Perfect Will
“The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.”
Today’s Text: Joshua 9:1-15 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
If the Israelites had inquired of the LORD, what would the God of grace and compassion have said? The Gibeonites were a people who had heard the testimonies concerning God and Israel and believed. And so they fabricated a story to enter into a peace treaty (a kind of covenant) with the Israelites.
It is unfathomable that the LORD would have instructed Joshua to kill the messengers and destroy the Gibeonites. But because they did not inquire of the LORD, the Israelites were placed in a position of vulnerability. Could they ever trust the Gibeonites?
The point is that the Israelites did not pray to the LORD to seek His guidance. Rather, they trusted in their own ability to investigate the evidence and come to a sound conclusion.
It takes a close fellowship with the Holy Spirit to discern God’s will moment to moment. And even someone as spiritually mature as Joshua might make a mistake every once in a while.
A close fellowship with the Holy Spirit helps us to understand those things that only God can do as well as those things that God gives us freedom to do. And that understanding is the foundation of wisdom. Because, according to Oswald Chambers, God will not do those things that we can do; God will only do those things that we cannot.
In this episode with the Gibeonites, the Israelites could not know if they were being duped or not. But they trusted in themselves to make that determination.
One of the most important revelations for our own lives is that what we do not know is much, much greater that what we do know. What we do know is like a drop of water in a lake of what we do not know.
But one thing we do know is that God knows everything. We also have the word of God to guide us toward God’s will through the infinite uncertainties of life. Prayer is the discipline God has given to us so that we can align our hearts to His will as revealed in His word.
It was by sovereign “luck” that a peace treaty was made between Israel and Gibeon. Because peace is what God really wants in this world. But there are always consequences for not inquiring of the LORD, even if we happen to do God’s will.
Father, You know all things. I know hardly anything. So thank You for Your Spirit to guide me to Your will. Grow my fellowship with Your Spirit, so that I may seek You and seek Your face in all things. Lead me to Your will and guide me in the paths of righteousness. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
