“Tricky Alliances”

​B I B L E  B I T S  &  B I T E S
Devotions for Families

Season 2: Heroes of the Bible
Episode 42: “Tricky Alliances”
Today’s Bible Bite: Joshua 9

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv1O3LGLOUI (Gracelight UK)
“When the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves.” (Joshua 9:3-4a)

God had told the Israelites that they were to clear all the people living in the land of Canaan out. The people were very sinful; they had lots of gods, even some that they sacrificed their own children to! God wanted to put an end to the great harm they were doing to themselves and others. God promised the Israelites to help them clear out the people and then give them the land, but they were to be very careful about how they interacted with the people. God knew that the Israelites would end up doing many of the same wicked things if they made alliances with the people, so He told them that they should not.

The people of Gibeon were some of the people that God had told the Israelites to clear out of the land; they knew that God was helping the Israelites and they were afraid. However, rather than trying to fight the Israelites, they came up with a plan to trick them. A group of Gibeonites went to Joshua and asked to make a treaty with him. They made it look like they have travelled from a long way off, though in reality they lived quite close by. Joshua and the other leaders were fooled and agreed. When the Israelites found out that they had been tricked, they were very angry at the Gibeonites, but because they had promised to let them stay, made them work for the Israelites.

Think about it...
• God had commanded Joshua to clear out the land. Rather than fight the Israelites, what did the Gibeonites do?
• The Gibeonites tricked the Israelites. What did Joshua agree to?
• Joshua made a treaty with the Gibeonites. Who should he have consulted before making a treaty?
• Joshua made a mistake by not consulting with God before making the treaty. Why couldn’t they renege on the promise to the Gibeonites? They had lied after all.
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for reminding us that we should always ask you what we should do before we make decisions. Even though we can be fooled, God can’t. Thank you that you always know what is best!