God.
What the Gibeonites said sounded plausible, and their reference to Israel's God may have had a deciding effect with Joshua. But he and Israel made the fatal mistake of receiving them on their own word, without asking counsel from the Lord (v.14). They made and confirmed a covenant with them by an oath (v.15). Do we think Israel was not to blame, since the Gibeonites deceived them? Then think again. If they had taken the matter to God, would the Gibeonites have fooled them? No! If we walk in true communion with the Lord, no one will fool us, for the Lord is not deceived.
Verse 15 names Joshua and the leaders of the congregation. That is what makes the failure so serious.
But here it was God who was not consulted. It is a more serious thing, beloved, when it is not only the men of Israel, but the elders, the princes, the chiefs of the congregation — yes, Joshua himself — who left Him out of a matter which He alone knew.
The story was thin. A few honest questions would have broken it open. But Israel had only their own judgement to test it with.
How easily they were ensnared! Even a little questioning would have exposed the true character of the Gibeonites. If they lived as far away as the mouldy bread and the torn wineskins pretended, they had no cause to fear Israel... Their eagerness to form an alliance would have betrayed them to the wise of the world. But Israel were then in a position where, if they had not wisdom from God, they must sink beneath the world's wisdom.
The same failure came down to a choice: trust the eye, or trust what God had already said.
If the authority of the word had governed them, it would have kept them from the grave error of making a treaty with people they ought to have destroyed completely. But they judged by the sight of their eyes, and had to reap the consequences.
The leaders "swore to them." The Gibeonites had tricked Israel into that oath, but the trick did not release them from it.
There they bound themselves by the name of the LORD. It is very striking for us to see that at that time no one trifled with the honour of that name. They felt that they had been deceived. This was true. But they did not therefore think they were free to break the oath of the LORD, just because they had been tricked into it... The thing was done: it could not be undone. They had made a double error. They entered into it without the Lord. And once the thing was done, we do not find that they spread the difficulty before Him.
The compromise left a permanent mark on Gibeon.
After the treaty it would have been fresh sin, a crime, to have put them to death. They had solemnly given the name of the Lord, and no one can ever treat that name lightly. But on the other hand, the Gibeonites were reduced to the lowest servant work for the sanctuary of the LORD. So it was plain that nothing protected them but His name.
Peace with Gibeon did not end the fighting. The cost surfaced again generations later.
Peace with Gibeon only robs us of victory and brings other wars and troubles upon us. Whatever is not of God always opens the door to Satan... In the days of David there was a famine for three years. It came because of Saul and his bloody house, because he had killed the Gibeonites. All this came from the little act of not taking counsel with God.
Israel's blunder did not defeat God. He turned it into an occasion for mercy.
God overruled their folly. He made it an occasion to show how merciful He would be to those who trembled at His word, even though they belonged to the cursed race of Canaan. That is most blessedly true... The Gibeonites also show the true position of a soul really penitent, for they bow to the sentence of death... They do not plead the alliance, they surrender themselves unconditionally: "Behold, we are in your hand; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight."
- Omission — The covenant in verse 15 grew out of one missing step in verse 14. The deception was the symptom, not the cause.
- Leaders — Not just the men of Israel, but the elders, the princes and Joshua himself left God out of it.
- Oath — Deception did not cancel the oath. Israel could not treat the name of the Lord lightly, even when they had given it wrongly.
- Consequences — The alliance brought new wars at once, and a famine long afterwards. A mistake is far easier to make than to undo.
- Mercy — God still overruled. He spared those who trembled at His word, and left a picture of the sinner who pleads nothing and surrenders everything.