The Gibeonites decided to dress up in costumes because it was “Trick or Defeat” time.
News of the supernatural destruction of Jericho and the taking of the twin cities of Bethel and Ai swept through Canaan. Receiving the devastating report, “the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite…gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord” (Jos 9:1-2). No doubt these nation states had often skirmished with each other, but now they had found common cause. The fact that the God of Israel had opened the Jordan in floodtide, and collapsed the walls of Jericho like a house of cards, hardened their resolve to fight to the death. But there was one exception—the inhabitants of Gibeon. Five miles northwest of Jerusalem, Gibeon strategically sits on a promontory with the Aijalon Valley to the south and the Beth-Horon Pass to the north. One of the royal cities of the Hivites (9:7), a greater city than Ai, its inhabitants were reputed to be mighty men (10:2). But they saw the writing on the wall of Jericho, so to speak, and knew it was futile to fight against Jehovah. But what to do? “They worked craftily, and…took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us’” (9:4-6). The evidence was obvious. A covenant was made. The ruse worked. Why? “They did not ask counsel of the Lord” (v 14). Three days later, the Israelites discovered they had been duped. What a graphic reminder not to walk by sight, but by faith. It’s helpful, isn’t it, to have access to everything God knows too!