“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.”-Joshua 9:18
As I mentioned yesterday, Israel’s current situation is the perfect example of what happens when we neglect to seek out the Lord for direction or ignore His commands.
Israel is now in a serious Catch-22 situation here with the Gibeonites.
Because of the vow they had made in the name of Adonai, they were damned if they destroyed the Gibeonites and damned if they didn’t.
Not a pretty situation to be in.
If Israel killed off the Gibeonites, they would breaking the vow they had made in the name of Adonai to protect them.
On the other hand, if they didn’t destroy them, they would be going against the Lord’s direct command to destroy what He made clear should be destroyed.
So what did the Israelites decide to do in this case?
Employing the Torah principle of KAL V’HOMER (meaning heavy and light), they decided to go with what they deemed the lesser of two evils which was to honor the vow made in God’s Name.
In case you’ve forgotten, KAL V’HOMER is a well-known rabbinic method of debate that simply means the weighing of the LIGHT against the HEAVY.
For example, a doctor working on the Shabbat to save a life is a perfect example of KAL V’HOMER in action (choosing the lesser evil of breaking the Shabbat to save a life).
Now some of you may be thinking…
…why were the Israelites so hyper-anal about keeping their vow in this case?
Since the vow was based on the lies and deception of the Gibeonites in the first place, why couldn’t God cut them some slack?
Well homies, it just ain’t that simple.
Let’s talk a little bit about vows before I close today’s post.
The first thing you should know is that vow-making was a normal part of life in the ancient Middle East and was not some unique practice restricted to the Hebrews.
It was understood that when the name of a given god was invoked in a vow, that god was not only serving as a witness but also as a guarantor of the treaty being made.
Making a vow was no joke, it was very and I mean VERY serious business.
In addition, consider the fact that vows were done in public and afterwards were written down.
This wasn’t like some flippant promise you privately make to the Lord in your bedroom.
Also, keep in mind there were certain punishments connected to breaking a vow.
In the ancient Middle East, if you broke a public vow you made in the name of a region’s deity, you could be…
…arrested, lose your property and personal possessions or in a worst case scenario be put under the death penalty.
And I haven’t even mentioned the supernatural penalties one would suffer at the hand of the now very pissed-off god or goddess for taking his or her name in vain.
I’m telling you folks, this was no joke.
The whole culture of the Middle East was of one mindset when it came to vow-making.
We’ll talk about this some more the next time we meet.
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