Joshua Series #12
The Amazing Race to Rest & Reward
“Gibeonite Deception” Beware the Deceiver
Review
I. Purge the Land 1-12
A. God Prepared Joshua for leadership 1
B. Joshua prepared the people to possess the land 2
C. Israel Purged the Canaanites 2-11
1. Central Campaign
a. Israel defeated Jericho 6
b. Ai defeated Israel 7
We learned how the sin of the individual can bring consequences on the whole.
c. Israel defeated Ai 8
We learned that disobedience brings failure and consequences that can be the springboard for obedience and victory the next time around. God has to use failures to bring about His purposes because that is all He has to pick from. Because of His great power He is able to work ALL THINGS together for GOOD to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So get up, get on back on the road and listen to your spiritual GPS.
For the Holy Spirit like a GPS check out Isaiah 30:18-26. Even though this was intended for Israel, it expresses the Father’s heart. Sometimes the GPS instructs us to make a U-turn.
That’s GPS lingo for repentance.
Today we follow the purging campaign over another obstacle in the road to victory. The key responsibility along the way has been to listen carefully, trust totally and obey fully. This process generally breaks down at the beginning. We fail to seek the Lord or listen. We get ahead of God. We lag behind. We veer off course.
We revisited the purpose of the Scriptures.
They are good for teaching truth.
They are good for reproving us when we get off the road.
They are good for correction and getting us back on the road.
They are good for instructing us how to stay on the right road.
All Scripture leads to maturity and equipping for whatever purpose God calls us to accomplish.
After the victory over Ai, Joshua carried out a mandate that Moses issued found in the last chapters of Deuteronomy. Moses told them to be sure to gather and review the instructions that he left them. This was to be a special gather after they had crossed over the Jordan.
Deuteronomy 27:1-8
Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. Deuteronomy 27:11-13
Here the people gathered to reaffirm their commit to God as His covenant people.
Here, they were reminded of the blessings available to those who chose to listen, trust and obey their God.
Principle:
Continual reminders and affirmations of the truth are necessary for victorious living.
Joshua built and altar to the Lord and sacrifices were offered to the Lord. Joshua gathered the people just as Moses had instructed. Half the tribes gathered at Mount Ebal and Half at the bottom of Mt Gerizim.
From one side, they verbalized the blessings. The blessings would follow them wherever they want. They would be blessed by fertility and prosperity in all they did. They would have plenty of food. They would enjoy protection and military victory. They would be a healthy holy people to the Lord and not suffer the diseases the others experienced. They would be leaders not in servitude.
The description of the cursings would be much more detailed. It actually reads like the daily news. They would not be able to escape. They would suffer poverty no prosperity. There would be drought and famine, pestilence and famine. They would continually suffer defeat.
There would be mental illnesses and fear. Their good would be stolen and they would lose their homes. Their families would be violated.
These principles can apply both to nations and individuals. As Christians, we have been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Yet God also says that He is not mocked, whatever person sows, they will reap. Sow to the flesh you will reap corruption.
Sow to the spirit and you will reap eternal blessing. The principle we can learn for our journey is to continually review the truth and renew our commitment to listen, trust and obey God’s word.
d. The Gibeonites deceive Joshua 9
If Satan cannot defeat us with a direct assault he uses a more subtle tactic. There is one clear protection against this tactic we can learn from this chapter.
Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel. When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us." The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?" But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?" They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, we are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us. This our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled. These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey." Joshua 9:1-13
It seems that every victory over the enemy invites an even more subtle attack to avoid defeat.
What would you have done if you were Joshua? What was God’s rule? He instructed them NOT to make any covenant with the people in the land. All the inhabitants of the area had been set for His judgment because of their extreme wickedness. God had even postponed their judgment for 40 years but there had been no repentance. There were no rules regarding people from other nations only the Canaanites. They were encouraged to make treaties with the surrounding nations. Here is what the leaders of Israel ended up doing.
So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. Joshua 9:14-15
Notice what they did NOT do. We often focus on the things we did that we shouldn’t. Here is something they didn’t do that they should have done. They did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Counsel is the word for “mouth”. They failed to wait for God’s instruction again. That is what got Joshua in trouble at Ai the first time. I can’t count how many times I have plowed ahead without consulting the Lord.
The consequences of not consulting the Lord
After three days, the deception came to light and they discovered. Now they have a dilemma.
They are supposed to annihilate the occupying peoples. Now they have made a covenant before God to allow them to live. The leaders made a decision that angered the people. Joshua confronted the Gibeonites about their deception. He allowed them to live but made them servants to the Israelites.
There were lasting consequences for failing to be alert to deception and seeking God’s instruction. These gentiles were under their protection from that time on. They will factor into the next military campaign.
This covenant would even come back to bite them in the future as far as David’s reign. King Saul in a vengeful wrath had Gibeonites killed. Not until David’s reign did God require retribution for the breaking of the Gibeonite covenant.
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, "It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death." 2 Samuel 21:1
God takes covenants seriously. What can we learn from this narrative?
Review the Word continually.
Renew your commitment regularly.
Be on the alert for deception.
Wait for God’s instruction.
Deception is one of Satan’s chief strategies; so much so, that “deceiver” is one of his names.
He is called the father of lies, the deceiver.
Why do you not understand what I (Jesus) am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:43-44
When Paul confronted Elymus the magician
But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? Acts 13:9-10
Satan’s deception started with the first family.
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3
Satan continually tries to deaden our devotion to Christ through deception and lies.
He deceived Eve by convincing her that she could function without dependence on God.
She could be god-like without Him.
Satan uses people to disseminate his lies.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Satan tries to come off as a good guy. He will pretend to be for the truth.
In the end times, Satan will energize the lawless one with supernatural signs and wonders that will allow him to deceive the nations.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:9
and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Revelation 20:3
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10
Satan promotes his agenda by false teaching. Most cults are the result of demonic orchestration.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1
As the end comes, the deception gets worse and worse.
But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13
That is why it is important to continually be interacting with God’s word. Nearly every struggle or issue we have revolves around a lie of some kind. Lie about ourselves, others, life, God, Satan, God’s word or character.
Satan assaulted God’s character to tempt even to cut ties with Him and strike out on her own.
He got her to be self focuses rather than God focuses. He got here to focus on the temporal rather than the eternal. See focused on pleasure, prestige, and possessions apart from God.
There is nothing wrong with these things in their right perspective. God has promised all of them on HIS terms. It is when we pursue them on our own terms apart from God that we get in trouble. Satan continual promotes “the lie” which encourages the pursuit of life apart from dependence on God.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32
It is clear that failure to discern and know the truth enslaves us. All of us are exposed to lies from birth. We come to believe things about ourselves and our world from the things we are taught by our parents, teachers, peers, mentors, media etc. We develop a “world view” (a way of looking at our world) that informs our decision making process. To the degree that that view does not correspond with the reality taught in Scripture we find ourselves captive.
Paul instructed Timothy to continually preach the truth.
with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:25-26
Satan holds us captive to his philosophies and world view which does not include God. Paul told the Ephesians that they once lived according to the course of this world; a course dictated by the “Prince of the power of the air”. You hear me continually promote interaction with Scripture. Survey after survey indicates few people interact with Scripture on a regular basis.
Unless we do, we are in extreme danger of being taken captive. We will wrestle with decision making. We will suffer depression and anxiety. We will fall victim to fear in the present and for the future. We will lose the fight to temptation. We will continue to struggle in our relationships with others.
The true disciples of Jesus continue in His word and that interaction with His word brings them to a knowledge of the truth and a knowledge of the truth sets them free from the snare of the devil having been held captive to do his will. There is so much in scripture regarding the truth.
The whole protective armor we studied in Ephesians 6 has to do with embracing truth regarding our connection to Jesus and confronting the lies of the enemy. We are continually transformed by the renewing of our mind with the truth. Our minds have been programed with false perceptions and need to be renewed with God’s eternal perception.
If we think right, we will believe right. If we believe right, we will behave right.
Guard against the deception of Satan by continually interacting with the truth and renewing our thinking.
Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32
What are you going to do? There are plenty of opportunities to interaction with the truth.
Sunday School, Sunday service, Thursday Bible Study, 2/4 connection groups, Bible study fellowship, personal study, reading, listening to radio etc. We have no excuse.
If Satan can’t hit you in a frontal attack he will use deception and without the truth, we are no match for his cunning.
Along with Paul, I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, our thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
