Joshua 9:3-27 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,… The children of Israel made two mistakes here. I. They received these men by reason of their victuals. THEY JUDGED IN A HASTY AND SUPERFICIAL WAY. By hasty judgments we are led into wrong in several directions. 1. Hasty judgments lead us to wrong others. 2. Hasty judgments lead us to wrong God. You take a superficial view of your troubles, and you think God is a tyrant and is cruel. 3. How many reject the truth by such hasty judgment. Some trifle suffices — a silly criticism they heard years ago — to lead them to give up Christianity and lose their souls. This, then, is the first lesson of the text: To form no judgment concerning any man or any thing on insufficient or defective data. II. They "asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord." THEY ACTED UPON THEIR OWN WIT AND DISCERNMENT. If you have any wit, you are to use it. You may think you know all about the harbour of success, every shallow, every sunken rock, yet it would be better to take a pilot on board. I prefer to employ a praying doctor, a praying lawyer. (H. M. Scudder, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,WEB: But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, |
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