The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 220

clrnngeth not 11 (Ps11.. xv. 4). He who "reverences h_is conscience as his king" will nev~r trea,t hi:;htly an;r verbal ple?~es he may have gi"'.en, or endeavour sophistically to rul himself of their responsibihty. His "word will be as good as his bond." H_owever false othe_rs ma:y be, let him ~t least be true. (2) The need of a spirit of wrndom to determme '.1-nght the practical problems of life. The path of duty is often the resultant ?f different moral forces. The most difficult points of casuistry are those 11.t whic~ impulses equally ~ood (fea! of God, self-re~pect, humanity, &c.) seem to be at variance. Let every nght motive have due weight. " Of two evil~ choose the least." (3) How men sometimes disqualify themselves for any high and noble position in the Church of God by their former infatuation in the service of sin. These Gibeonites are delivered from destruction, but their perpetual servitu,le is a perpetual disgrace. So do saved men often bear with them, as long as life 111.sts (in moral disability, or social distrust, &c.), the marks of what they once have been. They may well be thankful when their past transgressions, for Christ's sake, are forgiven, and they 11.re permitted to take any place in His kingdom, e,en " as slaves beneath the throne"-" hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation."-W. Vere. 3-2'7.-The submission of the Gibeonites. According to the explicit law of Moses (in Deut. xx. 10-18), there were three courses which Israel might pursue towards the cities they besieged: 1. In the event of a city refusing to capitulate, they were, after taking it, to destroy all the males who survived, but take the women and the little ones and the spoil, and divide the same. This first course, however, was only to be pursued to such cities as were outside the boundaries of the promised 19.lld. 2. In the event of cities within these boundarier, refusing to capitulate, then, on taking them, they were to slay all the inhabitants of either sex, lest they should "teach them to do after their abominations.'' 3. But, thirdly, in the event of any city, within or without these boundaries, submitting to them without resist- ance, then they were to make the people " tributaries to them; " but no life was to be taken. From eh. xi. 19, 20, it is obvious that every city had the opportunity of capitulating, and would have saved its inhabitants from extermination by doing so ; but that the thought of capitulation did not enter the hearts of 11.lly co=unity, but that of Gibeon only. These remarks seem necessary to enable us to understand aright the exact position of affairs. They suggest: 1. That the submission of Gibeon was a right thing wrongly done. 2. That the wrong part of their action-the lie- was needless, as they would have been saved without it; and fruitless, as they would have had probably a better lot had there been no attempt to mislead. 3. That, accordingly, we have not here the example of a profitable lie (a thing that has never been seen since the fall), but only the example of wisdom in yielding to the in- evitable, and seeking peace with the earthly representatives of God. Tims under- stood we may gather from _their action two or three lessons worth our consideration. I. Avom DOING GOOD THINGS IN A BAD WAY. This is a co=on fault. Often a.II the grace of kindly acts is lost by an ungracious way of doing them. We give- perhaps avowing reluctance to do so. We confess mistakes-but exhibit a chmlish regret, not for the mistake, but for the necessity of acknowledging it. We take good advice-but sullenly. We act on a good impulse-but slowly. We yield our hearts to God-but only with much misgiving, and after long delay. We uo the right and just part, but only after earnestly trying to avoid doing it. So these Gibeonites rightly submit, but make the submission, which is right, in a wrong way, using falsehood and pretence, t11king 11w11y from Israel the grace of generosity and the friendly spirit that woulcl h11ve moderated their lordship over them. Do not so blame them ns to forget that every fault is a mirror, looking into which eiich may see some likeness of his o:wn imperfectio~. You a1;1,l I ~re like the Gibeonites in this, that always some bit of evil creeps mto 11.lld mn:es with the good. Such mixtures, in God's mercy, may not be fatal to our welfare, but they will always mitigate it. In this case a less abject and menial form of servitude would h11ve been the result of their submission if they h11d possessed the courage of their wisdom. Do your good things in a good way 160 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [en. Ix. 1-27.