The end of the year is always a busy time! With the holidays approaching and end of the year campaigns in full swing, it is easy to feel like things needs to get done, decisions need to be made, and that there isn’t enough time to stop doing.
That’s at least how I’ve been tempted to feel these last few weeks.
But one thing I’ve learned over my few years of working with GEM is that when you’re moving into uncharted territory, taking breaks from doing to make time for thinking, praying, planning, and preparing is just as, if not, even more important.
One of the passages in the Bible God has called repeatedly to mind through my devotions and others, is in Joshua 9 when several members of the nation of Gibeon dress themselves up in rags and lie to the Israelites about where they come from.
In the book of Joshua, Joshua is the brave leader that leads Israel into battle after battle against the pagan people groups living in the Promised Land. Previously, in the book of Deuteronomy, God told the Israelites through Moses that when fighting against their enemies they should first offer peace offerings. However, he makes a clear distinction between general enemies and the nations they would fight against in the land God has promised them.
“However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes… Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 20:16,18 NIV)
When the Gibeonites hear that Israel has defeated several of the neighboring nations, they fear for their lives and decide that instead of trying to go up against Israel and their God, they would be better off deceiving the Israelites in order to become their servants. So, they dress themselves in old clothes, worn sandals and cracked wineskins. They even go so far as to carry moldy bread with them so that they can convince the Israelites that they come from far away and aren’t inhabitants of the Promised Land.
When they approach the Israelites at their camp and ask them to make at treaty with them, the leaders of Israel sample their provisions and use their own reasoning skills to decide whether or not they should make the treaty. But they forget one important thing – to inquire of the Lord. Because of this, they believe the Gibeonites and swear an oath by the God of Israel that they will not harm them.
The Gibeonites then leave to go back to their city and three days later, Israel, as they are conquering more nations, arrive at what they find out to be Gibeon. To their surprise, it is indeed in the Promised Land! They can’t believe that they were deceived, but they keep the oath they had sworn to Gibeonites and do not harm them. However, in Joshua chapter 10 they are forced to go into war to protect themselves and the Gibeonites from other nations.
This story is full lessons, but one lesson in particular caught my attention.
“The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” (Joshua 9:14 NIV)
The Israelites used their own reasoning skills and senses to see whether or not the Gibeonites were telling them the truth instead of stopping to see what the Lord had to say. This might sound logical and completely normal to us, but we can see in this story that the Israelites senses failed them. They weren’t a reliable tool to navigate through deception and truth. And, fortunately for the Gibeonites, the Israelites didn’t take time to stop and inquire of the Lord. They made a judgment based on what they thought would be best, while the Lord would have opened their eyes to see the truth.
As I’ve been applying this to my own life, I’ve been asking myself – How many times have I made decisions based on my own judgment instead of quieting myself and going first to the Lord.
The Gibeonites would play a significant role in Israel’s future history, even causing God to bring famine on Israel because Saul forsake the oath that Joshua had made with them.
How many times have we made decisions based on our own judgment whose consequences won’t just affect us in the present, but also in the future. Consequences that could and probably will affect our children and our children’s children.
But there’s also another side to this story.
Although the Israelites disobeyed God’s original command to destroy everything and everyone in the land that they would inherit, God eventually raises up the Gibeonites to take care of the temple and at least one to be a prophet – God’s own mouthpiece – for the nation. Even one of King David’s most honored and respected strong men was a Gibeonite!
Just as God does, He uses even the disobedience of Israel to bring about good for the nation and glory for Himself.
So, for those of us who have disobeyed Him and feel without hope, let this be a reminder. Yes, our God expects obedience. Our disobedience will always bring about consequences, whether exterior or interior.
But where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” (Romans 5:20 NLT)
– Maggie Addison, GEM Mexico Field Office Director