What to say about these passages? Incredible, amazing, unbelievable, frightening. This is “I can’t look away” reading.
I know we aren’t supposed to like the Gibeonites, but I can’t help it. God’s intent was that all Hivites would be destroyed, and the Gibeonites were from that tribe. I hadn’t realized before today that Gibeon was such a large city with stalwart warriors, or that there were several towns included. For some reason I had Gibeon pegged as a small town, isolated and filled with weak and powerless people who knew they couldn’t fight.
The people of Gibeon had one thing going for them…they recognized divine favor and involvement on behalf of the Israelites. In some backwards way this almost seems like a confession that Yahweh is God. However, God did not arrange for Gibeon to be saved, they were saved only because the leaders of Israel didn’t consult with God before they made an agreement with them. Had they checked with God first, the outcome might have been far different. As it was, God used Gibeon’s deception and the leaders error to enrage the rest of the pagan kings, and have them assemble and attack the Israelites. Instead of Joshua having to travel to every walled city and conquer it, they came to him and were conquered. Even if we don’t always do what we are supposed to, it isn’t going to stop God from doing what He wants. We will certainly be impacted because of our error, but God will not. Time means nothing to Him, and human plans and strength mean less than nothing. Nature itself answers when He calls. The skies do His bidding, the elements that form all creation belong to Him. The laws of the universe that govern our existence were written by Him, and He has authority to change them. The things we recognize as immovable and permanent are temporary for God.
Gibeon survives because of their acknowledgement of this truth. I don’t think you and I can be compared to them, however. We are the sons and daughters of God most high. We are the rightful heirs of the land, the “new Israel” who serve the Living God, and as we are obedient to Him, we will be victorious over our enemies.
Perhaps as you read these chapters you will feel uneasy about the genocide that is taking place. Make no mistake here….this is God ordained. That means Joshua is killing everyone, men, women and children; at God’s command. I don’t know if Joshua was a bloodthirsty warrior or not, (God could have used him either way) but I do know that he was being obedient.
Why would God kill everyone? This is hard to understand, but let me take a quick run at an explanation.
If you are looking for someone to blame, look no further than the parents and the leaders of the pagan nation. The reason the children are being killed is because they worshiped false gods, offered their children as sacrifices and engaged in many types of pagan worship that God found offensive. For this reason alone, God is wiping them out. Maybe you don’t like the idea. Maybe you don’t think it’s fair. Maybe you would have done something different. Okay, that’s you…this is God. Take a quick lesson here, seriously…. God will not tolerate our worship of anyone or anything else beside Him. God is jealous for our affection and will punish those who worship false gods.
Sometimes it takes hundreds of years for this punishment to catch up with us. In fact, God had promised the land that Joshua is conquering to Abraham over 500 years ago. 500 years is nothing for God. Sure, some of the generations felt like they “got away with it”. They engaged in pagan revelry and false worship and nothing bad happened to them while they were alive. But think about it, all they did was appear before God who was not pleased with them when they died. They received their punishment in full, and the punishment of the land and the people eventually caught up with them.
What happened to them can happen to us just as quickly. The people extinguished by God for false worship is not an isolated event in Scripture, God kills off thousands of the Israelites when they do the same thing. And if He would do it to them, He will do it to us.
The bottom line: Worship God alone, and do it in the manner in which He expects. Anything else will bring destruction upon you, or upon your descendants.
Faithfully,
PR