Text: Joshua 9
Theme: Commitments to ungodly people often hinder us in our commitment to God.
Intro:
- In chapter 8, we saw how Israel destroyed Ai.
- Israel secretly set up an ambush and deceived the men of Ai into pursuing Israel’s army and leaving their city unprotected.
- When the men of Ai were far from the city, the ambush arose and entered into the city and set it on fire.
- The chapter concludes with the sacrifice Joshua made on Mt Ebal, and a recommitment to the Law of Moses and the covenant with God.
- In chapter 9, we will see another group of people who use deception to trick their enemy, only this time it is Joshua and the elders of Israel who are tricked into making a foolish and rushed peace treaty with the enemy.
- “It has been well said that “Satan plays with loaded dice.” He knows all the weaknesses of human nature and is an expert in the black art of deception. So, in the New Testament, believers are exhorted to “put on the whole armour of God, that [they] may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). We have a very striking illustration of the devil’s deceptive practices in this ninth chapter of Joshua. As the word went out to the other Canaanite peoples that Jericho and Ai had fallen before the victorious Israelites, the dwellers in a certain Hivite city, named Gibeon, decided that if they would avert the destruction of themselves and their city, they must act at once and that in a manner calculated to mislead Joshua and his forces regarding their identity and the location of their homeland.”[1] H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Book of Joshua. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1950), 92.
I. The Covenant of Deceit (Vs 1-15)
- The Canaanites gathering (Vs 1-2)
a. All the kings from the major people groups in the land of Canaan had heard about Israel’s conquering of Jericho and Ai, and they decided that they needed to band together in order to repel with invading army.
b. So, they gathered themselves together into one place to fight with Joshua and Israel and to put an end to this invasion once and for all.
– “Although divided by separate interests, and often at war with each other, a sense of common danger prompted them to suspend their mutual animosities, that by their united forces they might prevent the land from falling into the hands of foreign masters.”[1] Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Joshua–Esther, vol. II (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 24.
– As the men of Gibeon stated later on, they had all heard of Israel’s conquest all the way from Egypt to Canaan, and they knew that God had commanded Israel to take all the land from the current inhabitants, which is why all the kings knew they were in this together for their mutual survival. - Enemies unite against the Christian.
a. There are competing forces in the world around us, but they are often quickly united to fight against the Word of God, the Church, and the Christian.
– The Lord Jesus knew this, when he was taken before Pilate. The Herodians, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees all opposed each other, but when the Lord Jesus came on the scene, they saw him as a threat to all of them and united to have him crucified.
– John 15:18-19 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” - The Gibeonites plan (Vs 3-5)
a. The inhabitants of Gibeon had heard about Israel’s victories and decided that it wasn’t a good idea to try and defeat Israel in battle. Instead, they would beat Israel through deceit and diplomacy.
– It is noted later, in verse 17 that the men who came to Joshua represented 4 cities: Gibeon (ghib-ohn), Chephirah (kef-ee-raw), Beeroth (be-ay-rohth), and Kirjathjearim (keer-yath yeh-aw-reem). According to Robet Jamieson, Gibeon was the capital of the Hivites.
– These representatives invented a story that was designed to fool Joshua and the elders of Israel into believing that they were from a distant land and had been traveling for a long time.
– The had mouldy bread, torn wineskins, worn out shoes, and tattered garments. All of these factors contrived to present the image of a group of travel weary men.
b. The Gibeonites deception (Vs 6-13)
– These representatives came to Joshua, into the camp of Israel, and they declared that they were from a far country and that they had come to make a covenant with Israel.
– The men of Israel were immediately suspicious and pointed out that, as far as they were concerned, these men could be neighbours of theirs, so they presented the prearranged evidence of their long journey, while still avoiding giving any definitive statement as to their country of origin. All they would say is that it had been a long journey to get here.
c. The deception of the Gibeonites represents for us the deceptions of the world. The world, the flesh, and the devil have conspired together to destroy the Christian.
– Our enemy doesn’t show us the spiritual dangers we face. Our enemy shows us what appears to be a path of peace and good times. - The Israelites mistake (Vs 14-15)
a. Joshua and the elders should have sought God’s leading in the matter, but they decided that this was a situation they could handle on their own.
– “Rather than seek God’s will in the matter, they leaned on their own understanding. They thus made peace with the Gibeonites and entered into a formal treaty to let them live, becoming their servants. A backdoor entrance of compromise had therefore been made into Israel. These pagan idolaters would thereafter be protected by the treaty the leadership of Israel agreed to.”[1] David H. Sorenson, Understanding the bible – Joshua through Samuel, Pg 48; Copyright 2008, Northstar Ministries, MN 55811.
– How many Christian homes have been destroyed because the spiritual leaders in the home, the parents, let their guard down and the devil found a back-door into the home?
– The devil wants to destroy you and your children, and don’t think that, just because you don’t have a TV in the home, the devil is going to give up.
* The Devil can use other compromised Christian families to affect your children.
* If you aren’t careful, the Devil will use your own smart phone, left unattended, to get to your children.
* The Devil will try to use rock music to get to your children.
– 2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” - Be careful who you make covenants with.
a. The Bible warns the Christian about being unequally yoked with unbelievers.
– 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
– We often apply this verse to couples entering into marriage, and that is a valid application. You cannot marry an unbeliever and then expect them to want to serve God with you.
– Be careful who you enter into business deals with, because the lost will not always act honourably toward your customers.
b. Most importantly though, you need to make sure that you don’t make commitments to men that would hinder you from fulfilling your duty toward God.
II. The Discovered Deceit (Vs 16-27)
- The deception discovered (Vs 16-21)
a. The covenant that the elders of Israel had entered into upset the rest of the congregation of Israel. They knew that it was their responsibility to destroy these cities, as God had commanded them, and now the elders had put them all in a difficult position by their rushed decision.
– If they had of waited 3 days, they would have discovered the deception and avoided the disaster, but they made a rushed decision and came to regret it.
b. Don’t make rushed decisions.
c. Although the rest of Israel still wanted to destroy the Hivites, the elders would not allow it.
– The elders had made a covenant with these cities and had pledged, before God, to keep that covenant. To break such a covenant would bring the wrath of God on them, so they were left with no choice but to keep their covenant. - The covenant upheld (Vs 22-27)
a. Joshua rebuked the Hivites for their deception and cursed them because they had tricked Israel into sparing people whom God had commanded Israel to destroy.
– It is interesting that the men of Gibeon didn’t attempt to appease Joshua with smooth talk. They simply told Joshua the honest truth about why they had deceived Israel.
– In verse 24, the elders of Gibeon stated that they knew God had commanded Israel to destroy them, and that was why they had deceived Israel to save their own lives.
* Luke 16:8“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
– Israel found out what happens when we pit our own natural wisdom against the wisdom of others. It is only when we walk in the wisdom that God provides that we will be wiser than our enemies.
b. Israel kept the covenant they had made with the Gibeonites and made them servants of the people of God from that day onwards.
– “How much better it would have been, both for Israel and for Gibeon, if these Canaanites had come to Joshua in all honesty and made peace with Israel by accepting the amnesty which was offered freely to all who acknowledged the claims of Jehovah, the one true and living God, even as we are told in Deuteronomy 20:10–12: “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it.”
According to this Word of the Lord, had the men of Gibeon and the adjoining cities come to Joshua and frankly acknowledged the power and authority of Jehovah, seeking to make peace with Israel by complete surrender, their cities would have been spared, their lives saved, and an honorable league would have been entered into. But they chose instead to take the path of deception which led to bondage and servitude.”[1][1] H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Book of Joshua. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1950), 98–99.
Conclusion:
- We need to be aware of the tactics of our enemies as they seek to destroy us, our homes, and our church.
- We need to be careful not to make covenants with ungodly people. We need the wisdom of God so that we will make choices that honour Him.