Judges 2:1-5: Covenant and the Gibeonite Dilemma (a look at Judges 2:1-5 through the lenses of Joshua 9 and 2 Samuel 21)

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on May 18, 2008
and Alberni Valley Ministries on 27 January 2019
By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the original version. To view the 2019 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/02/joshua-9-and-gibeonite-dilemma.html

Judges 2:1-5: The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim (weepers). There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

This is disappointing; it’s a sad but very important passage from which to launch the stories of the so-called Judges.[1] This pericope (Joshua 2:1-5) explains why the Israelites and their allies suffer hundreds of years of oppression.[2] It informs us that the cycle of sin, enslavement, repentance, deliverance, and sin again… which continues repeatedly until Israel finally descends into civil war and anarchy - this whole downward spiral[3] all stems from one broken promise; a disobeyed covenant.

Our promises, our covenants are important to God and as such how we operate within a covenant relationship has significant implications for our lives. The Lord said to His people that He will never break His covenant with them (Judges 2:1) – they, we are not released from our covenants simply for disobedience to them; there are serious consequences for taking our covenants too lightly.

I think this is an important thing for us as Salvationists to remember as we have the opportunity to enter into rich and strong covenant relationships with the Lord in the form of our Officers’ and Soldiers’ covenants. It is important too for all of us living in the new covenant era of the post-resurrection world and especially for those of us living in the so-called ‘First World’ as litigation, broken contracts, and divorces[4]-breaches of these covenats- occur here on a daily basis both inside and outside the churches. As Christians we should all be aware of exactly what we are getting into when we enter in a covenant; be it a soldiers’ covenant, an officers’ covenant, a marriage contract or what have you? .... When we make a promise either to or before YHWH we need to know what we are getting into.

Now a covenant is a good thing. It is not a punishment. The Lord made a promise to Abraham, as recorded in Chapter 12 of Genesis, that all the nations of the earth with be blessed through him and this promise is ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The Lord made a covenant with Abraham, Genesis 15, that his descendents would occupy the land promised to him. The Lord is faithful to his word. He does not break his covenants.[5] He is bound to us through His covenants.

This is good news, and as we have discussed here before, the most common word for covenant in the Hebrew Bible is berit[h], (mentioned 286 times).[6] Berit[h] probably actually comes from the Akkadian word for ‘to shackle.’[7] So the image of a covenant with (or in the presence of) the LORD then is of one actually being bound, shackled to him with a tie that will not be broken, a chain that cannot be severed.[8]

Still, even with the strength of our covenantal ties, there are results, consequences for not living up to the terms of our covenants. Judges 2:2: “…you have disobeyed me…. Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them [the Canaanites] out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” It is important for us to remember that there are consequences for disobeying the covenant and even more than that.

Do you remember the episode around the covenant that is in question here in Judges 2? It relates back to the covenant of Genesis 15 and it refers too to the covenant experience relayed to us in Joshua Chapter 9. (You may wish to turn to that now actually) Remember that God commanded Israel not to make a covenant with the Canaanites; remember that God told the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites.[9] (This was after the people of Canaan had graciously been given 400 years and still did not repent of their own sins, cf. Gen 15:16.) Remember how God told Israel to destroy them? [10] Remember how He told them not to make a covenant with the people of the land? (Cf. Deut 7:1-6; 20:16-18)

Well, remember too this story from Joshua 9:3ff: “…when the people of Gibeon [who lived in Canaan] heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse [they tricked them]: they went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and mouldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.’”

They lied to them; Joshua and the Israelite leaders were tricked and then made a treaty with them (Joshua 9:15) - without first discussing the matter with God - and in so doing they disobeyed their covenant, they broke their promise to God.

Breaking a promise to God is not a trivial matter. In the book of Judges alone (and the breach of this particular covenant will come up again in other books) generations of people suffer as a result of their forefathers broken promise to God. For hundreds of years, their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even more than that experience the consequences of this broken promise.

Now this should be easily understandable for us because, really, as we think about it we realise that this same thing happens in our world today. Think about the children who are raised in broken homes. Think about many of the children whose parents broke their marriage contracts with each other and with God.[11] There are consequences.

Some of the consequences are immediate and some of the immediate consequences are the struggles of how to raise a child in two separate homes with two separate sets of rules. Some of the immediate consequences are the challenges involved in that fact that whatever the problem was that split up the marriage in the first place was obviously never resolved: mom or dad still moved out. Some of the immediate consequences of divorce are that children from broken homes are more likely to be ‘latch-key kids’ and less likely to have all the material support that their peers do. Some of the immediate consequences include the fact that, at best, one will only ever get a good night kiss from one, single parent. (Praise the Lord, in light of this, for His grace that is available to all)

But there is more than that in our world today; there are consequences for future generations as well. Many people who get divorced once wind up getting divorced twice or even thrice.[12] Children of divorce are more likely to be divorced themselves[13] and perpetuate the devastating cycle that contributes to generations and generations and generations going without the emotional, spiritual, and other support that only comes from a strong marriage covenant.

While recognising the power of the Lord's grace, this is still very sad because there is so much benefit from continuing in a strong covenant relationship but when we stray from it there are often devastating results. And as we continue to read through Judges, we will see that much misery comes as a direct result of the Israelites and their parents’ disobedience to their covenant with the Lord. There are consequences for not walking in proper covenants.

You will notice, in Joshua 9, that the Israelites were tricked into making this agreement with the Gibeonites. They didn’t realise they had broken their promise to God. They entered into this agreement under false pretences. The Gibeonites lied to them but that doesn’t change the fact that Israel is bound through the covenant her leaders made with the Gibeonites before God. (Joshua 9:18; Judges 2:2) And they know this, Joshua 9:18, when the Israelites find out that they have been tricked, they don’t nullify the agreement: it is not within their authority (power) to do so; Israel still does not attack the Gibeonites. They don’t attack the Gibeonites because –even though they have been lied to, even though they have been tricked, even though they have been deceived – they are still bound to God and the Gibeonites via this treaty. Simply disobeying a covenant does not render it void. There are consequences for disregarding a promise but because we disobey a promise made before God does not simply render the covenant void (Romans 3:3,4).[14]

So this is interesting isn’t it? In society at large, in many courtrooms, in many countries today, this agreement, this contract with the Gibeonites would be thrown out on the spot. In our country if a person who is still legally married to one spouse, takes another, when the first marriage is discovered the Judge will declare the second one void.

If a landlord has already collected rent on an apartment from one tenant she can’t turn around and rent that same apartment to another. Our pluralistic society says that simply transgressing an agreement may in some circumstances render it void. God, however, in our stories before us today, disagrees. God says, through His angel, Judges 2:1: “I will NEVER break my covenant with you.” The covenant is not nullified; the ties are not severed, just because they disobey God.

Now there is another interesting point about the agreement that Israel enters into here that sets the stage for the book of Judges. Israel enters into this covenant with God first and this agreement says that He will give them the land and that they will not make a covenant with the Canaanites, they will instead destroy the present inhabitants of the land. Then the Israelites –without consulting God- enter into the second covenant with the Gibeonites promising that they will not destroy them and in the process Joshua and the Israelites disobey the first covenantal agreement that God entered into with them.

Israel is understandably held to its original agreement with YHWH. It is understandable that Israel suffers the consequences (Judge 2:2-3) for disobeying God by making this competing covenant. But what is interesting is that the Israelites are also held accountable to this new covenant with the Gibeonites (which they made before God) even though they made it contrary to the expressed command of God. The Israelites disobeyed God in making this second covenant but they are still held accountable to it. God holds them accountable to both covenants: the one that He initiated and the one that He forbade.[15]

In Judges chapter 2, we read today of the consequences for breaking the first covenant with God and as you turn with me to 2 Samuel 21, you will see that there are consequences that the Israelites suffer for breaking this second, competing covenant with the Gibeonites. God holds us to our promises. Whether we are lied to, tricked, or even enter into a covenant that is against the Lord’s commands, God holds us to our covenants (that are with -or before- Him.)

2 Samuel 21: 1ff. - During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years[people die]; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death." The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites [Canaanites]; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) David asked the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?"

The Gibeonites answered him, "We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death."
"What do you want me to do for you?" David asked.

They answered the king, "As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord 's chosen one."
So the king said, "I will give them to you."

Verse13: David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

Even though the Israelites disobeyed God by entering into this covenant with the Gibeonites - and suffered their due consequences for disobeying the terms of the covenant with God- when they transgressed this new covenant they made with the Gibeonites - even though it was against the will of God - God would not even answer their prayers until they made it right.

Now I would like to emphasise a couple of things here: 1) as I have already stated, God does not sever the ties of covenant that binds us to (or before) Him. He is faithful to His promises, even if we are faithless (Romans 3:3,4).

This is important for us to remember. We should not enter into our covenants lightly. I don’t believe that God says we can simply declare (through the courts or otherwise) that our partner did not live up to the marriage covenant and so we are no longer married. I don’t think that God says that simply because we had a drink we can throw out our Soldiership agreement. I don’t think the shackle is cut. I don’t think that God says that just because we decide not to be Officers anymore that we are released from our vow to ‘make soul-saving a primary purpose of our lives.’ I think that this covenant referred to in Genesis 15, Joshua 9, Judges 2, and Samuel 21 points to the fact that God doesn’t break His covenants with us and as a natural result, there are consequences for us if we are trying to break that chain.[16]

This brings me to my second point of emphasis: covenants are not punishments; the consequences for rebelling against covenants are not punishments: the consequences of rebellion are the natural and logical results of our own actions.

Now, as I have pointed out before, the origin of the Hebrew word for ‘covenant’ comes from a root word meaning, to be shackled together. The image of a covenant then is one of being shackled to God through a promise.

I often compare a covenant with God (be it through marriage, Soldiership, Officership …) to being shackled to a locomotive, with God being the locomotive. When we are chained to the train and ride comfortably on it – following the Lord’s leading - we wind up where He is going a lot faster and a lot easier than if we travel the road on our own strength (under our own steam). This is the benefit of a strong covenant with the Lord.

But, if once we are bound to the Locomotive of the Lord by a covenant, if we try to go our own way or try to shackle ourselves to something going in a different direction, it is not going to be a pleasant experience. The tie doesn’t break. Disobedience to our covenants is like jumping off the train and trying to run in the opposite direction while we are still chained to it.

It’s going to hurt but it is not God’s fault; He doesn’t throw us from the train and because God is faithful (cf. Rom 3:3,4), this covenantal chain is so strong that won’t break – and what we suffer are the natural results of our own actions. This is what happened in our story today (Judges 2). God, wanting the Israelites to experience the full rest of the promise land entered into a covenant with them. They willing shackled themselves to His train but then, however, at the same time they shackled themselves to the Gibeonite train that was going in a different direction and suffered the natural and logical consequences of their actions. And this is exactly what happens to us when we don’t respect our covenants.

However, there was good news for the Gibeonites. There was good news for Israel and there is good news for us in this as well. The Gibeonites, even though they didn't deserve it, even though they acted deceitfully, the Gibeonites gained access to the promise. The Gibeonites -as they aligned their covenant with the Lord's - the Gibeonites -Joshua 9 records- the Gibeonites were saved. And truely I tell you that God was faithful to His promise that the whole world would be blessed through Abraham and this was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And there is still more good news in this for us for no matter how many times we are faithless and jump off that train. No matter how many times we try to break that covenant; no matter how many times we throw ourselves on the tracks, under the wheels of the ‘God Train,’ the Lord is faithful: the covenantal chain will not be broken as long as we live; God will not give up on us. God is faithful, and Jesus himself is standing there as the new chain that binds us in our relationship to God; Jesus is the new covenant through whom whosoever may be pulled back up onto the train. As this is the case, instead of rebelling against God, instead of pulling against the tie that binds, let us all give our lives over fully to the Lord, buckle up, lean back and enjoy the fully sanctified ride on this train because this train is bound for glory.

Let us pray.
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[1] The ‘Judges’, with the notable exception of Deborah, were actually more like military rulers and ‘strong men’ than judges as we would think of them today.
[2] Exactly how many hundreds of years has been debated. If one adds up the total time of enslavement as if they were served consecutively, one would arrive at a total of 480 years. There is a distinct possibility that some of these times of enslavement could be served concurrently. It is also likely that no one tribe suffered the entire length of subjugation. Cf. Denis T. Olsen, NIB II: Judges, (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon,, 1998) 724. Cf. also Robert G. Boiling, Judges, AB 6A (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975) 9-29.
[3] The extent of the periods of peace generally decline as the story progresses.
[4] Divorce Magazine.com has world statistics for divorce: Aus 46%, USA 45.8%, UK 42.6%, Can 37%; more statistics are available on-line at: http://www.divorcemag.com/statistics/statsWorld.shtml
[5] Michael Ramsay. Covenant: When God is Bound...a look at Genesis 15:7-21. Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008, pp 5-10. Available on-line at http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_052.pdf
[6] G.E. Mendenhall. "Covenant." In The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, edited by George Arthur Buttrick. (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1962), 715.
[7] Ibid. Cf. also M. Weinfeld. "berith." In Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck. (Stuttgart, W.Germany: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), 253.
[8] Michael Ramsay, "Berit[h]" Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 40, December 2005 – January 2006 pp 16-17.
[9] Or Amorites, same people. Cf. Gen 15:16.
[10] Cf. David H. Madvig. Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Joshua/Exposition of Joshua. The ruse discovered (9:16-27), Book Version: 4.0.2.
[11] Child and Family Canada: Divorce, Facts, Figures, and Consequences. Available on-line: http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/vanif/00005_en.htm: Overall, about one third of all marriages in Canada end in divorce and the rate is somewhat higher for remarriages. Dissolution rates are even higher among cohabiting couples. Currently, there are no solid predictions of either a sharp decline or a sharp rise in divorce rates in the near future.
[12] Statistics Canada: The Daily: Wednesday March 9, 2005: Divorce. Available on-line at: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050309/d050309b.htm: In 1973, only 5.4% of divorces involved husbands who had previously been divorced. Some 30 years later, this proportion has tripled to 16.2% of all divorces. Similarly, the proportion of divorces involving wives who had previously been divorced rose from 5.4% to 15.7% during this three-decade period.
[13] Divorce and Children: An Interview with Robert Hughes, Jr, PhD. Available on-line at: http://www.athealth.com/consumer/disorders/childrendivorce.html Cf. also from the Associated Press: Divorce Gap Narrows over time. Available on-line at: http://www.divorcereform.org/mel/rchildrenofdivor.html
[14] God is faithful even when we are unfaithful (Romans 3:3,4). Cf. Cf. N.T. Wright, "Romans and the Theology of Paul," p. 37. See also N.T. Wright, "The Law in Romans 2."
[15] There were natural and logical consequences for the Gibeonites after their deception as well. They were saved but, as per the earlier instructions of Moses (Deut 20:10-15; cf. Josh 16:10; 17:13; Judg 1:28, 30, 33, 35), they became forced labour for Israel (Joshua 9:21).
[16] For a discussion on this as it relates to Genesis 15 and Abraham’s covent with God, see Michael Ramsay, 'Covenant: When God is Bound...a look at Genesis 15:7-21'. Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008, p 5. On-line at http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_052.pdf