Joshua 9:3-14
Jos 9:3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 4 They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; 5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. 6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. 7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? 8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? 9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. 11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. 12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 13 And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. 14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. 15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
Introduction: The story of the Gibeonites is important because it was the last hurdle the Israelites faced before entering Canaan. The success of Joshua's army hit a bump in the road after meeting their tricky neighbors. After this incident the rest of the way was smooth sailing. Before and after this incident, no individual, tribe or nation could withstand the Israelites' onslaught. This time is the only time the new generation failed to rely on God and Joshua stumbled in his leadership. Why do people lose their guard? What keeps people alert? How do we keep focused? God’s instructions were clear, how could this have happened?
The onslaught of misinformation, half truths and fake news are confusing many today. Many Seniors have the perception that a high percentage of fraud situations perpetrated on them are related to the unlicensed contractor who takes a down payment or advance payment and never shows up, or the lawn service that takes a year’s fee in advance and then disappears, or the door-to-door solicitor who executes false documents just to gain access to personal information. Certainly, there are quite a few of these types of cases, but the off-shore element of this crime wave is becoming more and more organized and has evolved to the level of a major threat to older Americans. I have talked to several persons who thought it could never happen to them. A little over two years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice formally announced the formation of its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force initiative, setting up an agency that “investigates and prosecutes individuals and organizations engaged in foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors.”
There is a long list scams out there. These include telemarketing, mass-mailing, and tech-support fraud schemes. One of the recent publications launched by the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force spells out the most frequent fraud situations faced by seniors: Social Security Administration Imposter Scam, with such trickery, perpetrators convince victims to give up their Social Security numbers and other personal information. Tech Support Scam, Fraudsters make telephone calls and claim to be computer technicians associated with a well-known company or they may use internet pop-up messages to warn about non-existent computer problems. Refund scheme Perpetrators claim to send refund money to the victim’s bank account but falsely claim that too much money was refunded. Lottery Scam “Winners” need only pay fees for shipping, insurance, customs duties, or taxes before they can claim their prizes. IRS Imposter Scam IRS Imposter Scams are aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS but are not. One of the fastest growing is Romance Scams - Millions of lonely Americans use dating sites, social networking sites, and chat rooms to meet people. And many develop successful relationships, while scammers use these sites to meet potential victims. They create fake profiles to build online relationships, and eventually convince people to send money in the name of love. One of the safest things to do to investigate for truth: never give out personal information or send money.
Joshua begins his transition to the west, to the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon. The kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites had all banded together out of fear. Israel had already taken Jericho and Ai, their confidence must have been off the chart. The Gibeon’s offer may have been appealing because it offered an opportunity to get something for nothing; to conquer with conquest. No king is listed for the Gibeonites, but the leading men of Gibeon knew they had to do something. The fact that all these kings banded together left the whole region feeling desperate, demoralized, and devastated. The Gibeonites came up with an unlikely plan that worked. The whole thing was unscripted and unexpected. First, these ambassadors made a strong impression on Joshua. They were formal and impressive. The word "wilily “used in this text, occurs only once in the Bible. The word "wilily" means trickery, not outright deception. Then they used odd repetition in the passage to make their point. Notice the use of unlikely word "old," which occurs four times here. They showed Joshua old sacks, old wine skins or bottles (v 4), old shoes and old garments (v 5, KJV). The problem was not with the Gibeonites, but the Israelites who never checked out their story. They accepted the strangers' words and gave them the benefit of the doubt without any verification. It was not that they never asked, which they did, but they never bothered to double check. I am surprised how many people believe the internet over their own medical Doctor! There are several lesson here for our consideration.
1. When people trick us, it begins with unverified acceptance of their facts. The Gibeonites ran a scam on Israel.
“When the six kings of great nations in the land heard about the destruction of Jericho and Ai, plus God stopping up the Jordan River, they made a covenant to fight together against Israel. The nation of Gibeon decided not to join the covenant but to try and trick Israel into a peace pact. They sent ambassadors to negotiate a deal with Israel, and wore old clothes and patched shoes and pretended to have come from a long way off. Even the bread was moldy. The ambassadors told Israel saying, ‘We have heard how God miraculously delivered you from Egypt, make a treaty with us. We will be your servants’” (Joshua 9:1-13, Amplified).
When People trick us because they want: a. Our possessions or money, Our position or job, and they want something for themselves. Why, because they fear your strength and influence. We must always remember a trickster is dishonest at heart.
There are principles to deal with tricksters: a. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is not true. b. Before you trust their promises; look at their deeds, track record. Check them out. If they are in a hurry, you slow down c. If they trick you once, it’s their fault; if they trick you more than once, it’s your fault.
2. When people trick us, we need to know why. Why was Israel tricked? First, was a Lack of prayer, “They did not ask counsel of the Lord” (9:14). b. Second, a desire of Ease. They didn’t want the pressure of war. They wanted to conquer without conquest. There are no free rides. c. They might have been afraid of the big coalition of six nations. d. Their own Commonsense. They didn’t believe or follow God’s command to fight and conquer all the land.
Israel was tricked because tricksters will tell you a half-truth before they tell you a whole lie. Notice the three truths the Gibeonites Told. 1. “We have heard of your fame . . . what God did in Egypt” (v. 9-10). 2. “We want to be your servants” (v. 11). 3. “God commanded you to destroy all the inhabitants” we want to be on your side. (v. 24). Tricksters always begin with half-truths. Then comes the lies: Gibeonites told five lies, they were only 18 miles away. a. “We are from a far country” (v. 6). b. “We came because of . . . your God” (v. 9). c. “Our bread was hot . . . now moldy” (v. 12). d. “Our wine skins were new . . . now old and rent” (v. 13). e. “Our garments were new . . . now old and worn” (v. 13). Somehow Joshua and Israel accepted circumstantial evidence of stale bread as a basis for peace. “The men of Israel took some of their provisions and examined them” (9:14). The promises of a liar are worse than dry stale bread. Yet, Joshua and Israel believed the ambassadors. “Joshua made peace with them” (9:15). Israel was told not to make a league with these nations; yet they disobeyed standing orders. The truth of being tricked is hard to take. “Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day” and they found out the truth. (9:17). But it was too late!
3. When People are tricked, they look for someone to blame. People blame the leadership for being tricked. “All the congregation complained against the rulers” (9:18). We tend to blame others for our mistakes and our consequences. The truth of the matter is we must take responsibility for our bad decisions, even when the trickster has lied to us. Once we have given our word, We must keep our promises, even when based on a lie. Joshua said, “We have sworn to them, now we must not attack them” (9:19). Joshua knew “Two wrongs never make a right.” We may be deceived by a salesman, but once the contract is signed, we are obligated. Look before you leap! iLook at how Joshua dealt with the trickster.
“Joshua told the men of Gibeon, ‘You have lied to us. God has promised to give us all the land, but we will not destroy you as we will destroy the other nations. You are cursed, but we will let you live, and we will keep our promise. You will live in the land but not own it. You will be our servants. You will be woodcutters and water haulers for the Tabernacle. You have made us fear for our lives because we do not know if God will give us victory’” (Joshua 9:22-26, Amplified).
When people trick us, we put ourselves in danger. Joshua recognized the danger that tricksters put them in. “The Gibeonites said, “We feared greatly for our lives” (9:24). They never considered the possibility of another way. (Rahab founded another way). Then Joshua said, “We are in danger of losing God’s support, You are in danger of being cursed forever.” Recognize liars are in danger. Joshua said, “You are cursed” (9:23). Recognize Your lie puts you and your descendants in bondage. “And of you there shall always be slaves” (9:23). Recognize your lie may put your children and heritage in bondage forever. “Even unto this day” (9:27).
Believing a lie may not kill you, but you may suffer life-long consequences. Joshua said, “None of you shall be freed being bond men” (9:23). Just as the lie of the Gibeonites plagued Israel and themselves, lies today have the same effect. Lies about the virus, lies about the vaccine, lies about the election, lies about the economy, and lies about the Bible and the church have long term and far-reaching effect. This situation could have been completely avoided if Joshua and Israel had held on to God’s Command. This crisis could have been avoided if Joshua and Israel would sought the Lord as they normally did. We must not allow our own commonsense or the opinion of others misdirect us. We must continue to follow God’s Command. We live in a world filled with scammers, deceivers and tricksters, buyers beware!
By the grace of God, Israel was able to take the Promised Land. Some died unnecessarily at Ai. The family of Achan met a tragic end and Israel’s victory was deferred because Achan believed a lie. He thought that he could hide from God. He thought his sin was his own business. His sin was exposed and judged in the presence of all Israel. Moses reminds us in Numbers 32:23;
Nu 32:23 But if ye do not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and be sure your sin will find you out.
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Don’t be fooled by voices that say, when you’re dead, you’re done! Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
