Enemies into family.
As we continue to dive into the Word of God, this week we have had a good look at the book of Joshua and the conquering of the Land of Canaan. Chapter 9 provides us an opening view of the conquest of Canaan and we are going to address the issues presented in terms of a Law viewpoint and the Gospel viewpoint.
Let’s begin.
The opening verses of Chapter 9 tell us about the mounting opposition to the presence of God’s people in Canaan. God had prepared Israel for this time to re-enter the land of Canaan. Genesis 15 tells us this: “And [Israel] shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). The sinfulness of the people of Canaan had reached a point where God determined that it was enough; the time was ripe for a cleansing of the land. But, as we so often see in history, evil does not just roll over and play dead. It rises up and fights.
“As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel” (Joshua 9:1-2). Now Joshua and the army of Israel was going to meet a unified resistance.
“But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly” (Joshua 9:3-5). The Gibeonites had heard about the God of Israel; they made note of His power and integrity. When they saw and recalled how God’s power had moved through Jericho and Ai, they quickly acted to save their necks. When humans are in a tough spot, we tend to do whatever it takes to save ourselves. But there is also an element of mercy evident here. They wanted to trick God’s people into letting them live. So they came up with a ruse and worked their crafty lie so that Joshua and the people would sign a covenant or binding contract with them which essentially made the Gibeonites allies instead of enemies.
If God was to deal with the Gibeonites in terms of the Law, that would be easy. They sinned by being deceitful; God had claimed Canaan for Israel and the sins of the Amorites had now reached its full. God would need to wipe them out. That is what the Law says for these men and women, children and infants of Gibeon. The Law does not bring a joyful end to anyone: we, like the Gibeonites, stand guilty before a Holy, Perfect God who is also just and must condemn every infraction of His perfect Law. The penalty is what we see in the Gospels: a man being brutalized and beaten, mocked and scourged and fixed to a crossbeam of wood. Jesus came to be the rightful God-chosen victim of the Law’s scourge. He came to die with all sin of all time placed on Him.
Now, what if God dealt with Gibeon according to the Gospel? This is how the rest of the narrative reads for the Gibeonites. Their treachery and lying would have received the merciless blow of death. But God is full of mercy and unending faithful love. His desire is to draw sinners close to Him. God would have that no one perish but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth. The Gibeonites were on the path marked by the Gospel. They had given up fighting for themselves. They, instead, tried to trick the Israelites into a covenant.
“And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them. 16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them” (Joshua 9:15-16).
Now that this stratagem was complete and the Gibeonites got what they wanted, God still applied the Gospel to them. They were not going to get the penalty of an enemy of Israel. They were not going to be cast away from God’s people but were instead brought into the fold and even brought close to God Himself.
“So [Joshua] did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose” (Joshua 9:26-27).
So here is the wrap on this part of the narrative:
These enemies of God were deceptive
These enemies of God sensed very deeply that they were about to be destroyed
These enemies estimated that God was going to ruin them
But God, in all of His Gospel-drenched glory, accepts these enemies and brings them close.
These enemies become so close that they perpetually serve in the tabernacle and the Temple “for the altar of the LORD.”
Does any of that sound familiar to you? It should. That is our story too! We were enemies of God. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:21-22). God took us in as His enemies but in love that could not be quenched, He made us family. We are the people of God who have been called out of the ruination of darkness and now live in His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9-10).
This account in Joshua is very messed up when you look at it from a human perspective; yet here is the beauty of our faithful God. He desires to take all brokenness and hatred, all sin and shame, and pay for it on the altar of the LORD - the eternal Cross of glory. Enemies are made family and we live in peace with Him for an eternity. I love that ending!
Be blessed this week by the Good News, the Gospel of God making enemies into family. He does this so well!