Enquiring of God

“The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” Joshua 9:14
Early on in Joshua’s campaign to subdue the land of Canaan, a group of people wearing worn-out clothes and carrying mouldy food arrived at their camp. They said they were from a land far away and had come to make a treaty with Israel, having heard of the wonders that God had done in bringing them out of Egypt. In reality, of course, these people were Gibeonites, and lived in the land of Canaan. They knew that the Israelites had been commanded by God to wipe them all out.
The ruse worked. Just as we read in the account of Ai following Jericho, so too this is another lapse by the people following the eventual victory at Ai. There is no doubt that if Joshua and the Israelites had enquired of God, they would have discovered the truth. (God probably would have been merciful and allowed the Gibeonites to live, since they were the only Canaanite tribe to profess faith in Israel’s God, and voluntarily submit themselves to the Israelites rather than going to war against them.) As the record stands, they disobeyed the commandment of God to “be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going” (Ex. 34:12).
It’s vitally important for us to remember that when faced with big decisions and when being pressured to make promises and oaths, to first inquire of the Lord. Don’t do anything until you know He approves.