“The king summoned the Giv‘onim and said to them — these Giv‘onim were not part of the people of Isra’el but from the remnant of the Emori; and the people of Isra’el had sworn to them; but Sha’ul, in his zeal for the people of Isra’el and Y’hudah, had sought to exterminate them — David said to the Giv‘onim, ‘What should I do for you? With what should I make atonement, so that you will be able to bless Adonai’s heritage?’”-2 Samuel 21:2-3
Let’s get our bearings on where we’re at.
When we last left off, King David had inquired of the Lord why the land of Israel had been subjected to a drought lasting as long as 3 years.
The Lord clearly told David, “It is because of Sha’ul and his bloodstained house, because he put to death the people of Giv‘on.”
So here’s what’s interesting.
This story about Saul and his house unjustifiably slaughtering the residents of Gibeon is nowhere to be found in the Bible outside of what’s mentioned in this chapter.
Ya feel me?
What’s also important to know is that these people of Gibeon, whom Saul tried to kill off, weren’t Israelites.
They were Amorites.
They had entered into a peace treaty with Israel way back when Joshua was leading the Israelites.
But here’s the issue.
They made the peace treaty with Israel through deceitful means.
Let’s go back and read what happened right now.
Click HERE to read this part of the story from the Book of Joshua.
So you can see this situation is complicated as all hell for a couple of reasons.
First, the Amorites completely misrepresented who they were.
Second, when the Amorites asked Joshua for a peace treaty, Joshua and his men never bothered to consult God.
They never went to the High Priest or inquired of the Lord through drawing lots or the Urim and Thummim.
They just concluded that the peace treaty seemed like a good idea and went forward with it.
Doesn’t this sound eerily familiar to the recent “peace” deal Israel entered into with Hamas, brokered by President Trump?
For the record, today is October 19th, 2025.
Anyway, onward.
So Joshua and his men didn’t find out they had been duped until after the peace treaty was concluded.
So what did they decide to do?
Read these verses for the answer:
“The people of Israel did not attack them, because the leading officials of the community had sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Israel; but all the community grumbled against the leaders. However, the leaders replied to the whole community, ‘We have sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Israel; so we can’t touch them. Here is what we will do to them: we will let them live, so that God’s anger will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them. Yes, let them live,’ the leaders continued, ‘but let them chop wood and draw water for the whole community.'”-Joshua 9:18-21
Not only had Joshua and his men failed to consult the Lord before deciding to ratify some peace treaty with the Amorites…
But he ratified the peace treaty in YAHWEH’s holy name!
In other words, Israel had made a vow.
This meant there was no going back on it.
It didn’t matter that the vow was made without careful consideration.
If you make a vow in God’s name, it’s irrevocable.
That said, Joshua wasn’t about to let the Amorites get off scot free for their deception.
As punishment for their deceit, we’re told he sentenced the Amorites to do forced labor as “wood choppers” and “water drawers.”
However, this decision just worsened things.
Why?
Because the chopping of wood and drawing of water for the community of Israel ultimately meant doing it for the Tabernacle!!!!!!!
Do you understand why I finished off the last sentence with seven exclamation marks?
Doing work for the Tabernacle is a right EXCLUSIVELY reserved for the Levites.
But now it was being performed by uncircumcised Gentiles!!!
Holy hell, man!
Let me say that again, just in case what I said didn’t hit home.
The wood for the holy Altar fire…
And the living water for the ritual purification rites…
Was being supplied by uncircumcised gentile heathens.
It just doesn’t get much worse than that!
So as you can see, we’ve got lots to unpack in the opening part of this chapter.
And it’s gonna take probably more than a couple of days to do it.
But that’s why this blog is undoubtedly one of the best Bible study resources on planet earth.
Or as one Jewish reader kindly told me:
“It is interesting following your posts as a Jew.
In many ways, your Torah studies are better
than what many rabbis do.”
Alrighty, let’s switch over to the takeaway.
It really comes down to this.
When you are making an important decision…
CONSULT THE LORD FIRST!
If Joshua and the elders had done that…
They wouldn’t have…
Entered into some ridiculous peace treaty with a group of people whose proposal was based on deception from the start.
Made a vow, handcuffing them to keeping that deceitful peace treaty…
Committed the blasphemy of letting uncircumcised Gentiles do the work of the Tabernacle.
All of these disasters could’ve been avoided by taking one simple action.
Consult the Lord first.
Ya feel me here, homie?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“If any of you lacks wisdom,
you should ask God,
who gives generously to all
without finding fault,
and it will be given to you.”
-James 1:5
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