Enlisting the enemy (Josh 9:16–27)

I. We must give the leaders credit for being men of their word.

16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim.

A. The Gibeonites’ trickery is now discovered.

The Israelites heard about the Gibeonites’ deceit, just as the Canaanite kings and the Gibeonites earlier had heard about the Israelites’ great successes. The Gibeonites were not from a distant land but were from nearby: they actually were living near them.

We learn that the Gibeonites lived in at least four towns. These were all clustered five to ten miles northwest of Jerusalem. The Gibeonites were safe from harm at the hands of Israel because of the oath that had been taken

B. They couldn’t violate their oath.

To violate their oath would have been to take the holy name of Jehovah in vain, and this would have brought about divine judgment.

Military leaders of lesser character than Joshua might have argued that “all’s fair in love and war” and forced the Gibeonites to divulge information that would help him conquer their city. Instead, when the Jewish army arrived at Gibeon and the neighboring cities, they didn’t attack them.

II. Why did the Jewish people grumble at what their leaders had done?

18 But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers. 19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”

A. The Israelites were angry they discovered they had been duped!

The people in fact wanted to disregard the treaty and destroy the Gibeonites, but Joshua and his staff said that the enemies’ deception did not nullify the treaty.

The agreement was sacred because it had been ratified by an oath in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. To break it would bring down the wrath of God on Israel, a tragedy that later came to pass during David’s reign because Saul disregarded this oath.

B. This covenant with Gibeon would cost the soldiers dearly.

They would now not get the plunder from the protected cities. Also the Gibeonites and their neighbors might influence the Jews with their pagan practices and lead them away from the Lord.

Moses had given Israel stern warnings against compromising with the people of the land (Deut. 7), and now they had foolishly made a covenant with the enemy. However, we wonder what decisions the common people would have made had they been in the place of the leaders. It’s easy to criticize after the fact!

III. If you make a mistake, admit it; and then make your mistake work for you!

22 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us? 23 Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” 24 So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.” 26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. 27 And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.

A. The leaders put the Gibeonites to work.

The leaders specified that the Gibeonites should be their servants, cutting their wood and carrying their water; so, this way, the leaders’ word to the Gibeonites was honored.

Servitude was the destiny of those cities that made their peace with the Israelites, according to Deut 20:10–11. The specific activities here were mentioned by Moses, in a context that indicates this was already a reality with other aliens: in urging the Israelites to follow the covenant, he included even aliens in his instructions: “Your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water” (Deut 29:11).

B. The Gibeonites would rather submit to humiliating service than be destroyed.

The leaders put the Gibeonites to work hauling water and fuel for the service of the tabernacle, where both water and wood were used in abundance. In later years the Gibeonites were called the Nethinim (“given ones” = given to assist the priests) and labored as servants in the temple.

There’s no evidence in Scripture that the descendants of the Gibeonites created any problems for the Jews. It’s likely that their service in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, influenced them to abandon their idols and worship the God of Israel. The fact that over 500 hundred Nethinim returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity (Ezra 2:43–58; 8:20) suggests that they were devoted to the Lord and His house.