“IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL”
Joshua 9
One of the things that brings Satan more cheer, more than anything else, is when he defeats the people of God. Oh, he’s happy to keep certain people in bondage, minds darkened and hearts veiled... But I think the thing that really thrills him is to keep God’s people discouraged, defeated, & disagreeable because we are really no threat to him then.
...No threat to a lost world, because there is no joy of Jesus Christ.
Satan likes to get us so preoccupied with our problems that we have no time for lost people, no time to share Jesus Christ, no motivation for it, because we’re so wrapped up in our own problems.
And Satan uses every tactic at his disposal...anything and everything. For example, he likes to see us so concerned about a problem that we’re convinced it’s just too big for God. He likes to see us pessimistic.
Just like the Israelites when they sent out the 12 spies and 10 came back saying, “We’ll never be able to do it!”
Then, just when we see God work out our problems, Satan uses another tactic: OVERCONFIDENCE IN SELF. We begin to think that we can tackle anything. “This one’s no problem. It’s a snap!” We saw the problem with that thinking last week, didn’t we? So when we leave God out of the picture, we fall flat on our faces.
And just when we learn that we can’t do it ourselves, but need to depend upon God, Satan comes along to tempt us to sin. He would like to see us give in to sin because he knows that when we have sin in our lives, we break our close fellowship with God...we lose contact with the power of God...
we don’t have any peace. And he knows that w/o peace, we have no power.
In our study thus far in Joshua, we are hopefully beginning to learn how to deal with these problems. We have learned at Jericho that we must obey God even though we don’t always understand why. We have learned from the experience at Ai that God wants us to deal with sin in our lives. We have learned that we cannot expect God’s blessing, nor answers to our prayers, unless we deal with our sin.
So, we’re growing now...learning how to live the Christian life when we soon discover that Satan has yet another tactic up his sleeve to use against us. The parallels here to the Christian life are really uncanny. The tactic Satan used on the people of Israel is a tactic Satan continues to use today. This tactic is seen in Joshua 9. Please turn there in your Bibles.
(Read passage and then go through the outline)
Let’s look first of all at...
I. THE METHOD OF THE ENEMY (9:1-13)
(Background to passage)
God had told the Israelites to utterly destroy the Canaanites back in Deuteronomy 7:1-6
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations--the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you-- 2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’S anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
You see, there was the real danger of intermarriage and idolatry.
Now the people who lived to the southwest of where the Israelites are here (the Gibeonites) had heard about this. See Joshua 9:24
They answered Joshua, "Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.
They had also heard of the victory God provided at Ai. See Joshua 9:3
However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai...
Result? They were afraid...afraid to die. I mean, death is a fearful thing for those who don’t know where they are going when they die.
So, they schemed and devised a plan with the hopes of bringing about a treaty with the Israelites. See Joshua 9:4-6
...they resorted to a ruse (deception): They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."
They acted like they came from a far country, wore old clothes, old shoes, old wineskins, old bread. They lied to Joshua. See Joshua 9:6
And isn’t this just like Satan, though? This is Satan at work behind the scenes. He wanted to thwart God’s plan. What was his method?
SATAN WANTED GOD’S PEOPLE TO
COMPROMISE THEIR CONVICTIONS
Satan wanted the Israelites to intermarry & water down their devotion to God.
What can we learn from Satan’s tactics? This passage here is given to us to be an example for us. See 1 Corinthians 10:11
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
We had better learn from this. Satan’s methods haven’t changed!
We must be alert as to how he works!
This enemy of theirs was a SCHEMER. Our enemy=SCHEMER.
This enemy of theirs was a CONNIVING TRICKSTER.
Our enemy=CONNIVING TRICKSTER.
Satan’s AIM=COMPROMISE OF CONVICTIONS.
He wants us to compromise our convictions by marrying unbelievers.
...by becoming involved in partnerships with unbelievers.
...by falling in love with the world and all its pleasures, its recreation, its thinking, etc.
...by watering down the resources we have (time, money, etc.) which could be used for the kingdom of God. See 2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
Don’t misunderstand what I am trying to say here. I’m not saying don’t associate with unbelievers. No, no, no! How else can we be salt and light to a dark world? Just don’t compromise by becoming unequally yoked.
Ah, COMPROMISE. It’s one of Satan’s favorite tactics. One special trick of Satan’s is that he loves to have unbelievers infiltrate Christ’s church, to pass themselves off as true believers in Jesus Christ. In some cases, to even get them in places of leadership. Then Satan can accomplish his purposes.
It’s time for us to take a hard, long, close look at our lives and evaluate where we have compromised...where we have let Satan use us to accomplish his purposes. Let me warn you. It’s not going to be easy. It won’t be easy because we are so easily blinded by Satan’s tactics.
Now, I seriously doubt that any of us here want to willfully disobey God. Like the Israelites, I doubt that they wanted to willfully disobey God.
They knew what God had told them. They wanted to obey. They were learning some important lessons God was teaching them.
But, oh, Satan is so subtle in his attacks! Satan tempts us in such subtle ways. He doesn’t come right out in the open and dangle a carrot in front of us. Instead, he tries to make wrong look right.
He tries to make sin look like it’s not sin.
It’s been his strategy all along. Look at the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve. “God didn’t really say that did He? God is really keeping something good from you. You don’t want to miss out, do you?”
And that’s just how Satan works today. “What’s wrong with just blowing your stack once in a while anyway? I mean, don’t some psychologists say it’s a good thing to do? We were just born that way, after all”
Or, in another area, with all the pressures today to satisfy sexual desires outside the bounds of marriage, we hear Satan’s lie: “Why, you don’t think God wants you to deny something He gave you, do you? That’s not really so wrong, is it?”
You see, Satan wants wrong to look right.
Another example: “You don’t really need to go to church! I mean, you can worship God anywhere! What better place than outside, with nature, with just you and God?” And what does God’s Word say? See Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Another example: “Witness to lost people?! You don’t need to do that!
I mean, you don’t want people to laugh at you, do you? You don’t want them to think that you’re some sort of religious fanatic, do you? Just let them believe what they want!”
And what does God’s Word say? See Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
We are His witnesses, His ambassadors to share the Gospel (Good News) with others.
Another example: “Nothing wrong with looking at a pornographic magazine! I mean, I can’t help it if I see one of those images on my computer. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying God’s creation!”
I actually had a man tell me that once. And he was an elder in a church I used to pastor! Can you believe it? It’s one of Satan’s lies. One of his tactics he uses. That’s what he wants you to believe.
The thing that is so sad is that WE KNOW BETTER, yet we fall for it.
The Israelites fell for it. They compromised. They were suspicious when Satan came knocking, but they opened the door and invited him in anyway. See Joshua 9:7-8
The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"
8"We are your servants," they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
They needed proof. Look next at Joshua 9:9
They answered: "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt,
That’s an evasive answer, isn’t it? Isn’t that just like Satan?
That’s his method:
TRYING TO GET GOD’S PEOPLE TO COMPROMISE
Let’s look secondly at...
II. THE MISTAKE OF GOD’S PEOPLE (9:14-15) (Read it)
What was there mistake?
THEY COMPROMISED! THEY FELL FOR IT!
How? How could this happen? Answer? See Joshua 9:14
The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.
THEY DIDN’T PRAY!
Their mistake was not so much compromise as it was PRAYERLESSNESS!
They could have found God’s will if they had just asked.
What about us? How many times have we fallen prey to Satan’s schemes because we failed to pray?
In discussing the spiritual armor we are to use in fighting Satan, there is one weapon that gets overlooked. See Ephesians 6:11-18
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Without prayer, the armor isn’t worth much!
We need to spend time in God’s presence!
Do you have a decision you must face this week?
...a trial you can’t handle?
...a burden you can’t bear?
...a problem with no apparent solution?
DON’T MAKE A MOVE WITHOUT PRAYING!
I hope you’ve seen the sign on our reader board. It says, “Prayer changes things! Have you prayed about it?”
You say, “Pray?! About what?!”
Answer: ABOUT ANY AND EVERYTHING! See Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (New Living Translation)
We all want to experience the abundant Christian life don’t we? We want a life of satisfaction, contentment, peace, and rest, don’t we? See Phil. 4:7
If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (New Living Translation)
I hope this is not confusing to you. I mean, last week I preach on when to stop praying, and now I’m saying to pray always about everything. I am really saying the same thing, just that make sure you maintain a close relationship with God (pray always about everything) all the while making sure you have an openness and honesty with Him in confession of sin.
You want peace? You want rest? You want contentment? You want satisfaction? Come to God in prayer!
He will provide grace and mercy in your time of need.
Why is it that we will do anything and everything but pray? We run around like chickens with our heads cut off, seeking advice from this person and that person, reading this book and that book, but never seem to get around to really spending time in prayer!
And the result of our prayerlessness=rash decisions.
It happened to the Israelites, it can happen to us.
BUT, there’s good news! When we have blown it (and who hasn’t?), when we have compromised, when we have failed to pray, there is still hope for us. That act of self-will or prayerlessness cannot be undone...
The consequences of rash decisions must be faced, but there is still hope.
There is...
III. THE MERCY OF THE LORD (9:16-27)
(Look at vv. 19, 21, 26-27)
The Gibeonites were made slaves and served the Israelites. What’s so amazing to me about this is to see God’s mercy in this. History reveals that the Gibeonites stayed close to the altar of God. Yes, they served as slaves, but their job led them to a place of religious privilege. When the land was divided, Gibeon was one of the cities given to Aaron, and it became a special place of God. 400 years later David stored the Tabernacle at Gibeon. See 1 Chronicles 16:39
David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon
1 Chronicles 21:29
The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon.
At least one of King David’s mighty men was a Gibeonite. And when David’s son Solomon rose to the throne, he made burnt offerings at Gibeon. When the Jews returned from captivity several hundred years later around 600 B.C., the list includes Gibeonites. Finally, Gibeonites are mentioned as being among the people who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. See Nehemiah 3:7
Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah--Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth--places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.
Isn’t that wonderful? To see God’s mercy!
And, yes, Israel had to live with the consequences of their disobedience.
Just like you and I. You might have to live with the consequences of rash decision you have made in the past: marriage, work, relocating, doing what you want, acting without praying about it.
Yet, whatever you have done,
GOD’S MERCY EXTENDS TO YOU TODAY!
God’s Word for you this morning is that even if you have compromised your convictions...
even if you have acted without seeking the Lord’s direction...
even if you have made rash decisions...
GOD IS RICH IN MERCY! And He wants you to come back to Him!
He wants you to live a fruitful and abundant life, a life of joy and peace.
COME BACK TO HIM! COME TO HIM TODAY!
