PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIMES REVEAL GOD’S TRULY FAIR DEALS
ーThe Scripture gives witness in various places to God’s continual fair dealings with people according to their response and faithful attitude to Him beyond generations, and even centuries...ー
Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things – the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) – 2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse: they went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and mouldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, ‘We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.’ 7 The Israelites said to the Hivites, ‘But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?’ 8 ‘We are your servants,’ they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’ 9 They answered: ‘Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan – Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, “Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, ‘We are your servants; make a treaty with us.’” 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and mouldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.’ 14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not enquire of the LORD. 15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbours, living near them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, 19 but all the leaders answered, ‘We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 20 This is what we will do to them: we will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.’ 21 They continued, ‘Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water-carriers in the service of the whole assembly.’ So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.
22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, ‘Why did you deceive us by saying, “We live a long way from you,” while actually you live near us? 23 You are now under a curse: you will never be released from service as woodcutters and water-carriers for the house of my God.’ 24 They answered Joshua, ‘Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. 25 We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.’ 26 So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. 27 That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water-carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the LORD at the place the LORD would choose. And that is what they are to this day. JOSHUA 9.
The Scripture gives witness in various places to God’s continual fair dealings with people according to their response and faithful attitude to Him beyond generations, and even centuries. Sometimes, however, his dealings are not immediately apparent, and are only possible to see through the lens of history. In other words, if we are shortsighted, we can fail to see God’s faithfulness and unfathomable thoughtfulness. However, if we are able to see things with longsighted eyes, we can undoubtedly expect God to deal fairly with each person. The passage quoted at the beginning is one such example. If we were to apply a wide lens perspective on the story, we will see how appropriately God dealt with ‘the people of Gibeon’, who approached Israel with a deception. There always seems to be an element of surprise and amazement contained in the Scripture.
At the time of Israel’s entry into Canaan, the Promised Land, people in the lands surrounding Canaan reacted to Israel’s success against Jericho and Ai in one of two ways: some inhabitants hardened their hearts so as to organise a union against Israel, while some inhabitants prepared themselves to subdue to Israel, the invader. The Gibeonites, sometimes called as the ‘Hivites’ endeavoured to make a treaty with the invaders, and their representatives, pretending to be passers-by from a far country, and induced the Israelites to make a treaty with them to guarantee that their lives would be spared. Gibeon was a powerful, great city at the time, and their position among the neighbouring cities was rather dominant and influential. Nevertheless, their decision to act separately from their neighbouring cities (which decided to oppose Israel) spoke of a genuine fear of the God of Israel:
‘because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan – Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth’.
Not only did they disguise themselves physically such that their ‘donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and mouldy’, but they also pretended and ‘resorted to a ruse’ as if they had just arrived from a very distant country although they lived only 40km away from Gilgal where Joshua had encamped. They also humbled themselves by regarding themselves as Israel’s servants. In a national crisis they chose to subdue themselves rather than face a certain death as they themselves later explained: ‘Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this’. They almost certainly recognised the God of Israel and might well have acknowledged Moses’ Law about the outcome of subjugation:
‘When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labour and shall work for you’ (Deu.20:10-11, Line added).
The Gibeonites’, i.e., Hivites’ deception classically reminds us of Israel patriarch Jacob’s sons’ unjustifiable atrocity against the entire Shechemites. Two of Jacob’s sons (Simeon and Levi) exacted vengeance against their sister Dinah’s defilement by Shechem, son of Hamor, who was a Hivite and a ruler of that area. Simeon and Levi had deceitfully replied to the Shechmites’ diplomatic approach with ruthless aggression in violation of the Law of retribution (Ge.34). However, centuries later, the descendants of Israel were thus deceived by the Hivites.
The Gibeonites successfully concluded a treaty with the Israelites before their deception was discovered. The covenant-treaty bound between the two was probably a full vassal treaty of that time, and contained protection against the vassal’s enemies. That is, if the Gibeonites were threatened by their enemy, Israel, as lord of the treaty, had to rescue and protect them from their enemy. Gibeonites’ success in deceiving the Israelites was partially caused by the Israelites failing to ask for direction from the Lord and therefore, they pledged themselves to friendship with the Gibeonites while leaning on their own (human) understanding: ‘Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath’. Incidentally, the lack of Israelites’ (God’s people’s) utter dependence on the Lord led the Gibeonites to a successful deal. However, once the treaty was bound, they could no longer annul it because the agreement was sacred and put under divine oath. In a sense, it was for Israel to keep her own words once sworn before the Lord, that the Gibeonites were spared. In other words, their dependence on the word of truth, God’s Word, made their enemies gain life, even though they were pagan Canaanites destined to utter destruction. At the destruction of Jericho, the fact that a Canaanite, Rahab and her family alone were saved because of their faith in God of Israel is somewhat parallel to the Gibeonites’ case, in both of which God’s gracious nature was revealed. Another similarity between the two is their faithfulness to Him and the fact that both decided to get out of the enmity inhabitants around them.
In any event, God was pleased with this result, despite His initial order of a complete destruction of the seven nations in Canaan:
‘When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations – the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you’ (Deu.7:1, Line added),and
‘I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me…’ (Ex.23:31-33, Line added).God’s acceptance of the event (sparing of the Hivites) is proved by the proceeding chapter 10 of “Joshua”, where God allowed Israel to victoriously conquer the land, even against five kings altogether at once on behalf of the Gibeonites.
There is an interesting sequel to the treaty. Centuries later, during the reign of David, a three year famine occurred. It was brought on as judgment for the sins of King Saul and his house, who violated this treaty and killed some of the Gibeonites. Therefore, in order to stop the famine, David had to choose a member of Saul’s family to hand over to the Gibenoites for execution. In making this choice, the Scripture explains how David spared Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan (David’s best friend) and Saul’s grandson, because of their oath before the Lord (2Sa. 21:1- 14).
The Gibeonites was indeed spared, but on condition that they were reduced to the position of slaves of the sanctuary in the Temple: ‘Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water-carriers in the service of the whole assembly’. The seeming curse was also a partial fulfillment of Noah’s prophecy, because Hivites are descendants of Canaan and Israelites are that of Shem:
‘Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers ……Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem’ (Ge.9:25-26).However, what appeared at first sight to be a curse, was actually a divine blessing, as they were doomed to perpetual slavery in God’s sanctuary!
‘Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you’ (Ps.84:4).Thus, as long as they are faithful to their commitments ‘as woodcutters and water-carriers for the house of my (Joshua’s) God’, their blessings will never cease. A curse from man’s perspective was actually a blessing!
Worship in the tabernacle and later in the Temple required a lot of wood and water because of the sacrificial and cleansing rituals. Although it was heavy, menial labour, at the same time, it was significant and indispensable. Since then this labour probably became the Gibeonites’ profession on a rota basis, and thus they were for ever involved in graceful services for the Lord: ‘That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water-carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day’. When Solomon became a king, the tabernacle and the altar of the Lord were placed in Gibeon:
‘Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly enquired of him there’ (2Chr.1:3,:5).In the Scripture, there is no record that of their descendants causing problems. Instead, their faithfulness is evidenced in their descendants’ name ‘the Nethinim’, meaning “devoted persons” or “given ones”, i.e., ‘the temple servants’. Thus, the Gibeonites to whom Joshua initially gave the role of wood cutters and whose city was allotted to Aaron’s family turned out to be known as honourable temple servants. There is a word play here as wood is ‘natan’ in Hebrew and its literal meaning is “gave”, while ‘Nethinim’ means “given ones” (Ezr. 2:41, 8:20).
Gibeonite’s service in the Temple led them to a place of religious privilege. For example, Gibeon was one of the cities given to the line of Aaron. One of David’s mighty men, who was one of the closest to him in battle, was a Gibeonite as mentioned above. When Solomon ascended the throne, he made burnt offerings at Gibeon. Later still, around 500BCE, in the time of Zerubbabel, among the returnees from Babylon is a list of the Gibeonites. In the days of Nehemiah, Gibeonites were among those who helped build the walls of Jerusalem. Even though their oath was made under deception, God expected them to keep it, and in responding to His expectation, they were blessed by God from generation to generation.
In chapter 10, Joshua led his army to protect the Gibeonites from the Canaanites’ confederacy united against Gibeon. Unexpectedly, this confederacy led by Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem opened a chance for Joshua of advancing further into the central part of Canaan, by using the resources of the great city Gibeon as his base camp. Actually it was God Himself that allowed Israel to defeat the confederacy of the five kings of the Amorites, backing her up with His miraculous intervention of the sun’s standing still at Gibeon. This successful campaign that caused death of the five kings led Israel to control the whole of the southern part of Canaan.
As examined, although God’s way is unfathomable when seen with shortsighted eyes, it is surely reliable for those who continue to remain faithful to Him, through longsighted eyes.
NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS
From 25th February to 6th March a joint outreach with a Japanese youth missionary FFN team to Mary Jane’s flocks and tribal children and their parents, including the primary school pupils adjoining to her missionary base Bulacan in the Philippines was daily and eagerly done. Their energetic varied activities with dance, body percussion, gospel music, and messages by Pastor Koichi Hirano bore great fruits, supported by prayers. Continually remember them in your prayers.