Mar 01
by Victoria Robinson
Have you ever jumped into something quickly without bothering to ask the Lord what you should do? Never fails to turn out disastrous when we do not inquire of the Lord concerning our plans. In fact King Solomon said, “Don’t talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through.” Unfortunately Joshua and his leaders did not use this principle when they signed a peace treaty with some men they had just met. Turns out these men were deceptive and were actually from Gibeon. Before Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land the Lord had forbidden them to make a treaty with them.
Though the Israelites eventually repented of making a hasty decision, they nonetheless went through needless troubles before everything worked out. They understood that breaking their oath would only be another violation of God’s Word. Herein is another good principle for us to glean from this story. Once we make a hasty decision, it is unwise to violate the Word of God to get out from under it. We must follow God’s principles to find the way to success from our failures.
Dearest girlfriends, let us not be hasty, but ask of the Lord before we make decisions.
Joshua and the other leaders finally believed them. They did not bother to ask the Lord but went ahead and signed a peace treaty. And the leaders of Israel ratified the agreement with a binding oath. Three days later the facts came out—these men were close neighbors. The Israeli army set out at once to investigate and reached their cities in three days. (The names of the cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.) But the cities were not harmed because of the vow which the leaders of Israel had made before the Lord God. The people of Israel were angry with their leaders because of the peace treaty. ~ Joshua 9:14-18 TLB
When the Lord brings you into the Promised Land, as he soon will, he will destroy the following seven nations, all greater and mightier than you are: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. “When the Lord your God delivers them over to you to be destroyed, do a complete job of it—don’t make any treaties or show them mercy; utterly wipe them out. Do not intermarry with them, nor let your sons and daughters marry their sons and daughters. That would surely result in your young people’s beginning to worship their gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be hot against you, and he would surely destroy you. ~ Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NLT
Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. ~ Leviticus 19:12 NIV
We humans make plans, but the Lord has the final word. We may think we know what is right, but the Lord is the judge of our motives. Share your plans with the Lord, and you will succeed. ~ Proverbs 16:1-3 CEV
Don’t talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don’t talk too much. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:2 CEV
It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. ~ Proverbs 19:2 NIV
Tags: decisions, did not bother to ask, gibeon, hasty decision, Israel, israeli army, israelites, Joshua, king solomon, lord god, neighbors, peace treaty, principle, promises, seven nations, tlb, Victoria Robinson, vow, Word of God
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 9:00 pm and is filed under A Godly Life.
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