But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended….
Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.
— Joshua 9:3,14
We fight first with the principalities in the air (Jericho) and then with the enticing world (Ai). The hardest thing to deal with, however, is not Jericho or Ai but Gibeon, which typifies the deceptiveness of man. Men of Gibeon came to the Israelites pretending to have come from a long distance (Josh. 9).
Joshua made a covenant with Gibeon without first seeking counsel of God. If he had asked, the Lord certainly would have indicated that these were actually neighbors who should have been dispossessed of the land.
Adapted from Joshua: A Life of Service, page 52.
Tomorrow: “The Lord Covers Our Mistakes”