It is nearly graduation time and the
invitations via Facebook, postcards, and “save the date” notices are starting
to trickle in already. I have been
thinking about all the graduation cards on which I have penned those wonderful
words from Proverbs 3:5 and 6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make
your paths straight.” Sounds simple. Sounds weird. Sounds somewhat mystifying.
Yet, none of those graduates has ever asked me (maybe they asked someone else)
“what on earth does that mean to not lean on your own understanding? Am I
supposed to check my brain at the door of life? Does that mean I pop the Bible
open and do whatever the first verse my eye rests on?” Truth be told, and with
apologies to all the graduates whose cards were inscribed with those words, I
never really gave it much thought either. I think I assumed it meant, pray,
read the Bible and seek counsel when it is needed. Today, I rethought it.
In the early days after Joshua led the
Israelites across the Jordan River, and they began to slowly, methodically possess
the land into which they had entered, they experienced the tremendous victory
of Jericho and then the heartbreak of defeat at Ai. After they were trounced at
Ai, Joshua and the Lord of Hosts had a little conversation about sin in the
camp which was quickly and painfully exposed. The Israelites went up against Ai
again, and this time, the Lord gave them a specific strategy and Ai was
destroyed. These two battles alone pushed the strength and fame of the
Israelites and their God far out into the hill country in the western foothills
and along the entire coast of the Great Sea. Some of the people groups banded
together and formed an alliance against Israel. But, not the Hivites who lived
in Gibeon for they were a clever people. In
Joshua 9 we are told of a clever ruse which the Hivites perpetrated upon Joshua
and the people of Israel. The Hivites lived close to the Israelite camp of
Gilgal. They too had heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai and so they
resorted to a deception to save themselves from a fate similar to that of the
people of Jericho and Ai:
They
went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old
wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched
sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply
was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at
Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant
country; make a treaty with us.”
The Israelites were a little suspicious
of the Hivites and said “Perhaps you live near us. How then can we make as
treaty with you?” (Josh 4:7) To prove their assertions that they lived far
away, the Hivites again pointed to the
worn and patched sandals, the worn out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended
and the supply of moldy bread. How obvious could it be? Who could argue with
the facts, the reality before their eyes? Of course, the Hivites had come from
far away. The physical evidence all pointed to their truthfulness; it was an
inescapable conclusion. The Israelites leaned on the evidence before them; they
leaned on sampling the provisions of the Hivites and trusting in the objective
facts before them and leaned on their own understanding. “The men of Israel sampled
their provisions, but did not inquire of
the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live,
and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.” (Josh 9:14-15)
Neither Joshua nor the assembly
inquired of the Lord. They leaned on their own understanding, on the obvious
facts before them. They mistook reality for truth. In this case, the facts
before Joshua and the assembly were far from reality and far from truth. Had
Joshua and the assembly inquired of the Lord, truth would have been revealed
for God is a God of truth and the Holy Spirit works in us to recognize truth in
the midst of difficult and confusing realities, ij the midst of challenging
facts and reports. God’s truth will either validate or invalidate what appears
to be factual reality. God’s truth is greater than even the reality of our
circumstances. If we take the time to inquire of Him, we will receive truth
which guides us in our decisions in the reality of circumstances.
Well, we know what happened to the
Israelites and the Hivites. The Israelites got snookered and ended up with
neighbors who were deceivers and untrustworthy. The Hivites ended up as water
carriers and wood cutters for the rest of their days.
Lean not on your own understanding and, beware
the worn wineskins and moldy bread.
