June 9, 2019: Day 43 – Joshua 9

The plot thickens.  I do love the detail of Scripture.  The Israelites are making a name for themselves in the region.  They had conquered Jericho and Ai and now the people around them were forming alliances in order to overcome this powerhouse called Israel.  We begin with the various countries joining forces in order to face the Israelites and their wrath, except for one country.  There is one group, the inhabitants of Gibeon, who are too smart for their own good.  They pretended that they were travelling foreigners in order to make a treaty with the Israelites which would protect them when the Israelites looked to take over the region. They were neighbors, but pretended that they were from far away so that the Israelites would not harm them.

It worked in that the Israelites made a treaty with them that they would not harm them.  But then they discovered that they were their neighbors, but a treaty is a treaty, you just don’t break it.  They didn’t and they honored it, but they were bitter.  They had that conversation, why did you do this?  We were afraid of you.  It was the only thing that we could think of that would protect us.  They were saved, but were relegated to the very and the most menial of tasks that had to be done in the society.