And he did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, and they did not slay them.
Joshua had sworn peace with the men of Gibeon before he knew who they were. Now the lie is out and the camp wants blood. Why does he shield a people God had marked for destruction?
Israel made this league without asking God — but they made it in His name. That second fact settled everything.
There they bound themselves by the name of Jehovah. It is a very striking thing for us to see that at that moment no one trifled with the honour of that name. They felt that the Gibeonites had tricked them. That was true. But they did not think the deceit gave them any right to break the oath of Jehovah. We too must take care how we deal with that name when we have committed ourselves to something wrong. The thing was done, and 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 brought the difficulty before Him.
Joshua keeps them alive, but not because they had earned it. One thing alone protected them, and the work Israel gave them made it plain.
Enslaving them was the only course that righteousness left open. Wisdom guided the leaders of the Lord's army this far: the Gibeonites were to be woodcutters and water carriers. After the treaty it would have been fresh sin, a crime, to have put them to death. Israel had pledged the name of the Lord, and no one may ever trifle with that name. On the other hand, the Gibeonites sank to the lowest service for the sanctuary of Jehovah. So it was plain that nothing preserved them but His name. That is why they were attached to the sanctuary, but with the brand of slavery on them.
Joshua's rescue answers something the Gibeonites had just done. One writer finds in it a picture of how God treats a sinner who accepts His verdict.
God overruled their folly. He made it an occasion to show how He would be merciful to those who trembled at His word, even though they belonged to the accursed race of Canaan… The Gibeonites also show the true position of a truly repentant soul. They bow to the sentence of death. They do not plead the alliance. They surrender with no conditions: "Behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it." … On one side Israel curses the Gibeonite. On the other, the Gibeonite submits, content to be whatever Joshua may decide. Over both is seen the picture of God's mercy to a self-judging sinner.
Being spared is not the same as being cleared. The rescue left its mark on both sides.
But the grace of God is with Israel. This chapter shows evil entering the congregation, yet we do not find it growing. God delivers us from certain consequences of our sin, and allows others to remain. The people of God had to keep the Gibeonites among them, a lasting witness to their failure. There was one thing to do: bear with them, while keeping them in the place of the curse… The sentence passed on the king of Ai was pronounced over them, but not carried out, and meanwhile their safety lay in the name of Jehovah. Israel could not touch them.
One writer carries this into daily life. A tie entered wrongly can still hold you.
Gained by deceit, must this covenant stand? Yes, it must. So there are yokes which, though unequal, we cannot escape from. If the work we have yoked ourselves to is itself evil, and we can get free without doing an injustice to another, then of course we are bound to get free. If I have married an unbeliever, the oath of the Lord forbids me to withdraw. Business ties can be the same: once entered, simple righteousness forbids us to walk away.
The oath did not lose its force when Joshua died. King Saul later forgot it, but God is jealous over His own name.
Whatever the grace and faithfulness of God may be, for that very reason God is jealous of His word. He deals righteously wherever His name is pledged… Through the deceit of the Gibeonites, Joshua and the other leaders of Israel committed the name of Jehovah to sparing their lives… But Saul, in his false zeal for God, lost sight of what Israel had so solemnly guaranteed to the Gibeonites.
- Failure — Israel made the league without asking God, and the other side's deceit did not excuse that.
- Name — sworn in the Lord's name, the oath could not be broken. His name, not their worth, kept them alive.
- Mercy — they put their lives in Joshua's hands with no terms. Writers see there God's mercy to a sinner who judges himself.
- Marks — they escaped death, yet still carried the curse and the slave's work. God frees us from some consequences of sin and leaves others.
- Kept — God enforced Joshua's pledge long after Joshua died. An unwise promise made in His name is still a promise to keep.
And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the assembly, and for the altar of Jehovah, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
Joshua's sentence closes a chapter that began with deception. The Gibeonites had tricked Israel into a treaty, and now they take the lowest work in the nation — yet they do it at God's altar. Why did Israel keep them alive at all, and why so near the sanctuary?
The servitude was punishment. It was also the only righteous option left once Israel had sworn in God's name.
It is true that God permitted that they should bear a certain stamp of degradation as a result. They were enslaved, as the only course left open righteously. Some wisdom was given to those who led the Lord's host: the Gibeonites should be woodcutters and water carriers. After the treaty it would have been fresh sin, a crime, to have put them to death. The name of the Lord had been solemnly given, and that can never be treated lightly. On the other hand, the Gibeonites were reduced to the most menial services for the sanctuary of Jehovah. In this way it was made plain that nothing preserved them but His name. So they were attached to the sanctuary, but with the brand of slavery on them.
Their work was not only for Israel. Because it was for the altar, it made them servants of Israel's God.
Their fear of judgment has its reward. They get, in advance, the place a Gentile will have before Israel owned by God. This servitude of the Gibeonites is a small foreshadowing of the coming time when the Gentile will be exalted in serving the Jew. They are made woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation, and for the altar. So they become Jehovah's servants. And God remembered them. When Saul oppressed them, He avenged their cause on his family.
Earlier the Gibeonites had put themselves in Joshua's hands. One writer sees God honouring that surrender, not their trickery.
Their folly was overruled. God made it an occasion for showing how He would be merciful to those who trembled at His word, even though they were of the accursed race of Canaan. The Gibeonites also give the true position of a soul that is truly penitent, for they bow to the sentence of death. They do not plead the alliance. They surrender themselves unconditionally. Here on one side is Israel cursing the Gibeonite, on the other the submissive Gibeonite content to be anything Joshua may decide. Over both is seen the picture of God's mercy to a self-judging sinner.
Another writer notes the honest path they could have taken, then draws a wider lesson:
Suppose the Gibeonites had come openly as what they were, to put themselves under Jehovah's yoke. Then those in whose camp Rahab was, with her whole family, could not have refused them. But they came in craft. They may not be killed, but they are made bondmen in the service of the people of God, as woodcutters and water carriers for the sanctuary. So it must be, thank God: all must serve the glorious Lord we own. Willingly or unwillingly, as free or bond — this is the only choice permitted. But how serious are the results of that choice!
The words "to this day" are Israel's side of the story. The treaty could not be undone.
The fault committed in the matter of the Gibeonites seems to me more serious. It did not delay their progress; but, being the act of Joshua and the princes, it set them for ever in a false position towards those they spared.
Commentators differ in emphasis. Some stress the lasting cost to Israel. Others follow what God later made of the Gibeonites.
Later in Israel's history a group called the Nethinim served at God's house. One writer traces them back to this day.
Here, then, we probably find the origin of the Nethinim — those who were spared from the just judgment of God. They were reduced to servile bondage, but it was bondage in His mercy, in connection with His house. So the very curse resting on them was turned into a blessing. Instead of being destroyed by the sword of the Lord's host, they were rescued. Now, centuries later, they are found in honourable association with the Lord's people, and with a heart for the Lord's house.
- Sworn — Israel swore in God's name, so the Gibeonites lived. Nothing else preserved them.
- Servitude — Their deceit cost them the lowest work in the nation, with the brand of slavery on them.
- Sanctuary — The same sentence tied them to the altar. They became servants of the God they feared.
- Surrender — They pleaded nothing and kept nothing back. God shows mercy to those who tremble at His word.
- Sequel — Centuries later the curse had turned into blessing. God avenged them when Saul oppressed them, and the spared slaves stood in honourable association with His people, with a heart for His house.