1. Joshua 9:23 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Where was the house of God?

Joshua 9:23 (ESV)

23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”

House of God often points in Scripture to the temple that Solomon built (1 Chronicles 22:2; 1 Chronicles 23:28; Psalm 135:2; Micah 4:2). In Joshua’s time there is no temple so it likely refers to the tabernacle. Until such a time as the Lord revealed a geographical place where the tabernacle was to be permanently set up, the Gibeonites would have had to provide water and wood for the tabernacle worship. The Lord promised Israel that he would reveal to them a place where he was to be worshipped by all of Israel after the conquest (Deuteronomy 12:5).