"The inhabitants of Gibeon also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, but they on their part acted craftily and went and took provisions for a journey, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins that were worn out, split open, and patched, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. And they went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now then, make a covenant with us." But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then are we to make a covenant with you?" So they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?" They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God; for we have heard the report about Him and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was in Ashtaroth. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us." ' This bread of ours was hot when we took it for our provisions from our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled. And these wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are split open; and these clothes of ours and our sandals are worn out from the very long journey." So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.". Joshua 9:3-15
Have you ever had a thought and then second guessed yourself and went against that thought, only to find out you were right the first time. Some people call this the gut instinct and encourage us to listen to it. I give credit to God's Spirit within me that is trying to direct me down the right path. If we are children of God, we can trust that He is showing us something that we need to believe and act on. Joshua did not have Holy Spirit within him guiding and directing him, but Joshua did have directions from God passed down from Moses and confirmed before he crossed over the land. In Joshua 3:10 God listed the Hivites among those that Joshua would drive out of the land.
Initially the Israelites questions "Perhaps you are living withing our land; how then are we to make a covenant with you?" Yet instead of trusting that gut instinct, they listened to the lie that was told to them. In addition, they did not take the time to seek God for direction. The Gibeonites, who were Hivites shared with the leaders of Israel the fear they had of God that had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, the Amorites, Heshbon and Ashtaroth. They showed them the provisions of worn-out sacks, wine sacks, clothing and sandals they had purposely brought to deceive the Israelites.
The enemy will often come bearing "evidence" just as the Gibeonites did. However, Joshua asked a direct question, but the answer was not given; instead, a story was provided as evidence. If you were traveling a long distance, would you really keep the spoiled food and worn-out items? Probably not. Also, the Israelites didn't know what it was like for things to wear out; their clothing and sandals did not wear out for the 40 years that they were traveling (Deuteronomy 29:5)
Proverbs warns "The first person to speak in court always seems right until his opponent begins to question him.". Proverbs 18:17
If they had stopped and sought the Lord, He would have given them the knowledge needed to not get into covenant with the Gibeonites.
Although we don't know an exact time frame, only that the Israelites took provision from the men (Some versions say they accepted their evidence, others that the Israelites took provisions, or some food, from the Gibeonites). Israel made peace with the Gibeonites and entered into a covenant with them. Holy Spirit will not rush us, He leads us. We follow in our timing. Again, they didn't even stop to ask the Lord.
As I read this story, I thought about the three ways they could have avoided the predicament they found themselves in, which would have led to a different outcome. The first would be to trust their gut instinct. There is a reason they questioned where the men were from. They didn't get an answer, they got a bunch of fluff. When something doesn't seem right and our guy questions it first, we need to pause and reflect on why we are questioning it. The second thing is to seek godly counsel. The Israelites cast lots or used the Urim and Thummim to determine God's will in a particular situation. They could have went to the priest and have him ask of the Lord since prophets were not really identified in that time since Moses had passed away. We have the ability to seek Godly counsel from our pastors, elders and other spiritual leaders. Lastly, what they could have done and should have done is to seek the Lord. We too have the ability to seek the Lord in every decision we make, especially those that are as serious as entering into a covenant. Even more important when we have questions. There are very few decisions that we cannot pause to ask for God's direction and guidance about. Holy Spirit can guide us to confirmation through a clear answer whether that be an affirming in our spirit, a scripture verse or godly counsel. It is us to us to uset he gift that God has given us that the world often refers to as gut instinct before making life changing decisions.
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