What did the Gibeonites do to fool the Israelites into thinking they had actually traveled from a far-off land?
It’s interesting to observe their deception because I think we’ll see a lot of them in us.
The first thing they did was alter their appearance.
They changed into worn-out clothing and prepared old food and supplies to create the illusion that they had been on a long journey.
Next, they trekked southward for a couple of days to meet up with the Israelite army.
When they finally came face-to-face with them, here’s what they said…
…“We have come from a country far away. Now, make a covenant with us.”
I want you to notice that this was a combination of a lie mixed in with the truth.
And by the way, this was the same ploy the devil used on Eve when he convinced her to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree.
Remember, the enemy will always mix in some truth with his lies.
The Gibeonites’ lie was that they had journeyed afar from a distant land but the truth was they wanted to make a covenant.
I think in this context though, it would be better to use the term “peace treaty” instead of covenant.
Basically, the Gibeonites were asking to be put under the protection of the Israelite army.
Next, notice the phrase “We are your servants”.
This was just typical Middle Eastern flattery used whenever one in position of weakness requests something from a party who is in a more powerful position.
The Gibeonites were NOT saying “we’ve come to become your slaves”.
Understand that Israel is being buttered up here.
This was all part of the Gibeonites’ strategy.
The flattery continues…
“Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of Adonai your God. We have heard reports about him — everything he did in Egypt, and everything he did to the two kings of the Emori across the Yarden, Sichon king of Heshbon and ‘Og king of Bashan at ‘Ashtarot.”
Interestingly, any mention of the defeat of Jericho and Ai was noticeably omitted.
The Gibeonites talked about what had happened in Egypt (during the Exodus) and talked about the defeat of Sichon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan but that was it.
It was a shrewd move on the Gibeonites’ part to not mention Jericho and Ai because these battles had occurred inside the Land of Canaan.
Remember, the Gibeonites were pretending they had traveled from the far north or east.
So if that really was the case, there was no way they could have known about those two battles.
However, the truth is the Gibeonites most likely had spies on the frontlines of both of these battles when Israel literally laid waste to Jericho and then afterwards Ai.
In a nutshell, Gideon was telling Israel…
…”We want to be your buddies and keep in mind that since we are not residents of the Land of Canaan, we are NOT included in your God’s instructions to destroy the people of Canaan”.
Long story short, Israel fell for the lies of the Gibeonites because they committed one fatal error.
And this is something ALL believers should pay special attention to because we also commit this error more often than we would like to admit to ourselves.
We’ll talk about what this fatal error was the next time we meet.
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