Joshua 9-10 "Gibeon"

1. Gibeon against the Nations (9)

Israel has entered the land.

They have crossed the Jordan and are beginning to take possession of Canaan.

Jericho has fallen.

But then Achan took some gold and silver from Jericho,

along with a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and buried it in his tent.

I neglected to mention last time that the cloak from Shinar

would most likely be a Babylonian priestly garment.

Achan has taken items devoted to God,

things that should have been put into the treasury of the tabernacle,

-the tent of God-

and has put them into his own tent.

He has set himself up as a priest over against the priests of God.

And so, with a false priest in their camp,

the hosts of Israel cannot overthrow the little "heap" of Ai.

But once the false priest is put to death,

and Israel is restored to God's service,

they quickly dispatch Ai and reduce it to a heap

burying its king under a heap of stones-

just as Achan was buried under a heap of stones.

At the end of chapter 8, Israel renews covenant with God at Gerizim and Ebal.

As the crossing of the Jordan was marked by the worship of God,

so also these initial victories are marked by the worship of God.

Because of what God has done, they give thanks to him.

a) The Gibeonite Covenant (9:1-15)

But when the kings of the land hear of the coming of Israel,

they gather togther to fight as one against this upstart Joshua.

And in so doing they bring the curse of God upon them.

God has already declared that their wickedness is full (Dt 9:4-5),

but there is a special curse for those who curse the seed of Abraham.

(Gen 12)

And so by coming to fight against Israel, God's curse falls upon them.

All except Gibeon.

(Tell the story)

Note that they have come "because of the name of Yahweh, your God."

They have heard of what he did to Egypt, to Og and Sihon

(though of course, not Jericho or Ai, since that would betray their proximity!)

The deception of the Gibeonites is performed in faith.

They believe God's promises,

and so know that their only hope for life is to deceive Israel!

And Israel falls for it.

Israel was supposed to destroy every single one of these reprobate nations.

But Gibeon tricked their way into salvation.

Israel should have inquired of the LORD.

And if they had, God would have told them no.

But in God's providence, Israel failed.

The blessing of Abraham has come to Gibeon!

b) The Unbreakable Oath (9:16-21)

But three days later, Israel realizes what has happened.

And it takes them three days to march to Gibeon.

How many days is that?

Six days after the covenant is made with Gibeon,

Israel stands at the gates of Gibeon.

And thus, on the seventh day, Gibeon enters Israel's rest.

Henceforth, they will share in the blessing of Abraham-

but because of their deception they are relegated to hewers of wood and drawers of water

C) The Gibeonite Curse (9:22-27)

There is a certain irony here.

They are blessed and yet cursed.

Blessed because they now live as members of the people of God,

but cursed because they are forever servants.

But the response of Gibeon is that they would rather be hewers of wood and drawers of water

in the house of Yahweh,

than remain in idolatry any longer.

2 Samuel 21

Saul had sought to destroy the Gibeonites-to cut off their place in Israel

(Misguided effort to complete Joshua's job)

the punishment fits the crime (now Saul has no place in Israel)

2. The Nations against Gibeon (10)

a) The Five Kings Attack Gibeon

Now the five kings of the Amorites hear that Gibeon has gone over to Israel,

and so they come against Gibeon

Led by Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem,

they march against Gibeon.

Who was the first king of Jerusalem named in the Bible?

Melchi-zedek (king of righteousness).

Now Adoni-zedek (lord of righteousness) rules on the throne.

He is quite possibly Melchizedek's own flesh and blood.

He is certainly Melchizedek's heir.

But this king of Jerusalem is proud and does not heed the word of the LORD.

He does not bless Abraham's seed,

and thus the curse of Abraham comes upon him.

b) The LORD Fights for Joshua (10:6-15)

Having made a covenant with Gibeon,

Joshua will honor his word.

When Gibeon sends word that the kings of the Amorites have come,

he marches his men all through the night.

And Yahweh himself declares:

"Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands." (10:8)

There may have been some who feared that because the Gibeonites

were supposed to have been devoted to destruction,

that therefore God would now judge them by giving them into their enemies hands

but God here assures them that he will fight for them.

This is final proof that God desired the salvation of the Gibeonites,

and that it was according to his will that these Gentiles be delivered

by the hand of Israel.

And God fought for Israel (v10-11)

Read verse 12.

Who is the "he" in "he said in the sight of Israel?

While most have said "Joshua,"

it is entirely possible that this is God speaking.

(Especially because man-even Adam in the garden-does not have authority

over the heavenly creatures)

But either way, verse 14 goes so far as to say that Yahweh obeyed the voice of a man.

So far, Joshua has been portrayed as someone somewhat lesser than Moses,

but here we see Joshua's greatness.

Never before or since has God obeyed a man,

but Joshua is God's anointed conqueror.

Now, as to the stopping of the sun,

two main options have been entertained by the orthodox:

1) a miracle that actually stopped the earth's rotation

2) a hailstorm ("stop" could quite plausibly refer to the stopping of the light and heat of the sun)

Habakkuk 3 seems to plainly suggest the former.

But the marvelous part of all of this, is that God does this for Israel,

after Israel foolishly entered into a covenant with a nation devoted to destruction.

Is 28:21-the strange deed of the Valley of Gibeon

that God should arise and fight for the Gentiles (indeed, for those condemned to death!)

Even so is it strange that God will now arise and fight against his people

The course of the sun and moon are affected when God delivers Jew and Gentile

from the powers of death.

c) The Death of the Five Kings (10:16-28)

(Verse 15 is the conclusion to the quotation section that speaks of God's fighting for Israel

now we return to the details of battle)

The five kings are captured,

their armies are dead or fled back to their strongholds.

And Joshua brings his captains to the cave at Makkedah,

and has them put their feet on the necks of these kings.

This is a reminder of what God has promised.

"Thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight."

The seed of the woman is crushing the head of the serpent.

Do you believe this?

Because this is what our Lord Jesus has done.

He has cast Satan down,

and trampled the head of the serpent.

And now he destroys all his and our enemies,

as he brings salvation to his people.

It may not look like it,

but this is equally true today.

The church must never forget-

you must never forget-

that the kingdom of Christ is advancing with power,

and the gates of hell will never prevail against it.

The Modern Gibeonite Degradation

"Few seem to perceive what appears fearfully evident to the writer, that our existent Christianity is almost universally corrupt, and is becoming more so continually; that unless its present tendencies be speedily reversed, a state of worse than medieval darkness will soon settle upon Christendom; not a state of intellectual decrepitude and enslavement, but one of intellectual triumph and haughty independence; not a state in which the Church, like a besotted despot, will drag men in chain-gangs behind her bloody car, but one in which man will rise in proud supremacy, and either trample the Church under foot, or else spare her in Gibeonite degradation, to become a 'hewer of wood and drawer of water' about the gorgeous Temple of Mammon! Or, to say the very least, the Church and the world will move on in harmony, neither disposed to assert its own peculiarities." (Stephen Colwell, Charity and the Clergy)