Let's start this morning by reading Joshua 9:1-4:
(1) And then, as soon as the kings heard who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in all the coast of the great sea in front of Lebanon--the Hittites and Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites-- (2) they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel, united,
(3) while the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho to Ai,
(4) and they acted-- also they-- with wisdom/cunning,
Imagine that you're a Canaanite king, and you've heard the report about what Joshua and the Israelites have been doing. They wiped out Jericho, and after an initial setback, did the same to Ai. They killed everyone, hung the kings, and made the cities a desolation. If I'm a king, I'm nervous. If they'd simply conquered these two cities, and moved in to them, I'd maybe try telling myself that it's time to greet my new neighbors. Maybe bring over a cake. But people who conquer cities, only to destroy them, have some larger goal in mind. They aren't going to be content with what they've accomplished.
AJ begins chapter 9 by very deliberately creating a contrast between two different responses to what Joshua has been doing. In verses 1-2, AJ describes the first group. All the kings of the land, hearing about Joshua, have joined together with one accord to fight him. They've put aside whatever differences they have-- whatever century-old grudges-- to unite against their common enemy. Perhaps the Canaanites' problem to this point has been a lack of numbers. Maybe they've lost to these escaped slaves because they've been overwhelmed numerically. Maybe if they join together, they will crush Israel.
These kings then disappear until chapter 10. Why does AJ tell us about these kings, when they play no further role in chapter 9? I think the answer is, AJ has given us this to help us view the second group differently. In verse
3, again, we read this:
(3) while the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho to Ai, (4) and they acted-- also they-- with cunning/shrewdness/foresight,
When the Gibeonites heard about what Joshua did, they drew a completely different conclusion. They looked at Joshua, and they looked at their own strength, and they knew that fighting was hopeless. They'd never win. Normally, when a foreign army invades a country, there are only two options. You either fight, or run. But the Gibeonites try to find a third way-- they will act with cunning.
Now, how we understand this word "cunning" makes an enormous difference in how we read the story that follows. At some point, when we think about how we will apply this passage, I'll come back to this in more detail. But for now, let's use this as a working definition: "Cunning" means knowing what you want, and knowing how to get it. The Gibeonites want two things. (1) They want to live. They don't want to die. And death, at this point, looks inevitable. (2) They want to keep their cities. Who wants to leave everything, and become a refugee?
So as we read the story that follows, we find ourselves curious-- how will the Gibeonites try to pull this off?
What's the plan?
Verses 3-6:
(3) while the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho to Ai,
(4) and they acted-- also they-- with wisdom/cunning,
and they went,
and they prepared provisions,
and they took old/worn-out sacks for their donkeys and leather bottles of wine--old/worn-out and torn and mended,
(5) with old/worn-out and patched sandals on their feet,
with old/worn out clothing on them,
while all of the bread of their provisions had dried up.
It was crumbly,
(6) And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal,
and they said to him and to the men of Israel,
"From a far land we have come,
and so then, cut a covenant with us,"
The Gibeonites know their OT extremely well. There are two different sets of rules for how Israel is supposed to treat nations, depending on whether they are near-- inside of the promised land-- or far--outside of the land.
We read this in Deuteronomy 20:10-18 (ESV?):
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
16 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction,1 the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
The Gibeonites know Deuteronomy 20. There's really no other explanation for their approach. They come to Joshua, acting like they fall under the "far nations" verses, and want a covenant.
I'm pretty sure we are supposed to smile when we read their speech. It's a little rude, to be honest. There's no please. There's no subtlety. And there's no real reason for Joshua to say "yes" to them. There was a time when I was single. If I'd walked up to Heidi, when I first met her, and tried to pull this on her, she'd have freaked out. "Heidi, I'm single. I'm a Christian. I meet the legal and biblical criteria of what you are supposed to find in a husband. And so then, marry me." There's a pretty good chance she'd have said no. She'd probably have wanted to know a little more about me first. And so we read this, in verse 7:
(7) And the men of Israel said to the Hivites,
"Perhaps in my midst you live,
and how can I cut a covenant with you?"
The Gibeonites aren't the only ones who are familiar with Moses' instructions. The men of Israel know they have to follow this near-far distinction. How can they be sure that the Gibeonites are from far away?
The other thing about verse 7 that we need to notice is what the Gibeonites are called. AJ calls them "Hivites." We read in verse 1 about how the Hivite king and his people are joining the fight against Joshua. But now, we are reading about a group of Hivites who have sent a delegation to Joshua to seek peace.
A number of commentators have taken a very nasty approach toward the Gibeonites the whole way through. They assume that there is nothing straightforward, or honest, or sincere about the Gibeonites. But I think AJ is here dropping a little hint, that these Gibeonites are taking a risk in the same way Rahab took risks with the spies. These Gibeonites are breaking with their king, and I can't imagine there's a lot of kings that would tolerate rebellion. Hivites are supposed to obey their Hivite king. [And it's important to know, for the story (and the larger story of Joshua as a whole), that these Hivites are distancing themselves from their king.]
Rereading 7, going on to 8:
(7) And the men of Israel said to the Hivites,
"Perhaps in my midst you live,
and how can I cut a covenant with you?"
(8) And they said to Joshua,
"Your slaves/servants, we [are]."
Here, the Gibeonites offer themselves as Joshua's servants. They want Joshua to focus on what they are offering, and not on who they are, or where they are from.
But Joshua doesn't bite. And so he continues by asking them directly (read through verse 11):
And Joshua said to them,
"Who are you,
and from where do you come?"
(9) And they said to him,
"From a land very far we have come-- your slaves/servants-- because of the name of Yahweh your God,
because we have heard his reputation and all that he did in Egypt (5:1-2) and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who [were] on the other side of the Jordan-- to Sikhon the King of Heshbon and to Og King of Bashan who [was] in Ashtaroth,"
(11) And our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us, saying,
"Take in your hand provisions for the road,
and go to meet them,
and you shall say to them,
"Your slaves/servants we [are],"
And so then, cut with us a covenant.
At first, the Gibeonites had said they were from a far land. Here, they embellish-- now it's VERY far. So far, there's no point even telling Joshua the specific name. He wouldn't know it. They again offer themselves as Joshua's servants. And now they offer a more theological explanation for why they've come. They have come because of the name of Yahweh your God, because they've heard about his reputation, and what he's done. The Gibeonites are very careful here to not talk about Jericho and Ai. They only mention the old news. Their journey has been long; they haven't gotten the latest updates. But what they've heard about Yahweh has been enough to convince them to make a covenant. They want to be servants to Yahweh, and to Yahweh's people.
Here, many commentators again assume the Gibeonites are insincere. I just don't see it. The Gibeonites have broken with their king because they understand Yahweh's power. They know they will die--they will fall like the Egyptian army, and Sihon, and Og, and Jericho, and Ai. And, knowing this, they submit to Yahweh and Joshua, and offer themselves as vassals--as servants. They then repeat their wish. "And so then, cut with us a covenant."
In verses 12-13, they offer proof that they are from a very far land.
(12) This [is] our bread.
Hot it was when we took it as provision from our houses on the day we went to you,
and now, LOOK! It is dry, and it is crumbly,
(9:13) And these [are] the leather bottles of wine which we had filled new,
and LOOK! They have torn/burst.
And these are our clothes and our sandals.
They are worn out/old from the length of the very long road,"
(14) And the men took from their provisions,
while the mouth of Yahweh they did not seek/request,"
Here, the cunning of the Gibeonites shines. Look! Here is our bread, and our wine, and clothes, and our sandals. Everything is old. Everything is falling apart. The Gibeonites did this perfectly. There are no gaps, no flaws, in the way they look.
In verse 14, the Israelite men, seeing all of this, took from their provisions. They tested it. Everything matched up.
And they trusted their eyes, without seeking the mouth of Yahweh.
It worked. Do we find ourselves pleased with this? Did we find ourselves rooting for the Gibeonites? I found myself rooting for the Gibeonites. I think there's two reasons why I did. First, the Gibeonites are taking an enormous risk, like Rahab did, and I respect that. Second, the story is told from their perspective. If AJ had told it from Joshua's perspective, and given less time to their cunning, I'd have felt differently maybe.
Verse 15:
(15) And Joshua made peace for/with them,
and he cut for/with them a covenant to let them live,
and the leaders of the community swore [an oath] to them,
In verse 15, the Gibeonites get what they needed. AJ tells us this three different ways, to make sure we understand this. (1) Joshua made peace with them, and (2) he cut a covenant with them to let them live, and (3) the leaders of the community swore an oath. This is a done deal. Mission accomplished.
But starting in verse 16, we get the fallout. The Gibeonites had to have known their cunning plan wouldn't hold up forever. They're near, after all. It turns out, the plan held up three days. I'll read from 16-18:
(16) and then, at the end of three days after they had cut for/with them a covenant, they heard that near they [are] to him,
while in his midst they are living,
(17) and the sons of Israel set out,
and they went to their cities on the third day.
Now, their cities [were] Gibeon and the Kephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim,
(18) and the sons of Israel didn't strike them
because the leaders of the community had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel,
We may have found ourselves rooting for the Gibeonites, but the Israelite people are upset. The Gibeonites had four cities, and now those cities are lost forever. And so they murmured against their leaders. This a nasty word--the same word used to describe their frustration in the wilderness, when they thought they'd die. The leaders messed up here. And now the people are suffering. They want to pick up their swords, and wipe out the Gibeonites. And murmuring suggests they are thinking about replacing, or abandoning, their leaders.
The leaders respond to the community like this, in verse 19:
(19) and all the leaders said to all the community,
"We have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel,
and so then, we are not able to touch them.
(9:20) This we will do to them:
We will keep them alive,
so that wrath shall not be on us because of the oath that we swore to them,
(21) And the leaders said to them,
"Let them live,"
and they were choppers of wood and drawers of water for all the community,
just as the leaders had spoken concerning them,
We are maybe tempted to think that Israel has two choices here. They can break the covenant they made with the Gibeonites, and kill them all. Or they can break the covenant they made with Yahweh by letting them live. And you could maybe take it a step further, and say, if whatever they do next is sin, they might as well kill them all. That'd be more convenient, and it'd make the people happy.
But the leaders tell the people there is no choice here. When you swear an oath in Yahweh's name, you keep your word. You have to be promise keepers, whose yes is yes, and whose no is no. They swore an oath by Yahweh, and if they break this oath, Yahweh's fury will come down on them.
As Christians, we tend to take promise-keeping, and the importance of keeping our word, far less seriously than they did in the OT. If you make a promise, you keep that promise. And if you invoked Yahweh's name in making a promise, you are asking him to guarantee your faithfulness. Do someone wrong, and Yahweh will deal with you.
So. The Gibeonites get away with it. But this doesn't mean that the Gibeonites get off without consequences. They are forced to take nasty jobs the Israelites don't want. Drawing water, cutting wood.
Starting in verse 22, Joshua calls the Gibeonites in person to address them. They need to answer for what they've done:
(22) And Joshua called them,
and he said to them, saying,
"Why did you deceive/betray us, saying,
"Far we are from you-- very,"
while you in our midst [are] living,
(23) and so then, cursed [are] you,
and a slave/servant and chopper of wood and drawers of water shall not be cut off from you for the house of my God,
Here, Joshua demands the truth. Why did you do this?
(24) And they answered Joshua,
and they said,
"Because it was surely told to your slaves/servants that Yahweh your God had commanded Moses his slave/servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy/exterminate all the inhabitants of the land from your presence," we were very afraid for our lives because of your presence,
and we did this thing,
and so then, LOOK! We [are] in your hand.
According to [what is] the good and according to [what is] the right in your eyes to do to us, do,"
The Gibeonites acted like they did because they had no choice. They were cunning. What was their goal? To live, and keep their cities. And the only way to accomplish this was through deceit.
Twice before, the Gibeonites had said, "LOOK!" They'd pointed at the bread, and the wine bottles, and tried to deceive the people. Now, with all pretense stripped away, they say "LOOK" one more time. LOOK, we are in your hand. The Gibeonites are like Rahab-- whether they live, or die, is entirely up to Joshua.
They won't fight. If Joshua wants to kill them all, he can. All they ask, is that Joshua act according to what is the good, and what is the right in his eyes. Everything hangs on Joshua's character.
What will Joshua do? We hold our breath, wondering what Joshua's response will be. Verse 26:
(9:26) And he did to them thus:
he rescued them from the hand of the sons of Israel,
and they did not kill them,
(27) and Joshua made them on that day choppers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of Yahweh up to this day at the place that he would choose,
How backwards does this story end? Joshua rescues the Gibeonites from Israel. And the Gibeonites accept their fate. They become wood choppers and water-drawers forever. But we read this, and we remember: this is exactly what the Gibeonites originally offered. They were willing to become Israel's servants, in exchange for a covenant.
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So this is chapter 9. What do we do with it? How does it move us to think and act differently? This is a story with three main characters/persons: Israel (and Joshua), Gibeonites, and God. Let's look at each of these, and reflect on them.
(1) Israel (and Joshua)
If we read Joshua 9 from Israel's perspective, this is a story of lost opportunity. There were four cities, plus the attached land, that Israel would never get to use. And the reason is a failure of leadership. It stings. We understand the murmuring.
Joshua's problem here wasn't that he didn't know the Bible. He knew the Bible just as well as the Gibeonites. Joshua's problem was that sometimes in life, the Bible is not enough. We find ourselves in situations as a church, or as individual Christians, where we don't know what to do. Or, we're in a situation that seems so straightforward, so clear, that we don't think we need to seek God's mouth.
But the real problem, for us as evangelicals, is it doesn't even occur to us that God still speaks outside of the Bible. We read Joshua 9, and we are quick to nod our heads at verse 14, when AJ makes it really clear that Israel's problem here is that they didn't seek God's mouth. But we leave these doors, and.... We don't actually think that God would speak to us to keep us from sin, or from making stupid decisions. We say, "God speaks to us through his word." And we don't trust anything else.
I worked with a youth pastor when I was at Bible college who explained it like this: God has given us his word-- his Bible--, and the Bible serves as a fence to keep us inside God's will, and from sin. But how we live inside that box is completely up to us. We can marry who we want, work where we want, serve how we want, live however we want, and as long as we are in that box, we are doing God's will.
And if we don't believe that God still speaks outside of the Bible, that's how we are forced to live. Sometimes we will find ourselves in a situation like Joshua, and everything seems a little off maybe, but it looks ok. And we shrug our shoulders, and go for it. And this is basically how I've lived until about 2 years ago, and I feel like I've been clawing my way out of this every since.
What I've come to believe, very strongly, is that God still speaks today. And what we need as we go through life, on a regular basis, are new words from God.
Today, I think the most common way God would like to speak to us is through his Holy Spirit. God wants us to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit--to partner with the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14). He leads us. We are supposed to try to walk in step with the Spirit, and live in a way that pleases the Spirit. This is what God wants. But if you think that God doesn't still speak-- if you think the Spirit is just a seal guaranteeing you eternal life, and not a Person who wants to guide you and empower you-- if this is what you think, you will go through life like Joshua did in chapter 9. Quite often, this will seem to work out okay for you, but you are missing out on some of God's blessings.
I think God also still speaks through prophetic words, and visions, and dreams. Sometimes, what we really need as individuals, and as a church, is for someone to have a prophetic word from God to tell us what to do. But even if God gave us a prophet, or visions, or dreams, there would still be a huge problem-- God would need a church that actually believes God still speaks this way, and would trust it. Test it, sure. Absolutely. But believe that it could be from God. If someone stood up in church, and said, "God says, Don't do this," what would people do? Would anyone even care? We would struggle to believe that the person was truly speaking prophetically.
The bottom line is that the Bible is God's word. And I take the Bible's authority seriously. But God never intended the Bible to be the only way he speaks to people. It's not enough. It was never meant to be enough. What you need, additionally, is to rely on the Holy Spirit. Believe that God still speaks. And learn to listen to his voice.
(2) Gibeonites
If we focus on the Gibeonites, what do we see? What do we learn?
It's impossible to read about the Gibeonites, without thinking about Rahab. AJ has now given us two stories about people in his book who have no right to God's mercy-- who have no path to God's mercy-- who nevertheless take the tiniest opening, and run through it.
AJ correctly describes the Gibeonites as cunning-- and I'll talk more about that in a minute. But don't let this description of the Gibeonites keep you from reading/hearing about them with respect. At this point in the book of Joshua, after the setback at Ai, it would be natural for some people (like the kings) to think something like this: "Maybe Yahweh and his people Israel can be defeated. Maybe we have a chance. We have our gods, too, after all."
And the Gibeonites, we will read next chapter, are a big deal (10:2). This is not some weak, third world country that big bad Israel would inevitably conquer. It would have been easy for these Gibeonites-- these Hivites-- to join the other Hivites, to serve their Hivite king, along with the other kings, and take their best shot at Yahweh and Israel.
But the Gibeonites saw Yahweh with eyes of faith. They knew their power couldn't match his (1 Corinthians 10:22). And so they took the one chance they had to make peace with Yahweh, and with his people. They rebelled against their king, and offered themselves as Joshua's servants, and placed themselves in Joshua's hands. They wouldn't fight.
Odds would say, that one way or another, this wouldn't work out for them. If Joshua had sought God's mouth, their cunning would've been exposed. When their deceit was discovered three days later, a different leader than Joshua might have risked Yahweh's wrath, and decided to kill them all anyway.
The Gibeonites are models of faith, just as much as Rahab. They took enormous risks, and placed their trust in Yahweh and in his mercy. They saw the world through eyes of faith, and realized their only hope was to offer themselves as Joshua's servants, and as Yahweh's.
One last thing about the Gibeonites, that amused me. I'm not sure how to fit this in better, sorry. The Gibeonites, when they approached Joshua, twice describe themselves as Joshua's servants. They are offering themselves to Israel as a vassal state-- this is no covenant of equals.
When Joshua finds out what they've done, he pronounces a curse on them. I'll reread that, in verse 23:
(23) and now, cursed [are] you,
and a slave/servant and chopper of wood and drawers of water shall not be cut off from you for the house of my God.
The curse Joshua pronounces on them, is the exact same thing the Gibeonites have already willingly offered. They are happy to make themselves servants. They aren't coming to Yahweh, and Israel, as equals. They submit. They give themselves completely. And when I read this in light of the NT, I can't help but think about Paul. Paul describes himself as a slave of Jesus , and he counts it a privilege, and a blessing, to serve God and his church.
The fact that Paul was given this responsibility shows God's kindness and favor-- his grace. I am happy to call myself Jesus' slave. Joshua can call this a curse, and act like it's a curse, but the Gibeonites are happy to serve. It's no hardship to be the least among God's people.
So. Let's talk about the Gibeonites' cunning. I'm going to try to teach this, and then we can all decide if we believe it or not.
"Cunning" is an interesting word. The serpent was the most "cunning" of all of God's creation (Gen. 3:1).
In Exodus 21:12-14, we read this:
12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
Cunning means something like, knowing what goal you want, and knowing how to get it, often in the face of unlikely odds. Is this a virtue? We hear that the serpent had cunning, and we read about people using cunning for premeditated murder, and we think, "This is dumb. Cunning is wrong." Even the word "cunning," makes us unhappy.
But we if translated it as foresight, or cleverness, or prudence, it's more ambiguous.
The interesting thing about this word, is that in the book of Proverbs, "cunning" is a virtue to be sought out.
The book of Proverbs opens like this:
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give PRUDENCE to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
We then read this in chapter 8:
8 Does not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 On the heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the children of man.
5 O simple ones, learn PRUDENCE;
O fools, learn sense.
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
7 for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
9 They are all straight to him who understands,
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 Take my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with PRUDENCE,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
"Prudence," or "cunning," is a necessary life skill to be learned. People who are simple, who are fools, can only think about what's right in front of them. You see an opportunity to sin, or be lazy, or do something stupid, and you grab it. But people who are cunning-- who are "prudent"-- can see into their future, and understand how their actions lead to specific outcomes in life. If you're a farmer, and you are too lazy to plant in the spring, you're going to be hungry at harvest time. And you're going to want to hide from your banker.
If someone you're attracted to, who is married to someone else, invites you to commit adultery, you need to understand that her words are poison, and that path leads to death not life (Proverbs 4). Walking with prudence--or cunning-- means understanding that the path we take in life leads toward a particular goal, and it means choosing to walk on the path that leads to something good at the end.
"Prudence/cunning" can be misused. If you're a used car dealer, and you are cunning, you can totally take advantage of people. Or, if you understand what makes people tick, you can take advantage of them, use them and manipulate them for your own benefit. "Cunning" is a life skill that can be misused.
But when Jesus sent out the twelve in Matt. 10:16, this is what Jesus told them: " 16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
I'm not sure I'm going to explain this right. I've never really thought about this passage. But here's my attempt (reading the verses after to give it some context):
When you faithfully follow Jesus, and live as his servants, you need to understand that there are consequences.
At times, following Jesus is going to be painful. It will be costly. But the end result, for those who persevere, is that they will be saved. So as you tell people about Jesus, use shrewdness. Give people the chance to repent, and submit to Jesus as king. Don't shirk your duty. But part of being shrewd means, knowing when it's time to run. You don't have to seek out martyrdom to be faithful. If you can flee persecution, do so. And Jesus makes sure we think about cunning/shrewdness right, by adding to it, be innocent as doves. There are lines that you cannot cross. Cunning is not an excuse to sin.
And keep the long-term goal in mind. Act in a way that leads to the ultimate goal, of being saved on the day of judgment. Just like the Gibeonites-- they knew the day of judgment was coming, and they acted accordingly.
Be shrewd. Be cunning. But do so in a way that you stay innocent.
(3) God
If we look at the story for what it teaches about God, what do we see?
This one seems hard. What does God do in the story? He's not sought. He doesn't speak at any point in the story--no one thought to ask, and He didn't keep his people from doing something stupid.
The question I can't help but ask, when I read this story, is this: What would God have said, if Joshua had asked?
Would God have rejected people who refuse to attack him or his people, who take an enormous risk, who demonstrate great faith, and who humbly come before him as servants?
If God doesn't delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), how much more would he not delight in those who come to him in faith?
The Gibeonites feared God, and didn't attack his people. They did what was right, and took the only path available to them.
Acts 10:34-35:
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
I keep thinking, the problem isn't necessarily with how any of this ended. Israel acted as a light to the nations, and--look!-- a nation came. The problem was, letting the Gibeonites live was a decision only God could make. It shouldn't have been up to Joshua. That's the problem (and they will be praised later in Joshua for making the covenant, if we cheat ahead).
So what do we learn from this story?
(1) Seek God's mouth. Be open to new words from Him.
(2) Learn to be cunning. Learn to focus on what you want in life, and focus on how to get it.
(3) It's no hardship, to be the least in God's kingdom.
(4) God accepts all who fear him, and do what is right.
