I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 8-9.

    There are two stories here that reflect the successes and failures of the Israelites. When the Israelites first attacked Ai they were overconfident and cocky. They sent only a portion of their army against Ai and were soundly defeated. This was described in yesterday’s passage, which also told us that the overconfidence was a result of Achan’s sin. When they went up against Ai with God’s blessing, the full force of their army, and sound tactics, they were victorious. A short time later, another group of people in the land, the Gibeonites, deceived them into a treaty. This was in violation of God’s command to not make a treaty with any of the people in the land. The Gibeonites were clever and supplied their delegation to make it seem that they had traveled a long distance to meet with the Israelites. The Israelites failed to consult God, or to put conditions into the treaty to guard against such deception. The Israelites were deceived because they relied on their own ability to detect the deception. No matter how cunning we are at sniffing out deception, it is only by trusting in God, and seeking His advice that we can avoid being deceived.