Lesson 10: The Cross and the Covenant
Question 2
In the six nations banding together and making alliances to come as one against God and His anointed, Israel, we are supposed to see Herod, Pilate, and the Jews, enemies of each other, coming together to take up their positions against Jesus, God’s anointed Messiah. They conspired together against Jesus, plotted to shut Him up and do Him in, and eventually crucify Him on a tree.
But remember, this was God’s plan all along, from before time began. It was His plan to use the evil actions of man as a means for saving many lives (see Genesis 50:20). God planned all these events so that when it was finished He would forgive you of your sins, reconcile you with Himself, make you holy in His eyes, and give you eternal life. In gathering together against Jesus in this way Herod, Pilate and the Jews were simply “doing whatever God’s hand and God’s plan had predestined to take place.” Amazing how God uses the wrath of man to praise Him (Psalm 76:10).
As we continue in our study of Joshua, we see that one of the nearby people groups, the Gibeonites, doesn’t join in the rebellion but rather they made a deceptive plan to come to Joshua and “surrender.” They pretend that they are from far away, taking moldy bread and old clothes and worn out sandals to foster the scam that they’ve come from a distance. They come to Joshua and they ask for their lives to be spared. They ask to become servants of Israel. They ask Joshua to make a covenant with them.
Joshua 9:13-15 (ESV) These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. 15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
Question 2. According to Joshua 9:14, why did Joshua and the Israelites make a covenant with the Gibeonites?
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Karen writes, "They made the covenant because things appeared to be right, but instead of seeking the Lord, they looked in the natural and acted on it. They were deceived by the Gibeonites. This is why we need to always seek the Lord and His wisdom in all things. Many times, things look ok to our natural eyes, but God says otherwise. We often make rash decisions because of the pressures of man and what we think are time constraints and when we seek the Lord, He gives us a perfect outcome for life in Him. Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Isaiah 55: 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."