Joshua And The Gibeonites - Foolishness And Faithfulness

Joshua 9 - Please look this up in your Bibles ...

As we look up Joshua Chapter 9 let’s take a look at where this event takes place in the history of ancient Israel.

Briefly recount: Abraham/Isaac/Jacob - Bondage in Egypt - Moses - Joshua

Before the time of the Judges - the kings - Israel deported - the years of silence - Jesus

(Now read Joshua 9 as people follow along in their Bibles)

What do we see in this passage?

On the part of the Gibeonites:

Fear

Deception

On the part of Joshua and the Israelites

Interrogation of the Gibeonites

Examination of the Gibeonites’ evidence

Failure to consult the LORD

Made a treaty with the Gibeonites

Swore an oath to the Lord

Once the Gibeonite deception is revealed:

Israel confronts the Gibeonites

Joshua and the leaders honor the treaty because of the oath to the Lord

So, what does that mean to us?

What does the Lord want to teach us through this historical account?

We see that the fulfillment of giving the Promised Land to Israel was to be a joint venture; the Lord would guide and direct and Joshua and Israel would obey without hesitation or second guessing.

We have a dual purpose to our covenant:

1) To grow in spiritual maturity with the Lord

2) To expand the Kingdom of God (go into all the world and make disciples …)

The devil fears both of these just as the Gibeonites feared Yahweh, the God of the Israelites and His people.

The devil will use deception to distract us from all that the Lord wants to accomplish through us just as the Gibeonites used deception to thwart the Lord’s intent toward them.

What deception with the evil one use?

1) If you’re not saved - “You don’t really need that! Those people are nuts!”

2) If you are saved - “You don’t need to try to grow spiritually! You’re already

better than all those other people! You should be proud of what a great

Christian you are!”

3) If you have been freed from a certain sin you used to be enslaved to - “Wow! Remember when you used to do that? That was really fun, wasn’t it? And, it wasn’t really so bad after all was it? You could probably do that just a little bit and it would be OK. No one would ever know.”

The Gibeonites brought deception against the Joshua and the Israelites and the evil one WILL attempt to deceive you! Be on your guard!

So, what should Joshua and the Israelites have done when confronted with this request?

They should have Googled Gibeon and done a mapquest to find out just

where this city was located! They didn’t even check Wikipedia or punch the

address into their GPS!

Actually, let’s review what the Israelites did with the Gibeonite deception.

They: Interrogated the Gibeonites

Examined the Gibeonites’ evidence

Failed to consult the LORD

Made a treaty with the Gibeonites

Swore an oath to the Lord

They forgot their history! Whenever they went in obedience to the Lord they were victorious and had His blessing. Whenever they went in disobedience to the Lord they failed miserably.

This time they made a major decision without consulting the Lord.

How about us? When the devil comes to deceive us?

Now when I talk about the devil coming to deceive one of us I’m not talking about some guy with bright red skin, a pointy beard and a red pitchfork coming to entice you.

When the evil one comes to entice you to sin it is usually through one of our senses to engage that sense in a way that is perverted in a way that is in disobedience to the will of the Lord and that is sin.

The evil one will tempt you to look at something you shouldn’t be looking at, or to touch something you shouldn’t be touching or listening to something you shouldn’t be listening to. And, most likely that temptation will come through an unsaved person. An old friend you used to hand out with will try to get you to go to the place where you used to sin. Or a billboard or TV show will entice you to contemplate one sin or another.

The temptation may even come through a preacher who is promising you wealth and health and prosperity if you only have enough faith!

When that happens what should you do?

Should you be like the Israelites who interrogated the Gibeonites and

examined their evidence and made their decision based on their knowledge

of the “evidence”?

Or, should we just do what the Israelites SHOULD have done; just ask the Lord about it?

Proverbs 3:5-8 / Romans 12:1-2 (recite)

If the Lord says it’s OK to do whatever you are thinking about doing, then go ahead!