Introduction:
1. The movie clip you just saw is from the life of Frank Abigale Jr. is based on the true story of his life as told in the movie, "Catch Me If You Can." Did you notice that he successfully pretended to be an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer. Before he was caught he cashed over $4 million of bad checks and he did all this before his 19th birthday. When it came to dealing with Frank Abigale Jr., things weren’t always as they seemed to be.
2. Frank Abigale Jr. isn’t the only person who has even made things seem different than they really are. He lived the good life for a few years, but of course it didn’t last, things done the wrong way never do.
3. Let me share one other story, this one was told by pastor-author Charles Swindol in his book, Strike the Original Match. Maybe you heard about the guy who fell in love with an opera singer. He didn’t really know her, since his only view of the singer was through binoculars from the third balcony. But he just knew he could live "happily ever after" married to a voice like that. He scarcely noticed she was considerably older than he was. Nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her believed beautiful soprano voice would take them through whatever might come. After a whirlwind romance and a hurry– up ceremony, they were off for their honeymoon. She began to prepare for their first night together. As he watched, his chin dropped to his chest. She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it in a container on the night stand. She pulled off her wig, ripped off her false eyelashes, yanked out her dentures, unstrapped her artificial leg, and smiled at him as she slipped off her glasses that hid her hearing aid. Stunned and horrified, he gasped, "For goodness sake, woman, sing, sing, SING!" 8
4. There is nothing like being deceived in the things that matter the most to us. I have been caught not looking a few times, or not asking enough of the right questions. I have made poor decisions because individuals I trusted weren’t fully honest with me. You have been there, too haven’t you. Tragically, some of the times when I’ve been most deceived, I’m the one who has done the deceiving. Yes, I have been less than honest with myself, & I say again, you’ve been there too haven’t you? That’s exactly what I thought.
5. This sixth sermon in our series on Joshua contains a story that even many who regularly study the Bible don’t know is here. In spite of the fact that it’s not very well known, it’s a story that I know will capture your attention because it’s full of the twists and turns of a great story. But there’s more, it’s a story that can teach us how to deal with the bad things of life. That makes sense for all of us doesn’t it? Let’s read this morning’s scripture passage.
Cell #1—
1 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,
2 that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
3 When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
4 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,
5 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.
6 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."
7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?"
8 But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
9 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,
10 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.
11 "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."’
12 "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.
13 "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."
14 So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.
15 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.
Prayer
Cell #2—
I. Bad Sometimes Appears Good 9:1-15
1. The Canaanites had been scared of the Jews before they defeated Jericho and Ai, but after that the rest of the territory went into especially high alert. They knew it was only a matter of time until the Joshua & his army would attack them. But the way they responded would be very different. Several of the kings would join forces so they could try to defeat Israel together.
2. But the city of Gibeon would take a very different approach. They would try to survive in an entirely different way. The leaders of the city decided that they would trick Joshua into signing a peace treaty with them. It was a daring and creative plan that if it worked would mean the people of the city would survive. The problem was that Gibeon was only 25 miles from the camp of Israel at Gilgal and was on Joshua’s list to be destroyed.
3. The only way for the plan to succeed was for them to deceive the Jews into believing they were from a city far far away because God had given strict instructions that they could make peace with none of the cities in Canaan. Their morals were not very high, and telling a lie was certainly no big deal for them. Many people get a little confused when it comes to lying.
Cell #3—
Sometimes people think lies are okay as long as they are little white ones.
American political leader Adlai Stevenson said, "A lie is an abomination unto the Lord— and a very present help in trouble."
4. So here is what they did, you can follow it in your Bibles in verses 4-6. They showed up in the Jews camp looking as if they had been traveling for months. Their donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks, their wineskins were old, cracked and had been mended. Their sandals looked as if they belonged in the bargain bin at a thrift store and their food was dry and moldy. It was a pretty convincing show.
Cell #4—
Lies can sometimes be more convincing than the truth, but they can never be the truth.
5. It all looked legitimate and real, but it was not. It was all a lie. But that brings us to an interesting question how was Joshua tricked by it? I mean he had God and He was certainly more than willing to help out if asked, but there was the problem, Joshua didn’t ask. In fact verse 14 makes the point very clearly for us when it says, "The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord." (NIV) They could have asked, but they didn’t. However, before we pile onto Joshua and the other leaders perhaps we need to ask an important question.
Cell #5— (The question comes in 1st with no answers below, answers come in 1 at a time)
Why is it that we don’t take the time to pray when we are faced with a decision?
1) We are impatient & don’t take the time to pray.
2) We already know what we want to do & we’re afraid God might not agree.
3) We think we can figure things out by ourselves.
6. (Cell 5 #1) We are impatient & don’t take the time to pray. I suspect all of us have been there haven’t we? We are in a hurry, & while we don’t like to admit it, for all practical purposes we act like we don’t really have the time to pray. It reminds me of an old Jewish proverb I once heard that said, "We don’t have the time to do things right, but we find the time to do them over." All too often we don’t want to pray, we just want to jump in and do whatever it is that we think needs to be done.
7. (Cell 5 #2) We already know what we want to do & we’re afraid God might not agree. Surely you’ve never been there where you had a stubborn moment where even though you were dealing with God you wanted to do things your way? Yes, that’s what I thought. Sometimes Christians operate from this mindset, "it’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission."
8. To be honest, I think this third reason we often don’t pray about the little decisions we face is probably the most common for most of us. (Cell 5 #3) We think we can figure things out by ourselves. Most of us are pretty independent aren’t we? Many people would rather do it the wrong way than ask someone else for help. By the way, it’s not just the men I’m talking to here either. I know us guys are famous for not being willing to stop & ask for directions when we’re lost, but men aren’t the only ones guilty of being strong willed. The truth is. . .
Cell #6—
We all have the tendency to walk by sight instead of by faith.
9. Relying upon ourselves to make decisions without consulting God will get us into trouble every time. They foolishly made a covenant with the enemy. Yes, it’s true Joshua and the leaders were impulsive and didn’t take time to consult the Lord but if we tell the truth that sounds familiar to most of us. For the Christian God’s leadership isn’t really optional, it’s required. I like the way well known Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe put it in his commentary on Joshua. He wrote. . .
Cell #7—
"We don’t seek God’s will like customers considering our options, but like servants listening for orders." Warren Wiersbe
10. We must not forget that God wants to be intimately involved in our lives. He doesn’t want to be an afterthought, He wants to be central. He wants us to eagerly seek Him, not just for answers, but for a personal relationship. Perhaps that’s part of what Paul had in mind when he wrote that we are to, "pray without ceasing." His point was that we are to be depending upon God in every moment of our lives whether we are formally praying at that moment or not. Let me put it another way, every moment of life is to be a prayer. We are to constantly rely upon God.
11. Let’s review, so far we have looked at how bad often appears good. For a while bad may actually look good, but that never lasts forever, because. . .
Cell #8—
II. Bad Eventually Appears Bad 9:16-27
1. Something may look different than it really is for a while, but eventually, reality is going to set in. The entourage from Gibeon had done their job well, in the sense that they did what they set out to do, but now that they got what they wanted there is, as the old saying goes, "they are going to have to pay the piper." Let’s read the next section of the story.
Cell #9—
16 It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land.
17 Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.
18 The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.
19 But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.
20 "This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath which we swore to them."
21 The leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.
22 Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, ’We are very far from you,’ when you are living within our land?
23 "Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall never cease being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."
24 So they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was certainly told your servants that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
25 "Now behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us."
26 Thus he did to them, and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.
27 But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place which He would choose.
1. You know what it feels like when you realize that you really messed up don’t you? I knew that you did because I’ve experienced that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach too. It’s not very pleasant is it? Having said that, those mess ups must still be dealt with.
Cell #10—
Stupid mistakes eventually become clear enough that we recognize them for what they are, stupid.
2. How long has it been since you hit yourself on the head and asked that age old questions, "What was I thinking?" Let me share merely one of those experiences with you from when I was quite a lot younger. When I was first married before our children were born we were living in a mobile home that was open underneath. The mobile home was hard to heat and the pipes would sometimes freeze. On one occasion the pipes froze and I was afraid they were going to burst. I had someplace I needed to be, I have no idea where now because this was 20 years ago. So, I built a fire in the wood stove, opened the damper door, called a friend to come check on things in a 20 minutes & left. If you know anything about wood stoves, you never ever walk off and leave a damper open. When my friend arrived, the stove was so hot that wood stacked behind the stove was smoldering. In another few minutes the entire mobile home would have gone up in flames. I was fortunate in this situation because our home didn’t burn down but it could have. Joshua wasn’t so fortunate, he learned a tough principle the hard way.
Cell #11—
By the time we figure out we’ve made a mistake it’s often too late for us to correct.
3. The fact that the Gibeonites had been dishonest, didn’t change the fact that the treaty had already been made. It was solemnized before God and so it couldn’t merely be ignored. Joshua & the people couldn’t undo what they had already done. They were just going to have to make the best of a situation that didn’t look very good.
4. Aren’t you glad though that when we make a mistake God is willing to forgive us. In spite of the fact that this wasn’t God’s perfect plan, He still made something good come out of it. They would eventually become very much a part of the Israelite nation. Let me show you what I’m talking about.
Cell #12—
During Ezra and Nehemiah’s time the descendants of the Gibeonites were given the honorary title, "Nethinim." It meant the given ones. They were given to help the priests carry out the sacred duties.
5. Here’s what happened over the years. The Gibeonites helped with the worship of God and gradually came to accept Him themselves. About four hundred years later David put the tabernacle at Gibeon. The altar and the priesthood were there. At least one of David’s mighty men, was a Gibeonite. Nehemiah says that there were Gibeonites who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the captivity.
6. Aren’t you glad that when we’ve made a huge mess of things God is willing to step in and bail us out? Not that He has to mind you, He certainly does not, but God is a merciful God who certainly is a whole lot better to us than we deserve. That fact sort of sets up our final point of this morning’s sermon. . .
Cell #13—
III. Bad Is No Match for God 10:1-15
1. Because of time limitations we’re not going to read these next verses, but if you have your Bibles follow along while I talk about what’s taking place. In chapter 10, Attention shifted suddenly from Gibeon to Jerusalem, five miles south. Near panic seized the king of Jerusalem. There are five kings now that join their forces to attack Gibeon and here is the reason why.
Cell #14—
The Gibeonites were viewed as traitors by their former friends.
2. Since they were now allies with their enemies, the Gibeonites were now considered enemies as well. In fact, when the Gibeonites realized that they are about to be attacked, they took advantage of their new alliance & sent out a call to ask for Jewish help. When you look closely at the story you are going to see something interesting. The situation they found themselves in wasn’t a good one. However, in spite of the fact that they made a bad mistake God still wasn’t out of the picture and here’s why. . .
Cell #15—
God never views our mistakes as permanent. He can take our messes and create something good from them.
3. Let me explain, before this the Jews were going to have to attack each of these city states & try to get inside their walls and defeat their enemy. But now, God gets five of the kings together & they decide to join their forces and try to defeat this invading army together.
4. That was what God was doing, He apparently made it possible to have His people take the land more quickly than they would have otherwise. Though God was doing something far bigger that didn’t change the fact that this new alliance of kings had very different perspective. Let me show you what they were.
Cell #16—
The attack on Gibeon was intended to:
1) Punish them for betraying the other nations and. . .
2) Recapture the strategic area from the Israelites.
5. The Jews now had a section of the promised land that could help them defeat the rest of their enemies. If they had to retreat and give Gibeon up, it would be a huge set back. There were a lot of different perspectives.
6. Bad may have appeared to win, but it hadn’t. Things were beginning to change. When the attack began Joshua asked God for an additional day of sunlight so they could finish the battle they had started. It had never happened before & it would never happen again, but on this one occasion, God pulled it off. We could get into the technical way it happened, but to be honest, that’s not the point, the point is that God did it and that’s what really counts.
7. We don’t have to understand how God is doing everything in our own lives to appreciate it either. We can just focus on the fact that He’s God & not worry too much about anything else.
Conclusion:
1. Let me conclude with a story that kind of makes the point I’m trying to make. Ann Tyler in her novel Morgan’s Passing told the story of a middle age Baltimore man. The novel opens with Morgan watching a puppet show on the lawn of a church on a Sunday afternoon. Not long into the puppet show a young man comes from behind the puppet stage and asks, "Is there a doctor here?" There is a long pause. After 35 or 40 seconds of silence in the audience Morgan stands up. Slowly and deliberately he approaches the young man and asks, "What is the trouble?" The puppeteer’s young wife is in labor and the delivery seems imminent. Morgan puts the young couple in the back of his station wagon and sets off for John Hopkins Hospital. Halfway there the husband cries, "The baby is coming!" Morgan calm and self-assured pulls to the curb and sends the about to be father to the newsstand to buy a Sunday paper as a substitute for the towels and bed sheets. He delivers the baby. He then drives to the emergency room of the hospital, puts the mother and baby safely on a stretcher and disappears. After the excitement dies down the young couple ask for Dr. Morgan. They want to thank him. No one has ever heard of a Dr. Morgan. They are puzzled. Frustrated, they can’t express their gratitude to him. Several months later they are pushing their baby in a stroller and they see Dr. Morgan walking on the other side of the street. They run over and greet him, showing him the healthy baby he brought into the world. They tell him how hard they looked for him, and about the hospital’s incompetence in tracking him down. Then in an unaccustomed gush of honesty, he admits to them that he is not really a doctor. In fact, he runs a hardware store. However, they needed a doctor and being a doctor in those circumstances was not all that difficult. You see it is an image thing, he explains to them. "You discern what people expect, and you fit into it. You can get by with it in all the honored professions." Morgan has been doing this in all his life. He has impersonated doctors, lawyers, pastors, and counselors as the occasions present themselves. You can fake it! Many people do.
2. As we finish up this morning I want to ask you a very important question, when it comes to your spiritual life have you been faking?
Cell #17—
We must be careful that we aren’t deceived by others. We must be even more careful that we don’t deceive ourselves by thinking we’re all right with God when we know down deep we are not.
3. That’s where I want you to focus this morning. I don’t want others to deceive you, but I also don’t want you to deceive yourself. Let’s pray.
1) Warren Wiersbe, Be Strong: Joshua, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books) 1993.
2) New Commentary on the Whole Bible: Old Testament, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers) 1990.
3) John Walvoord, Roy Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, (Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1985.
4) John Hamby, Living with a Bad Decision, (Sermoncentral.com) March, 2002.
5) Bryan Maynard, The Mistake of Joshua, (Sermoncentral.com) May, 2005.
6) Doug Goins, A Costly Lesson, (Sermoncentral.com)
7) Wil Pounds, How to Whip a Gibeonite, (Sermoncentral.com) 1999.
8) Catch Me if You Can, (Video clip from the story of Frank Abigale Jr.)
9) Charles Swindol, Strike the Original Match, (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press) 1980.
