In the book of Joshua, we are learning what happened, “when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, …”, and in chapter nine and verse four of the book of Joshua, we learn how the people of Gibeon, “did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors” where we read,
They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors,
and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
The verse reads, “They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “they did work wilily” which means “they, the people of Gibeon, fashioned, produced and performed shrewdly, with craftiness and subtlety”, “and went and made” or “and acted” “as if they had been ambassadors” which means “like they, the people of Gibeon, were diplomats or envoys”. Joshua or the writer shared how the people from “Gibeon” acted in a subtle manner and fashioned themselves as though they were envoys or diplomats.
The verse goes on to say, “… and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “and took old sacks” which means “and took in hand, acquired or carried worn out mesh or sackcloth for grain” “upon their asses” or “on their donkeys”, “and wine bottles” which means “and leather skin bags used for holding the fruit of the vine”, “old” or “aged and worn out”, “and rent” which means “and broken through or torn”, “and bound up” or “and in distress, besieged and bound or tied up”. Joshua or the writer shared how the people from “Gibeon” also carried worn out sackcloth on their donkeys, aged, worn out and torn leather bottles that were used for transporting wine which were tied up or bound.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the people of “Gibeon” began to act in a subtle and crafty manner. They fashioned themselves as diplomats or envoys while gathering together items such as aged sackcloth that was laid upon their donkeys and worn out and torn“wine” skins. The idea was to appear they had come from a far away place, but actually they were very near the people of Israel. We shall see how this works out in our next few verses, but for now, let us consider that our enemy, Satan, is subtle and “wilily”, and his desire is to deceive us and bring about our destruction. (See John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8) God knows we have sin in our lives, and those sins lead to death. (See Romans 3:23; 6:23) For this reason He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days. When we surrender our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and give us the ability not only to know the subtle workings of “Satan”, but also to have the power to resist him. (See James 4:7)
Next time we learn how the people of Gibeon had on, “old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment