Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 9:14

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 9:14
"And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord."

Not surprisingly the fame of Israel's God reaches the areas around them. Some of the kings come together in order to fight Joshua and Israel. The inhabitants of Gibeon decided to be "wilily" (craftily, with cunning) and pretend to be ambassadors from a far off country. They come with old shoes, clothes, empty wine bottles and moldy dry bread. All to appear to have come from a far distance. They ask Israel to enter into a covenant or treaty with them to let them live.

Joshua makes peace with them, and all the princes of the congregation swear to let them live. Then they find out that they were deceived. They made an oath with the neighbors they would have destroyed from the land. Now they couldn't go back on their oath and all the people murmur against the princes. Then it is decided to make them bondmen, hewer of wood and drawers of water.

I pondered on how Israel was deceived. What went wrong?  It was when they didn't stop to take counsel of the Lord. They should not have relied upon their own understanding. In prayer the Lord would have told them if something was amiss. What a great lesson.

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."
(Alma 37:37)

"For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him"
(Doctrine & Covenants 3:4)


Day 771