Deceived!
Text: Joshua 9
Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, Israel’s promise Land, gives us some great life lessons about how to own God’s promises! Last week, I spoke to you from the 7th chapter about the importance of keeping the covenant with God and how our choices, both good and bad, have a ripple effect in this world. It was awfully quiet in here!
I hope one of us will recognize the importance of planting the kind of seed that will produce the harvest we desire.
Today, we will be taking a look at an ancient account of duplicity and gullibility. Again, it is a lesson that we must take seriously and apply in our lives.
Do you know what the word, EXPEDIENT, means?
The dictionary defines it this way:
• Serving to promote one’s interest: as in “he was merciful only when mercy was expedient.”
• Based on or marked by a concern for self-interest rather than principle; self-interested.
Most of us are well–acquainted with situations where people ‘bend the rules’ and justify their decision by saying,
“It was the obvious choice.” Or
“What else could I have done?” Or
“Who did it hurt?”
Our grasp of right and wrong, of what is ethical, has been loosened by the grease of expediency. A couple of questions might help us to know whether we have fallen into this pattern –
Do I tell little convenient lies to avoid difficult circumstances?
Do I shade the truth to favor myself?
Did I pay all of my taxes last month or did I let that cash income go unreported?
What matters most to me
- Living by principles - doing what’s right; or
- Living expediently – making it easy on myself?
This story shows us that choosing the path of expediency is only a temporary solution, which, in the end, is no solution at all. We will note that two groups fall into this trap in very different ways. Let’s take a look!
A Threatened People Choose to Deceive
READ Joshua 9: 3-13
What would you do if you were in the place of the people of the region of Gibeon, knowing your cities were the next in line for this invading horde of people who marched around fortresses until the walls fell down, if you were facing an invader who seemed unstoppable?
Only three choices existed and none was very attractive -
1 - fight to the death,
2- run, abandoning home and wealth; or
3 - try to make peace, which didn’t seem very likely given the battle tactics of the Israelites.
Then somebody in the city came up with a wild idea.
“Let’s trick these invaders! If we can get them to make a treaty of peace, perhaps they will feel obligated to honor it even though we made it in deception.”
And that’s what they did. Tattered clothing, worn out sandals, cracked wineskins, moldy bread, along with a story of a long journey, were put together and given to the best actors in the city, who were then sent off for the short trip, of perhaps 20 or so miles, to meet with the Israelite leaders. These deceivers arrived at the Israelite encampment and were taken to the leaders.
Let’s think about the Gibeonite deception for a moment before we move ahead.
What might have happened IF, instead of choosing deception, these people had tried real faith and went to Israel with the truth. What if they had said,
“We recognize you’re unstoppable. Is there any way we can join you, put our faith in your God,
and become a part of what you’re doing here? Would you make a covenant with us?”
We don’t know what might have happened, but the fact is that they didn’t even try it. Instead, they choose what seemed to be their best, last hope - a lie!
That’s what lack of faith will do to everyone of us. It will cause us to choose the course of expediency over principle everytime! You don’t have to be a real bad guy to take the easy road. You don’t have to be a low-life to decide it’s easier to cheat or lie. Justifying your decision will be easy, believe me! You will argue, that you just did what you had to do, that you just had to get through the situation, that you did what any reasonable person would have done in the same situation. It takes deep faith to do the right things in life.
Abraham, despite God’s promises, chose to father a child with Hagar, which seemed an expedient choice.
David, though given many victories by God, chose to look to his own strength and did a census of Israel’s
fighting strength, an expedient choice.
Positively, Jesus, fought off the expedienct choice to save his life, and in faith surrendered to the Father’s will when facing the Cross.
And, let’s admit to what is true – in the short term those who cut corners, who do what is expedient, generally come out ahead!
Jesus, Himself, acknowledges this. In His story about a dishonest manager, he says, Luke 16:8 “the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” So, if just making the deal, winning the game, or satisfying your personal needs is your highest goal – go ahead, take the easy road!
However, if your desire is to live with integrity, to please God, and to build something that is lasting - deception and expediency are definitely not the way to go!
Back to the story — I have to admire the Gibeonite’s cleverness, how they started the deception, - with flattery!
Joshua said, “Who are you now? Where did you come from?”
They said, “From a far-off country, very far away. Your servants came because we’d heard such great things about God, your God—all those things he did in Egypt! And the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth! Our leaders and everybody else in our country told us, ‘Pack up some food for the road and go meet them. Tell them, We’re your servants; make a covenant with us.’ (v. 9-10)
It isn’t hard to imagine the high-fives, the nods, the smiles of self-satisfaction that filled that Isaeli council circle
at that moment.
“Hey, guys, we’ve got this whole land intimidated. The war’s going great.
What were we so worried about on the other side of the river?
Everybody ‘round here is terrified.”
That very smugness will lead the Israelites to sin. Let’s take a look.
The Israelites sin by taking the road of expediency as well!
READ Joshua 9: 14-15
The ‘facts’ that confronted them were so obvious and their sense of self-confidence was so high... they didn’t even consider that they needed to talk this over with God! That they were taken in by this deception was a primarily a spiritual problem, for if that had asked, God would have given them discernment!
John Huffman points out three things that will cause us to fall prey to deceivers -
- Genuine confusion,
- Misplaced confidence, and
- Over confidence.
The old saying reminds us that we can sincere and wrong, at the same time! What a terrible place to be - sincerely wrong!
A few years ago a friend was coming to visit us. In the directions that I emailed to him, at the intersection of Rt. 31 and 57, I mistakenly instructed him to go right, instead of go left. He ended up calling me from Hackettstown! He was genuinely confused even though he had followed my directions to the letter. Sincerely wrong!
A little knowledge can be dangerous, don’t you know? If we think we know more than we actually know, we can ourselves into big trouble! I used to attempt to fix my cars. I know just enough to get myself in trouble, but seldom enough to get them running right, so now I let the experts get them maintained!
Joshua became the victim of convincing evidence - he “sampled the provisions.” He believed what seemed obvious
to him and all of his counselors- these guys were no threat. Obviously they had come from a land far distant from Canaan! Wrong, sincerely wrong.
Often what is ‘obvious,’ isn’t! We are foolish if we trust our instincts alone. If we fail to pray, we will fail!
Why? Because our primary Enemy is a Deceiver, and while sometimes he shows up roaring like a lion, in other situations, he {2 Co 11:14} “disguises himself as an angel of light.”
Christian, stay close to your trustworthy Guide - the Holy Spirit. What appears to be ‘God’s answer’ may well be a diabolical deception!
-That job opportunity is so ‘obviously’ what you need at this time needs to be prayed over.
- That person who just ‘fell into your life’ who seems to meet every need for you, needs to be prayed about.
- That deal that is just waiting for your signature, needs to be presented to the Lord.
I don’t want to imply that we need to be suspicious or skeptical all of the time. But we absolutely need to confess that we are not our own, that we belong to Another who has all the rights to our lives. God owns us! As His servants, we look to Him to know what is best for Him, and ultimately for us.
Better to pray and wait patiently for the Lord’s answer than to rush ahead into that ‘obvious’ decision only to realize, too late, that you’ve made a terrible mistake.
Israel’s Integrity
READ Joshua 9: 16-27
Imagine the awful sinking sensation that the Israelite leaders felt when they made the discovery that they had been taken in by the Gibeonites.
These men who had tricked them were residents of a confederation of cities that were no more than 20 miles from the camp of Israel! Moreover the cities that they represented were right in the heart of the Promised Land.
What to do now? – That became the big question. But really there was no debate for the oath swore to the Gibeonite representatives was sworn in the name of the Lord and was binding!! (See v. 18-19)
Ironically, NOW they decide against expediency and in favor of living by PRINCIPLE. I love that old Pa. Dutch proverb for its homely truth – “We grow too soon oldt- and too late smart!”
This decision to keep their word even though they had been deceived was the right thing to do, but not the popular thing!
Do you know that God takes vows seriously?
God loves the person who keeps his promises even when it hurts to do so! In an age of lawyers, in a society that professes to honor the law but that is equally adept at finding the loopholes in that law, we who profess to be followers of Jesus, the embodiment of Truth, need to take up the challenge of our Lord to be people whose word is always good, to speak and act in a way so that our ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and nobody has to question what we really mean!
Keeping their covenant was a costly choice! For the next 300 years, Israel would live with the consequences of that decision.
We never know which of our choices will have life-long consequences! That is why we must live close to God, trusting Him for guidance, living by His principles - daily! Our decisions impact our family, friends, church, town; yes, even eternal destinies! Amazing as it seems, our little decisions can have eternal consequences. Let’s remember that when the way seems so obvious and the choices so clear-cut.
Let’s choose to live with integrity, so there are fewer regrets at the judgment, when we stand naked in the Presence of Jesus Christ. You know what integrity is? Integrity refers to wholeness, to purity.
A bridge must have structural integrity. If just one small part of the span is made with inferior parts or poor design, the entire bridge will fail and become worthless.
We demand that our medicines be produced with a high level of integrity in this country. Imagine taking a medication that was produced in a plant that had even a 1% error rate in their chemical compounding. What was meant to heal us, could easily kill us!
A Believer with integrity works at closing the gaps between what he professes to believe and how he acts. He does not hide secret sins that rot his soul away from the inside out. He does what is right even when it is unpopular, costly, or difficult. And, from these day to day choices to live with integrity, emerges a strong character and a worthy life that will receive the commendation of the Savior. And, I believe, for most of us, integrity will pay off in this life with a sense of self-respect and the honor of those who know us best!
Are you honoring your marriage vows?
Are you honoring the commitment to Christ in your so-called secular life?
If someone scratches below the paint job on the surface, do they find the same person underneath?
_______________________
Here’s my summary of the lesson of this chapter...
Deception is rampant in this world. We must deal with image-makers and devilish lies of a godless culture contantly.
Will we be gullible, accepting the lies at face value OR will we show discernment because we live in a way that allows God’s Spirit to work deeply in us?
When confronted with challenges about our intent to please God, will we live with integrity or bend
to pressure?
Pray –
