Partnerships? Series

How stubborn were the Israelites of the Old Testament?

Over and over again, God would call them, provide, empower, and perform awesome miracles in their lives, the Israelites of old kept forgetting about God and actually continued to sin.

We Christians today are just like those Israelites of old; we forget about God and continue with our sinning. The story of the Israelites were written for us to learn from.

What happened to the Israelites after crossing the Jordan River?

With their obedience and God’s help, the Israelites conquered the City of Jericho, part of the Promised Land.

After that victory at Jericho, the Israelites went ahead to conquer the City of Ai without consulting with God and they failed miserably! With 3000 soldiers killed and they had to stone a family of their own, you think they learned a lesson!

Now, after consecrating themselves before the Lord, God told them that now they will be victorious over Ai.

Open your Bibles to Joshua 9 and let us read what happened next and continue to allow God teach us through the Israelites, because we today are just like them, forgetful and stubborn! Joshua 9……

v1-2: Kings heard about Israel’s victory over Jericho and Ai and decided to go to war against them.

v3-5: Gibeonites also heard Israel’s victories but they resorted to a ruse (i.e. decided to deceive)!

v6: The Gibeonites lied about who they were and asked for a treaty (an agreement of partnership).

What does v7 indicates??

The Israelites first impression was something was not right! What do you think the Israelites should have done at this point??

V14 is our Scripture of the Week and is the key verse, I believe, in this passage!

We’ll talk more about it in our applications. Let’s finish the story…

v8-13: The Gibeonites continued with their lies to get the Israelites make a treaty with them.

v14-15: What were the Israelites trusting?? The Israelites trusted their own wisdom and the physical not spiritual!

v16: In just 3 days, the truth came out!

According to v17-18, what did the Israelites wanted to do once they found the truth??

The Israelites wanted immediate revenge once they found out they were lied to, again without consulting God!

Do you see anything wrong in v19-20??

We really don’t read these leaders consulting with the Lord earlier, as a matter of fact, again in v14, God states that they did not consult the Lord! Now they bring up God because there is a conflict and v20 tells us that the Israelites were more concerned about their own skins than what God thought. Wouldn’t God already be upset because the Israelites did not consult with Him in the first place?

The Israelites brought up God because there was a conflict (a good thing) BUT, they were still more concerned about their own selves than God!

v21-23: A curse fell on the Gibeonites because of their deception!

Now, what was the good thing that happened in v24-27??

The Gibeonites confessed their sin willingly accepted the consequences!

Let us summarize the Biblical principles from this passage and apply them to our lives.

1. We must be careful of partnerships. What’s the first thing we should do when we are deciding to set a partnership agreement with someone??

If we don’t pray and consult with God regarding partnering with someone:

- Conflicts will arise!

- You will have responsibilities and liabilities!

2. The Gibeonites confess their sins and accepted the consequences; the results?

- was included in God’s family!

- God used the Gibeonites mightily for His Kingdom! (do further studies!)

How well are we doing in confessing our sins and accepting the consequences?