Joshua 9: A Foolish Assumption

Oh y’all this one hit different this morning. I am a very take charge type of person by nature. I can tend to feel like I am in control. I can also have a tendency to jump in and just get stuff done. Sounds great, right? Not all the time. The down fall to having these ways of thinking are that I can get so caught up in doing what I think is right that I can fail to consult God. It is not until after I have stepped out or up and begin to stumble that I realize, hmmmm I should have thought about this a bit more. I should have consulted the smartest person I know, God, before acting. To make matters even more interesting my husband tells me this all the time, but because I can be stubborn I tend to resist his wisdom. Silly me!

In Joshua 9, Joshua makes his second and last major mistake in leadership. He once again failed to consult God, this time over an unexpected request. There were six kings who joined forces in order to resist the advancement of Joshua and the Israelites. The people of Gibeon heard of the power of God working through the Israelites and were afraid, so they deceitfully attempted to make a covenant of protection with Israel. They did so by pretending to be from a distant land, explaining the difficulties of the long journey, when they actually lived near by where the Israelites were camped.

Of all the verses in chapter 9, we are going to focus on verse 14, “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. Israel’s leaders examined the bread to verify the Gibeonite’s story, but Joshua neglected to consult the Lord.  This same oversight was the same reason for the cost of lives in Ai. Where as the victories at Jericho and Ai had both been won when Israel followed God’s instructions precisely. 

We often can fall into the trap of not taking the time to get to know God or what He wants for a particular situations. The result of not consulting God, is that we know less of who he wants us to be. When we do not take the time to seek His direction, we stumble when we should stand firm. 

James 1:5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you.

James 4:2, you want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

What is the most important lesson I have learned from this lesson? Submit to God. When we submit to God and recognize that He is all knowing, all powerful, and all present our ways of thinking conform to God.

Meditate on: James 1:4

Application:  Seek God for direction

Prayer: Lord help me seek you more and more daily. In Jesus name, amen.