Salvation By Trickery

Hello, sunshine! Glad you stopped by to check in on the 2009 Year of the Bible blog. The sun is bright, but I hear the wind howling away.

The sprint through Holy Week is about to begin. If you're not already planning on it, I encourage you to attend worship tomorrow for Palm (Passion) Sunday in your local congregation. We are about to celebrate the greatest miracle the world has even seen: resurrection!

No time to waste; we all have lots of things to do today. Let's get down to business. . .

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Fri, Apr 3 To whom does God show kindness? To whom does God show sternness? (Rom 11)
Sat: Joshua 8:19 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.

And here's the question of the day:
Sat, Apr 4 How did Joshua and the Israelites conquer the city of Ai? (Josh 8)


And here's the reflection of the day:
In the today's reading from Josh 9, we hear the story of the Gibeonites who, also anticipating Israel's march toward their cities, decide it is time to be pro-active. They create a ruse, tricking the Israelites into making a peace treaty with them. Once the Israelites discover the ruse, they are forced to NOT do what the Lord has commanded them (called "the ban"), which is to conquer all the people living in the Promised Land.


If you remember in the story of Rahab in Josh 2, a very unlikely woman puts herself in the position to be able to bargain with the Israelite spies in order to save her family from certain death. She had heard the Israelites were on the move in Jericho's direction and acted swiftly and cunningly.

Salvation by trickery strikes again.

It seems that the author of Joshua has some admiration for the underdogs in these stories, don't you think? In these stories of tricks and ruses, we see the echoes of Jacob and Joseph and Tamar, other Old Testament figures who also gained notoriety through their devious ways.

But what about us? Do we admire these folks for their ingenuity, "glad to see them gain salvation, even by dishonest means?" (Creach, Joshua, p. 88). OR, do we see them like those sneaky vineyard workers, who were hired at the end of the day and earned as much as those who have been working all day long? (Mt 20:1-16)? Are we glad for them or are does it seem like they are receiving something they do not deserve?

Scholars debate whether what Rahab and the Gibeonites received was safety or salvation. For our interpretive purposes, let's assume we're talking about salvation.

In which case, we must remember that no one deserves or earns God's grace. . . that is a gift which He freely bestowed "while we were still sinners," to borrow from Romans 5.

This story is "good news" for those who feel like they don't fit the "church mold." It is an illustration that God's love is far bigger than we usually give Him credit for.

Have a great day!
Allison