The people of Gibeon are an interesting lot. They hear what the Lord and the nation have
done to Jericho and Ai and determine to not let the same happen to
themselves. Their plan is to trick the
Israelites into believing that the word of the Lord has spread far abroad and that
they have come from afar seeking to make peace with this people. They costume themselves so that it appears
they have come from a distant land with worn-out clothing from the journey and
dried out food and mention only that they have heard what the Israelites' God
did for them in Egypt and in the wilderness wars with the Amorites and Og, king
of Bashan. Does all this deception
remind you of Jacob? The failure here is
identified in verse 14, "the men took some of their provisions, but did
not ask counsel from the Lord." They
failed to pray about the matter and Joshua made peace and a covenant with them. Once the deception is discovered the people
murmur against the leaders but, even though the Gibeonites entered into the
covenant falsely, Joshua determines that he is bound by it and will keep
faith. The people are, however, reduced
to menial labor on behalf of the nation.
They had been told not to enter covenants with the people of the land,
this was disobedience to a command from God but Joshua honored his word.
Peter's denials of Jesus are painful to imagine, especially
after he had so strongly stated that even if all the others fell away he would
not, and especially after Jesus prophesied his failures. He is here in the courtyard to see what the
end of this will be, and he is afraid of an association with Jesus because he
fears that he will also be arrested and tried.
He will, but not this night. Peter
is doing his best to hide his identity as a disciple. He can't hide being a Galileean and having
been seen with Jesus but he wants no one to know his true identity, disciple. Jesus' restoration of Peter and his central
place as leader in the apostolic band is all the more evidence of grace. Joshua made the Gibeonites the cutters of
wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, but Jesus made Peter the
central figure in the church. Peter will
be the man he always wanted to be.
Jesus came in the form of a man and because He did, the
people didn't recognize Him. Paul himself
didn't recognize the one he was looking for in Jesus. He required a heavenly visit and the
proclamation from heaven by Jesus that He was the one Paul was
persecuting. Paul knew what grace looked
like, he knew he deserved to die and yet he was given a place of honor, an
apostolic mission and call. For that
reason Paul urges the Roman church to be gentle with the failings of their
brothers and sisters. The goal of the
community is unity in proclamation and those who proclaim the Gospel best are
those most aware of their own weakness and failure, their own need for
forgiveness, the recognition of just how great grace truly is. So long as we continue to deceive ourselves
and others about who we really are, we will never receive the grace on offer.
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