Joshua 9
Leaders Prep Section
Watch this video, read these notes, and send the pre-written email (below) to your group 2-3 days before you meet.
Notes
This chapter is better understood if we relate to the Canaanites…the other guys. What must they be thinking? Canaanite culture is saturated with stories of gods and demigods. They aren’t atheists…they’re polytheists and associate gods to rain, crops…everything. But the Israelite God is making them rethink things.
Group Guide Starts Here
Context of scripture
All of Canaan knows about God now. They know he is more powerful than anything they’ve seen before. But what’s strange is his followers bleed like mere men. As a result, two different perspectives are beginning to emerge among the kingdoms of Canaan.
Read Joshua 9:1-2
Imagine being one of these kings – up against a fierce God but seeing weakness in his followers. What would you do? Join kingdoms and fight…or look for another plan?
Read Joshua 9:3-15
To appreciate how big a lie this was, Gibeon was 3,300 feet higher in elevation than Joshua’s camp1 and only 19 miles2 away, less than a day’s walk, downhill. Gibeon was greater than Ai and all its men were warriors.
Joshua calls them “cunning.” Do you think he means it as a compliment?
Read Joshua 9:16-21
The Israelites have created a problem. They’ve been tricked and are now in a covenant, binding relationship with a culture that was originally supposed to be destroyed by Israel.
In case you’re wondering why God wanted these people destroyed, read Deuteronomy 7:1-4. Canaan was full of polytheistic cults3 and God did not want Israel’s sons mix with them and start serving other Gods.
The Gibeonites are lying. Should they get favor with God when he clearly commands against that?
Read Joshua 9:22-27
This “curse” meant they would provide the enormous amounts of wood and water required for sacrifices and ritual washings4 and directly serve at the altar of God…always considered a blessing.5 Plus, they were fully assimilated into the people of God just as Rahab was.6
History shows the Gibeonites remained servants at the tabernacle. Gibeon became a priestly city where the Ark of the Covenant often stayed during the reign of David and Solomon. At least one of David’s “mighty men” was a Gibeonite, and many years later the Gibeonites would help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah.
What do the stories of Rahab and the Gibeonites say about what really matters to God?