The Gibeonite Ruse Lesson For The Christian Soldiers teaches how to win the spiritual and physical battles we face in our daily spiritual living as believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
It is said, “To win a war you must utilize strategy, tactics and propaganda. Be prepared to be surprised and plan to surprise your enemy.”
This was proven to be true by the Gibeonites, who utilized strategy and tactics, as well as the element of surprise, to save their life and land from being taken by the LORD’s chosen people and treasured possession the Israelites.
What are these strategies and tactics utilized by the Gibeonites you ask?
The Gibeonites used the battle strategy and tactics of a RUSE.
What is a Ruse?
According to the Collins Dictionary, A ruse is an action or plan which is intended to deceive someone.
Generally speaking, a ruse isn’t just a lie. A ruse involves a more elaborate process of deception than telling a lie.
It’s done with the intention to mislead, deceive or trick someone or a group of people.
A ruse simply put is “Deception.”
After the death of Moses who has been leading the Israelites, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses aide “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people the Israelites across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.
I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set your foot, you will be on land I have given you.
The LORD’s instruction to the Israelites through the mouth of His servant Moses before his demise, concerning the occupants of the Promise land He was giving them which they are to possess through battles in which the LORD God will fight alongside them to give them victory was simple;
“ However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them – the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites and Jebusites as the LORD your God has commanded you.”
The LORD kept His word as the Israelites became a force on the battlefield.
First, they crossed the Jordan River, next the Fall of Jericho, and then the burning and total destruction of the City of Ai. Every land they stepped their feet on, the LORD gave it to them.
Now all the Kings west of Jordan River heard about what happened.
These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as far north as the Lebanon mountains.
They came together, and joined their armies, to wage war against Joshua and the Israelites.
However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse to save themselves.
They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with worn sacks and wineskin, cracked and mended. They put on worn-out patched sandals and ragged clothes and the bread they took with them was dry and mouldy.
When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a treaty with us .”
The Israelites said to the Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”
They replied, “We are your servants.”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
They answered we are from a very distant country.
We have heard of the might of the LORD your God and all that He did in Egypt, the two Amorite kings east of Jordan River- King Sihon of Hebron and King Og of Bashan.
So our elders and all our people said to us,
“ Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “ We are your servants make a treaty with us.”
“ This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and mouldy. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.
So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult nor inquire from the LORD if this was true or not.
Joshua and the Israelite leaders because of the evidence before them, made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
Three days after making the treaty they learned that the people actually lived nearby!
The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days.
The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath –jearim. But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelites’ leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty. But the leaders replied, “ Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel we cannot touch them.
Let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath.
Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said,
“ Why did you lie to us?
Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right among us?
May you be cursed! from now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for my God.
The Gibeonites replied, “ We did it because we were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this. Now we are at your mercy – do whatever you think is right .”
Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the LORD. And that is what they do to this day.
According to Leadership Strategy- “To Win a War You Must Lose a Battle.”
Gibeon was a large town, as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai and the Gibeonite’s men were strong warriors. Joshua 10:2
But they choose to lose the battle to win a war.
The Gibeonites chose to lose the battle for their independence and become slaves to win the war of not losing their lives and their land to the Israelites, whom they knew they stood no chance to win on the battleground because of the divine mandate of the LORD their God backing them.
They had heard of the might of the LORD their God and all that He did in Egypt, and to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River- King Sihon of Hebron and King Og of Bashan. They also knew the instruction that the LORD their God commanded Moses to give them the entire land of Canaan and to destroy all the people living in it.
The Gibeonites studied the Israelites as their opposition and devised a way to outsmart them. They resorted to a ruse(deception). It is said, “All is fair in Love and War”
Why Was The Gibeonites Ruse Against The Israelites Successful?
The ruse (deception) of the Gibeonites worked and was successful, because of the lapse on the part of Joshua and the leaders of the Israelites who made an important decision of entering into a treaty with people who they have never met before without consulting and inquiring from the LORD.
It is said, “ Follow the evidence wherever it leads, and question everything .” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
Joshua and the Israelites leaders because of the evidence before them, made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath without asking and inquiring from the LORD God if the Gibeonites were saying the truth or not.
This was their greatest undoing because they lost all the lands in Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath –jearim and all the treasures there which they would have possessed after they have won them on the battlefield.
The occupants saved their lives and their lands because of the strategic use of the weapon and tactics of deception(ruse).
The Israelites could not do anything about it. As a matter of fact, when the five Amorites Kings combined their armies for a united attack and moved all their troops into a place and attacked Gibeon.
The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. “Don’t abandon your servants now !” they pleaded. ‘Come at once! Save us Help us! For all the Amorite Kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us.” So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon.
With the help of Joshua and his entire army, the LORD gave victory to the Israelites over the five Amorites Kings.
Lessons For The Christian Soldiers
Beloved believer and follower of Jesus Christ, in my post Before You Give Your Life To Christ, Terms, And Conditions Apply Part 1 – Chinenye Nzewi’s Blog we saw and established that every man or woman, who is a Christian believer and follower of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, is an enlisted Soldier in the Army of God’s Kingdom.
The main primary purpose of soldiers is to fight battles and war. And to be alive, the soldier must use every weapon in his arsenal to overcome the enemy because on the battlefield, “It is either kill or be killed.”
1) Daily every believer and follower of Jesus Christ is at war with the arch-enemy of man, the “Devil” whose only weapon he has been using right from the garden of Eden, is “Deception” (ruse).
This weapon of deception was used in the past and is still being used to date.
2) “Evidence is not proof of truth.”
Every Christian soldier must at all times, be ready to look beyond what he or she can see with their physical eyes. You must move and do things by the eyes of your spirit.
Be led by the Holy Spirit, not by your emotions or things your physical eyes can see.
Why? Because the enemy we are up against the devil, though evil and deceptive, always appears like the Angel of Light.
He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, who is ready to take any guise just so he shoots you down. Including creating fake realities with solid proof evidence as the Gibeonites did.
This is why Scripture tells us, in 1 Peter 5:8
“ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy the devil, He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
The devil is always patrolling the earth watching everything that’s going on, prowling and looking for prey to devour and destroy, we the children of God must at all times, Be at Alert! like a watchman keeping watch at a security stand. No one knows when he will strike.
“If you snooze you lose.” Everywhere he visits, the devil does not leave without causalities.
Thank God for the victory we have in Christ Jesus, who overcame him on the cross when He bruised his head.
3) Use King David’s Secret Weapon to overcome and beat the devil to his game of deception.
King David’s Secret Weapon In Battle!
According to the Old Testament, King David fought 8 -9 major battles and did not lose any of them.
Why?
Because of his “Secret weapon” which he always used against his enemies.
What’s this secret weapon?
King David always “Inquire from the LORD God” before embarking on any battle. And for every inquiry from the LORD God, He would always give David and his troops a new “Battle strategy”, with which to overcome his enemies and return a winner.
For example, David Conquers The Philistines (1Chronicles 14:8-17)
In the case of David and the Philistines army above, we saw that it was the same Philistines army, the same battleground, but God used a different battle strategy.
In the first battle, God told David to “attack straight on” while He the LORD handed them over to David and his troops.
While in the second battle, because David “inquired again” of the LORD, He told David;
“Do not attack them straight on” When you hear a sound like a marching feet in the tops of the mulberry trees, go out and attack. That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine’s army.
The LORD God led the second battle Himself.
Every soldier in God’s Kingdom must “Inquire of the LORD God at all times, Not sometimes. So that we do not fall for his deception, as the Israelites fell for the ruse of the Gibeonites because they did not consult nor inquire from the LORD if the evidence before them was true or not.
A Christian soldier can never go wrong in his or her faith battle on earth, if he or she “Always inquires” of the LORD God like King David, before making any decision at all. No matter how small or major the decisions may be.
The LORD God is never ‘Tired’ of you asking Him questions, and neither will He ever be tired of giving you the answers you seek as long as you are ready to seek and listen.
In Jeremiah 33:3 He said, “ Ask me and I will tell you remarkable things to come.”
If the Israelites after they examined the food the Gibeonites presented as evidence, consulted and inquired from the LORD if this was true or not, they would have known the truth about the Gibeonites, that contrary to the evidence they presented, they are not living afar as they claimed.
“Evidence is not proof of truth.”
It’s not too late to start ‘Now’ and ‘Today.’
Don’t let what happened to the Israelites happen to you.
Learn from them.
My prayer for you beloved soldier of Christ is that as you utilize the secret weapon of King David which gave him astounding victories in all his battles, you will experience the same in your lives daily.
No matter the battle that comes your way.
God Bless You.
