My Thoughts on Joshua, the Gibeonites, and Sovereign Election
A covenant was made but they couldn't break it. They made it in the name of God! Soon, we read this final conclusion in Joshua 7:
17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. 18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. 19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. 21 And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them.
22 And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? 23 Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. 24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy 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 sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. 26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
27 And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
The Gibeonites were not wrong to admit that they feared that God's judgment was upon them. Their mistake was in conning Joshua into signing a peace treaty with them. However, what can be admired is now that they no longer seek to justify their sin but confessed it. They finally admit that they saw God was going to destroy their land. They were probably afraid that they would be rejected just as they are. But now they're confessing that they did it out of fear of their lives. Now, they have agreed to surrender to Israel and became slaves for the congregation. The issue was that the Gibeonites should've just surrendered willingly by throwing away their weaponry or be like Rahab.
Matthew Henry states in his commentary regarding the matter as follows:
(1.) Their servitude is made a curse to them. "Now you are cursed with the ancient curse of Canaan,’’ from whom these Hivites descended, a servant of servants shalt thou be, Gen. 9:25 . What shall be done to the false tongue but this? Cursed shall it be. (2.) Yet this curse is turned into a blessing; they must be servants, but it shall be for the house of my God. The princes would have them slaves unto all the congregation (v. 21), at least they chose to express themselves so, for the pacifying of the people that were discontented; but Joshua mitigates the sentence, both in honour to God and in favour to the Gibeonites: it would be too hard upon them to make them every man’s drudge; if they must be hewers of wood and drawers of water, than which there cannot be a greater disparagement, especially to those who are citizens of a royal city, and all mighty men ch. 10:2 ), yet they shall be so to the house of my God, than which there cannot be a greater preferment: David himself could have wished to be a door-keeper there. Even servile work becomes honourable when it is done for the house of our God and the offices thereof. [1.] They were hereby excluded from the liberties and privileges of true-born Israelites, and a remaining mark of distinction was put upon their posterity throughout all their generations. [2.] They were hereby employed in such services as required their personal attendance upon the altar of God in the place which he should choose (v. 27), which would bring them to the knowledge of the law of God, keep them strictly to that holy religion to which they were proselyted, and prevent their revolt to the idolatries of their fathers. [3.] This would be a great advantage to the priests and Levites to have so many, and those mighty men, constant attendants upon them, and engaged by office to do all the drudgery of the tabernacle. A great deal of wood must be hewed for fuel for God’s house, not only to keep the fire burning continually upon the altar, but to boil the flesh of the peace-offerings, etc. And a great deal of water must be drawn for the divers washings which the law prescribed. These and other such servile works, such as washing the vessels, carrying out ashes, sweeping the courts, etc., which otherwise the Levites must have done themselves, these Gibeonites were appointed to do. [4.] They were herein servants to the congregation too; for whatever promotes and helps forward the worship of God is real service to the commonwealth. It is the interest of every Israelite that the altar of God be well attended. Hereby also the congregation was excused from much of that servile work which perhaps would otherwise have been expected from some of them. God had made a law that the Israelites should never make any of their brethren bondmen; if they had slaves, they must be of the heathen that were round about them, Lev. 25:44 . Now in honour of this law, and of Israel that was honoured by it, God would not have the drudgery, no, not of the tabernacle itself, to be done by Israelites, but by Gibeonites, who were afterwards called Nethinim, men given to the Levites, as the Levites were to the priests (Num. 3:9 ), to minister to them in the service of God. [5.] This may be looked upon as typifying the admission of the Gentiles into the gospel church. Now they were taken in upon their submission to be under-officers, but afterwards God promises that he will take of them for priests and Levites, Isa. 66:21 .2. They submit to this condition,
I can see the act of mercy of God here. Many times, I believe that God uses human mistakes for a greater good. Human beings make mistakes but God doesn't. Just remember that God anointed the godless Saul for a reason. God also allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery for a greater reason. This isn't to absolve any sin. Joseph's brothers ended up paying the price for it before Joseph forgave them. You can think of how Joseph's brothers were soon starving in Canaan. Joshua was probably permitted to commit that mistake because sooner or later - Nehemiah 3:6-8 shows us Gibeonites who were helping Nehemiah. We also realize God spoke to Solomon in Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4-5). God also honored the covenant in 2 Samuel 21 where Saul was guilty of breaking that covenant. I would say that while Joshua was foolish not to consult God - God used the situation to show His mercy even for the wicked Canaanites. I even think that the Canaanite woman whose faith was tested by Jesus was a Gibeonite. Later, we read that Adonizedek a Canaanite king launched an attack against them in Joshua 10. However, God worked a miracle in Gibeon by asking the sun to stand still and the moon to stand still - something recorded as a rather unusual event in secular history.
I still think of how the Gibeonites actually ended up in saying "Behold we are in your hands. Do with us at fits right." They finally saw their sin and that they deserved punishment. I think Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water to discourage idolatry and bring them over to the true God. I also see it as a portrayal of God's mercy that binds the Christian. Most Christians today are not of Israel. They are of the Gentiles. The identity of the Christian is as a doulos or slave in Christ. It sounds unpleasant but who wouldn't want to be the slave of a glorious, kind, and loving Master? The Gibeonites though they were slaves were given the honor of giving service to the true and the living God of Israel. It also shows that God hasn't made salvation only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. Also, the Israelites were still required to treat their slaves well (Exodus 21, Exodus 23, Leviticus 19, Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 23) which Joshua would have applied to Gibeon.
This also shows one thing. It would be better to be a slave of Christ than to be living lavishly in the house of the wicked. Canaan was such a rich city full of wickedness. I would assume that the Gibeonites finally saw their wealth couldn't save them at all. They ended up agreeing to become slaves of the people of Israel. It would have been better for them to abandon their wealth and be slaves than to join the rest of the Canaanites as targets for termination. Yet, it was a great honor now to be slaves of the true and the living God and in His worship. Today, following Christ can mean losing everything materially. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is dangerous because it puts you at odds with the world. Yet, in that danger lies the infinite value of being a true follower of Jesus. The world is but perishable and only Jesus can truly satisfy the sinner's desire for freedom from sin.
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