Bible study · Joshua 9:1-27
Joshua 9: Moldy bread and a sworn oath
Read Joshua 9:1-27 before you meet.
In a few lines
The Law's terms of peace covered cities "very far off" (Deuteronomy 20:15), and the Gibeonites said they came from "a very far country" (9:9). The one thing the chapter says Israel left undone is that the men "didn’t ask counsel from the LORD’s mouth" (9:14). And the oath sworn that day still bound Israel in David's time (2 Samuel 21:1-2).
The verse to carry
“The men sampled their provisions, and didn’t ask counsel from the LORD’s mouth.”
Joshua 9:14
To talk about
1. "The men sampled their provisions, and didn’t ask counsel from the LORD’s mouth" (9:14). When have you gone by what you could see and handle, and only later wished you had prayed first?
2. The princes kept their oath while the whole congregation murmured against them (9:18-19). Is there a promise you've made that is hard to keep now? What would keeping it look like?
3. The Gibeonites said to Joshua, "Now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as it seems good and right to you to do" (9:25). What changes when someone who wronged you puts themselves in your hands?