Dress Up

October 9th, 2024
by Kevin Darnell

When I was a little boy, my little brother and I found a box of our older brothers’ Halloween costumes. Inside the box was a Superman costume and a Batman costume. When we saw these costumes, we were ecstatic and decided to play “dress up”. We put these costumes on and ran around the house pretending to be Superman and Batman and capture bad guys. We had a blast!

In Joshua chapter 9, we meet a group of people who also decided to play “dress up”. They were called Gibeonites and they lived in the Promised Land very near the city of Ai. There were 4 cities that made up the area of Gibeon and they were like royalty in the land. Their cities were larger than Ai and their men were mighty warriors.

While the rest of the cities around the Promised Land were uniting for war with Israel, the Gibeonites were terrified. Based on what they had seen and heard about the God of Israel, they knew that they could not hope to defeat them. So they decided to play “dress up”. They sent envoys to Joshua’s camp and dressed them up to look like weary travelers from a foreign land. They dressed up in old, tattered clothing and worn our sandals. To make their story more believable, they took along with them dry, stale bread and old wineskins that had burst which they sowed back together and filled with wine.

Upon arriving at the Israelite’s camp, they told Joshua and the leaders that they had travelled from a distant land to become servants of Israel because they had heard what Israel’s God had done to Egypt and the Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan River. After examining their clothing, dried up bread, and wineskins, Joshua and the leaders believed their story, but they did not consult the LORD.

Three days later, Joshua learned the truth and confronted the Gibeonites on their deception. Rather than trying to defend their lie and hold Joshua to his vow and covenant, they did something surprising. The Gibeonites confessed their lie and testified of their fear of the God of Israel. Then they humbled themselves and said, “Now behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.” (Joshua 9:25). The Gibeonites were throwing themselves at the mercy of Joshua.

When they did this, what they found was mercy and grace as Joshua agreed to let them live. Since they originally came to Joshua in order to become servants of Israel, that is what Joshua made them. They had to gather wood for the altar of God and water for both the tabernacle and people of Israel. This royal group of mighty warriors willingly became servants of God and Israel.

There are people who are a lot like the Gibeonites today in many churches. They “dress up” and pretend to be Christians in public. They go to church, say all the right things, and even serve at church. But their hearts are far from God because it all just “dress up”. In their hearts and in their private lives, they are lost and they know it.

Are you a “Gibeonite” Christian? Are you pretending to be something that you are not? You might fool those around you but you are not fooling God. Just as the Gibeonites learned, your sins will find you out (Numbers 32:23). But if you will get honest with God and humble yourself before Him, you will find exactly what the Gibeonites found: mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

These are your Words for Wednesday. Have a great rest of your week!

In Christ,
Kevin