January 3, 2022

Passage Read: Joshua 10-13
Meditation Verse: 11:20

Thought

God could have hardened the hearts of Gibeon, but He didn't. Was that actually a mercy to them? Or a test to Israel? Gibeon turned out to be a good lure to bring a bunch of kings against Israel at once, which saved them time in conquering the land. And they became slaves to help the Israelites. But if a test, Israel failed, and so the Lord decided to harden the hearts of the rest, so Israel couldn't mess up again. But then, having been fooled once, they likely wouldn't have fallen for that again. Still, God allowed no further such temptation to come on them. The people just didn't finish the job by allowing some nations to remain in their territory.

Application

The Lord endured this error of Israel, unlike the sin of Achan. Achan tried to hide his sin, but the sin with Gibeon was not deliberate, and discovered quickly. God was gracious toward the sin committed in ignorance, because it wasn't deliberate rebellion. But He offered no grace to Achan because he knew what he was doing, and God wanted to stamp out any further such sin. God is gracious toward accidental sin, He did not withdraw from Israel as He did when Achan sinned. If I sin deliberately, I can expect the same treatment, and likewise the same treatment of I sin accidentally.