Reading
SAA Notes
The Gibeonites are like Rahab. They both have a different reaction to what they know God is going to do than the people of Ai and Jericho. Saving faith leads to Joshua and the people of God! Their faith is commended, if not their means. Their faith saves them. Gibeonites are amongst the returnees from the Exile some 800 years later. Nehemiah 3:7
SJA Notes
* Fairest Lord, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Be not far from us, for trouble is near!
“And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them,”
We read in this passage two very different responses to the Lord and His people.
One is that of the kings – They reject God and get together to fight Israel.
The other is that of the Gibeonites – They recognise the LORD, they fear Him!
God’s word doesn’t show us some false view of history, it shows us reality, what people actually do.
God works through our brokenness, good through bad. This is the theme we have seen from the very beginning of God’s word, and is all the way through.
We see from this story that the Gibeonites, even with the lies and failing to seek the Lord, they are another example of “all nations” being blessed through Abraham.
It is not that God would have rejected the Gibeonites if Joshua and the leaders had sought His will. And it is not the lying of the Gibeonites that had them saved.
They recognised the Lord.
Just like Rahab they feared Him.
Are we recognising the Lord God in our lives with a reverent fear, keeping His name holy as we bear it in this world?
* Mighty God,
Thank You that You work good through our bad.
Thank You for Jesus – The best good to overcome the worst bad!
Amen.