Joshua 9:1-26 – Making Deals with the Devil
A New York family bought a ranch out West where they intended to raise cattle. Friends visited and asked if the ranch had a name.
“Well,” said the would-be cattleman, “I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one son liked the Flying-W, and the other wanted the Lazy-Y. So we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.”
“I get it. But I don’t see any of your cattle. Where are they?” the friends asked.
“None of them survived the branding.”
You know, sometimes compromise is good. Some things are not battles that should be fought. Some things should be ignored for the sake of higher causes.
But not everything is. Some battles are very worthwhile. Some battles should not be compromised at all. For example, if, say, 99% were good enough, we would have no phone service for 15 minutes each day. 1.7 million pieces of first class mail would be lost each day. 35,000 newborn babies would be dropped by doctors or nurses each year. 200,000 people would get the wrong drug prescriptions each year. We would have unsafe drinking water three days a year. And two million people would die from food poisoning each year. That’s if 99% were good enough.
Compromise is a dangerous thing. I picture compromise as making a deal with the devil. Not all compromises. If a husband wants to eat at Ponderosa and the wife wants to eat at Subway, they should eat at Subway. That is not a fight worth fighting. When it comes to the basics of our faith, however, those are fights worth fighting.
Joshua and the Israelites made a compromise not worth making. Let’s read ch.9. So here’s the story. Joshua’s reputation was spreading far and wide. This put fear in the hearts of people, and one group decided to do something about it. They chose not to make an alliance with the other groups living in the land about to be conquered, but they chose a ruse – a trick, a deceit. Even though they lived only about 15 miles away, in 4 cities, the Gibeonites claimed to be from far away.
Now, whether or not they knew this fact, God told Moses in Deut.20 that the Israelites should offer peace treaties to cities far away. So, they walked in to the Israelite camp, and were able to make a deal with them. The problem was, it was a lie. They weren’t from far away. Even worse, they were part of a group – the Hivites – that God told Joshua to destroy.
But God’s people made a deal with them anyway. They said, “OK, we won’t attack you.” Then, they found out they were actually supposed to attack and destroy them. I imagine a collective smack to the forehead as they realized what they had done.
So where did they go wrong? V14: “The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.” They didn’t ask the Lord what He thought about the situation. He didn’t ask Him what He wanted them to do. They just did what seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was far from it.
This was the compromise. This was giving in to a lesser cause. Chuck Swindoll said, “The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.” And that’s true. These guys surrendered a battle they should not have surrendered. This was a battle they should have fought.
But they didn’t know that. They didn’t ask the Lord about how serious it was. And that’s where we get messed up with compromise, too. We don’t know what we are doing because we fall for the lies the world spews out at us. Look: their lack of godly decision making, their compromise, came from 3 things:
1) They relied too much on their senses. They saw the bread, they saw, the supplies, they saw the clothes, and they used that information to make their decision. Not to say we should never use what God gave us, but we also need to know they will fail us. We cannot figure out what God wants for us by using sight, hearing, touchy, tasting or smelling. God’s plans go beyond what you can see.
2) They relied too much on common sense. After all, it was reasonable that someone would come from far away to make a peace treaty. It made sense. And though there is a place for common sense in the faith, they don’t always run the same direction. It’s only common sense for 2 people in love to end up doing physical things together. But faith says it’s not good. Using only common sense to figure out what God wants will always lead to bad decisions and compromise.
3) The 3rd thing they did wrong was they put too much trust in others. Now, I don’t say this to make you cynical of others. But, it is true: not every person can be trusted. There will be people who will lie to you, in order to get you to do what they think you should. Every drug dealer is a liar. Every drug user becomes a liar to himself or herself. There will be people who will say, “Oh, it’s OK. Don’t be so old-fashioned.” People will say, “Oh, it won’t hurt.” People will say, “Oh, you don’t believe that, do you? That’s just a fairy tale.”
Folks, we must learn to hear the voice of compromise when it calls out to us. “Just keep a little for yourself – it won’t hurt.” “Oh, it wouldn’t hurt to spread this little rumor.” “Oh, how much harm can a little fib do?” We must decide to do the right thing when faced with the temptation to make a deal with the devil.
The old Scottish preacher Alexander MacLaren said, “In making our decisions, we must use the brains that God has given us. But we must also use our hearts which He also gave us. A man who has not learned to say, ‘No’ – who is not resolved that he will take God’s way, in spite of every dog that can bay or bark at him, in spite of every silvery choice that woos him aside – will be a weak and a wretched man till he dies.”
But what that means, in the context of our Scripture passage today, is that we must ask of the Lord what He wants. We must take the time to sort out the things in our lives. Not because our parents are Christians. Not because our grandparents are Christians. Not because our spouses or boyfriends/girlfriends are Christians. No, we as individuals must make the decision to obey the Lord the best we know how. And to do, we must stop making deals with the devil. We must throw away all compromises, and we must ask of the Lord what we should do and believe.
Look at this. I don’t know if it was intended by the author, but it sure is true. The Gibeonites passed themselves off as being from a distant land. They acted as if they were far away and they could do no harm to the Israelites. They pretended that they were simply harmless people trying to get along and make peace.
What they actually were were enemies. They were not actually from far away. They were from close enough to be considered a threat. And what’s more, they were not to be bartered with. The Lord had said that they were to be beaten, not bargained with.
I think that’s how Satan works. Oh, he pretends that he’s so far away from you, if he’s real at all, he says. What is being suggested to you couldn’t possibly harm you. There’s no harm in a little lying, a little sex before it’s right, a little stealing, a little greed, a little gossip, a little experimenting with other religions. No, that’s all too far away to be of any real damage. There’s no harm – it’s so far away.
But it’s not far away, and there’s lots of harm. Satan is a lot closer to you than you think. And when you dare to dabble in things that are foreign to you, you run the risk of making a deal with the devil. Anthony Robbins said, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” And those decisions need to come out of a mindset that will not make deals with the enemy.
And it all comes from asking the Lord what He wants. It’s not that it’s always easy. No, it’s not. Sometimes I wonder if I even have the right to stand up here and tell you God’s will, when over the last year I haven’t been sure of His will for my own life. But I do know this: listening is an important part of our faith. Not listening to all the voices you hear – some of them will be wrong, and some of them will argue with others. No, what’s important as Christians is that we take time to listen to what God wants for us.
Richard Moss said, “The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” That’s true in your relationship with God. Always rushing around doing good things is not a good enough substitute for spending time with Him. I’m not saying become a nun or a monk. I’m saying, carve some time out of your busy schedule just to talk and listen.
Decisions you make will change your life. And on-the-spot thinking is usually wrong. Decide in advance what you will do if a particular temptation pops up. If it’s scantly-clad women on TV, decide in advance to turn your head, so that when the temptation arises, you’ll know how to deal with it. If it’s backbiting and complaining, decide in advance you will not join in, so that when the temptation arises, you’ll walk away.
It is time to do away with compromises. It’s time to deal a death-blow to things that will lure you away from what is right. I’d like to share one last story with you. It was getting to be winter, and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear out of which he planned to make a warm coat. By and by he saw a bear coming toward him and raised his gun and took aim.
“Wait,” said the bear, “why do you want to shoot me?”
“Because I am cold,” said the hunter.
“But I am hungry,” the bear replied, “so maybe we can reach an agreement.”
In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear’s fur and the bear had eaten his dinner. We always lose out when we try to compromise with sin. It will consume us in the end.
