Doing Your Own Thing

“In those days there was no king in Israel,

but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

Judges 17:6

The generation that followed Joshua did not set out to do evil. They did not think they were doing wrong. Rather, “they did what was right in their own eyes.”

That's the problem with sin; the sinner feels justified. Like the people in the book of Judges, they compromise with the world around them. They create their own religion keeping what they like about Christianity, dumping what they don't, and adding elements that feel right.

Part of the problem is second-generation syndrome. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10

Previous generations did the hard work. Moses' generation endured the slavery in Egypt. They saw the Red Sea part and Pharaoh's army drown. They enjoyed God's provision in the wilderness.

Joshua's generation conquered the land. They saw the walls of Jericho collapse. They saw their enemies fall before them. They took the land, city by city, mountain by mountain.

On the other hand, the Judges generation entered into rest and comfort provided by their ancestors. Joshua told them, “I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.” Joshua 24:13

He admonished them further, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14

The people said Amen but failed to honor a God they did not know. They married outside the faith and failed to take down the pagan altars. They kept the holy days and cultural artifacts of the faith but not the faith itself.

You cannot inherit faith from your parents. Each of us is called to account. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me.” John 14:6

It is easy for those who have grown around the faith to fake it. They talk about being blessed and pray for things they want. They may, even, attend worship with some regularity but their walk is inconsistent. Like the Israelites in Judges they sin, feel sorry for awhile, then sin again.

There is good news: “To all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

Joshua is conned by the Gibeonites (Joshua 9)

Gibeon was one of the Canaanite cities that God commanded to be destroyed. They feared Israel and devised a plan to ensure their survival. They knew that Israel was allowed to make treaties with cities outside of the Promised Land.

The Gibeonites put together a group of men and disguised them to look like ambassadors from a distant city. They were equipped with worn clothing and shoes and carried moldy bread and cracked wine skins to give the impression that they had been on a long journey from a far-off land. Joshua and the nation of Israel were tricked into a treaty that was in violation of God’s commands.

Joshua and the leaders of Israel did not sin deliberately. They carefully inspected the evidence presented by the Gibeonites and found it to support the story. The Bible tells us that their failure was in neglecting to consult God before making a decision.

When Joshua discovered that he had been deceived, he declared that the Gibeonites would be tasked to chop wood and carry water in support of the Tabernacle worship. The Gibeonites never gave Israel any trouble and came to be called the Nethinim (given ones) and labored as servants in the temple (1 Chron. 9:2; Ezra 2:43, 58; Neh. 3:26).

When the other five Canaanite cities in the region heard of Gibeon’s plan to allay with Israel, they gathered to destroy Gibeon. The five armies, now out in the open, were easy prey to Israel.

We can learn some important lessons from this story. First, Satan sometimes comes as a devouring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and sometimes as a deceiving serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). Our senses can be deceived so we must seek God as we make decisions.

Second, we should make the best of our circumstances. The Gibeonites served the Tabernacle and, later the Temple until the Babylonian captivity.

Third, God can use our mistakes to fulfill his plans. They five kings that gathered to destroy Gibeon were marked by God for destruction. Their gathering in one place, out in the open made it easier for Israel to defeat them.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

God uses unlikely people to do his work.

The first lesson is that loyalty to God takes priority over loyalty to earthly governments. When Rahab hid the spies, she sided with Israel against her own people (Joshua 2:2-7). It was an act of treason! There is no easy way to put it. Her king ordered that these men be turned over but she chose to deceive the authorities knowing that these men would destroy her city.

We can learn three important lessons from Rahab, the prostitute introduced in Joshua chapter 2. The Hebrew word translated prostitute could also mean an innkeeper but the New Testament makes it clear that Rahab was a prostitute. The Greek word is not as ambiguous. (James 2:25 and Hebrews 11:31)

Another example of this lesson is the refusal of the Hebrew midwives to kill the male newborns as commander by the Pharaoh when they were slaves in Egypt. “The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” (Exodus 1:17)

A New Testament example is when Peter and John continued to preach the gospel in disobedience to local authority: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” (Acts 4:19)

A second lesson we learn is that the revelation of God in history was not confined to Israel. Canaanites heard the news and reacted in fear. Some, like Rahab, became believers. Rahab’s faith was based on the knowledge of the Lord’s mighty acts (Joshua 2:9-10). On that basis she decided that He alone is God (v. 11), and she acted on that decision to seek refuge in Him (vv. 12, 13).

The third lesson is that a person does not need to know every aspect of Bible truth before he or she can be saved. Both Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 indicate that Rahab had put her faith in Jehovah God before the spies ever arrived in Jericho. Rahab’s knowledge of the true God was meager, but she acted on what she knew; and the Lord saved her.

She is an example of the grace of God at work. Her salvation is not based on her character or merits. She was a prostitute, a traitor and a liar but Rahab showed more faith in the Lord than the ten spies had demonstrated forty years earlier. She said, “I know that the Lord has given you the land” (Joshua 2:9). Her faith was based on facts, not just feelings; for she had heard of the miracles God had performed, including the parting of the Red Sea at the Exodus.

Only two women are named in Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith”: Sarah, the wife of Abraham (v. 11), and Rahab (v. 31). In contrast to Sarah who was Abraham’s wife and used by God to found the Hebrew race, Rahab was a non-Jewish worshiper of pagan idols who sold her body for money.

God in His grace uses people we would probably not choose. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:27-29).

Matthew named Rahab as Boaz’ mother (1:5) in his genealogy of Christ. Rahab married into one of the important families of Israel and was the mother of Boaz who married Ruth and was the ancestor of both King David and Jesus.