The Gibeonites response to the questioning by Joshua is to
say, we believed that your God was able to do whatever He wants to do. That is an astounding admission in a world
that believed in territorial gods. As soon
as the nations surrounding it, including Jerusalem itself, hear of this pact
between the Israelites and Gibeonites, they begin to fear what it may mean for
their own kingdoms and so decide to take decisive action against Gibeon. Why go against Gibeon rather than Israel
itself? One reason, if you notice the identities
of the parties, is that Israel refers not to a city or a kingdom but a people
as opposed to all the others who are named for the places they inhabit. We learn here that Gibeon was a large city
and the men of the city are warriors. The
combination of the two nations is the threat but the city is deemed to be more
important than the wanderers. They miscalculated. The Gibeonites, in spite of what we are told
about them, knew where the real strength in the partnership was found. Israel is, for them, the stronger covenant
partner, as the Lord was to Israel. Israel's
strength is not in herself, it is in the Lord fighting for the nation as
happened this miraculous day when the sun stood still long enough to vanquish
her enemies.
When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned he tried to give
back the money he had been paid to betray Jesus. He thought he had set into motion the events
necessary for Jesus to "out" Himself and take over as Messiah. Judas was, I believe, a true believer who was
impatient for Jesus to be Messiah, the messiah Judas wanted him to be, the one
who would lead the people to overthrow Rome and set up the kingdom in
Jerusalem. God's real interest has
always been a people rather than geography.
Who we are matters more than anything else. We are to be vice-regents, have always been
intended to be that since the beginning.
God's kingdom is not limited by any geography or national boundaries, it
is the universe. Nation-building as we
understand it in the secular sense is not God's agenda. Judas, like the king of Jerusalem and his allies,
miscalculated and when he realized the magnitude of his error he, like Pilate,
tried to rid himself of the guilt for his actions. Even in this, we see the sovereignty of God
in the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy.
Paul's aim was to break new ground for the Gospel. He said he didn't want to go anywhere someone
had already been because he wanted to lay his own foundations and therefore he
hadn't come to Rome because someone else had preached the Gospel there. He believes now, however, that there is no
new ground to break in the area and so plans on going to Spain and his travels
would take him through Rome for a brief visit.
Rome herself, the hated occupier of Jerusalem, was a place where the
Gospel was flourishing and which, ultimately, Jesus would completely conquer
and claim for His kingdom. God's ways
are not our ways. Trusting in His
sovereignty and preaching the Gospel are all we have to do.
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