Neal continued our series on Joshua, looking at Joshua 9 and the deception of the Gibeonites.
The background to this story is that God has made it very clear to the children of Israel that they were not to enter into any covenants with the people who inhabited the promised land and that they were to destroy them as they worshipped other gods and practised idolatry.
Exodus 23 vs 23-32 Instruction to Moses – Very Clear
Deuteronomy 7 vs 1-6 Repeated Instruction – Very Clear
Joshua 3 vs 9-11 – Joshua repeated God’s plan.
Against this backdrop it was inconceivable that the Joshua and the children of Israel would enter into any covenant with any of the people in the promised land and the people of Gibeon knew this and therefore came up with a cunning plan to deceive them. The pretend they are from a country far far away and make it look like they have travelled far by wearing old clothes, having crusty and mouldy bread in their pockets and repeatedly telling Joshua that they live a long way away- without ever actually saying where!
Joshua and the leaders look at what they see in front of them and make a covenant with them believing that they are from a far off country – but they failed to ask God to help them in that decision?
Key Verse – vs 14 “ So the Israelites examined the food, but they did not consult the Lord” – Big Mistake!
So how does this happen – three reasons
1. Deceived – They were deceived by a lie and a clever plan – everything looked ok but in reality it was not what it seemed. They could have asked God for advice but chose not to. We need to be careful in our own lives that we are not deceived by people or by the enemy as he seeks to tell us that all is ok in our lives – remember his is a liar from the beginning and the master of deception. We have the Holy Spirit that can discern when things are not right and we need to listen to his voice. Three times they asked them where they came from and three times they didn’t tell them – they sense something is wrong but use their own instincts to make a decision.
2. Distraction – They were distracted by what they ‘SAW” or rather what the thought they saw! They used their senses to look at the situation and make a decision – this is what we do all the time!
Phil Moore says ”When we neglect God’s word, we invariably make decisions based on what we see!” How true!
They were distracted by the story – it sounded plausible and looked plausible – we are so easily distracted in our own lives by what we see aren’t we – Just sit down for a time with God and a million things seem to very important all of a sudden! What distracts us?
Busy Lives
Habit
Pride
Control
Social Media – How much time do we spend on social media? Have a look on your phone under screen time and see how much time is wasted? What a distraction!
3. Flattery and pride. – These are dangerous and we need to be aware of their power –
Vs 8 – We are your servants
Vs 9 – We have heard of the might of your God and of all he did in Egypt- we have also heard what he did to the Amorite Kings east of the River – we are your servants, please make a treaty with us.
They began to believe their own publicity – they forgot to give glory to God in the moment and declare the greatness of Jehovah. They make their own decision without reference to God – pride comes in. We need to be careful about this in our own lives – especially if you are in a position of leadership – beware of flattery and beware of the pride of your own heart – God knows what we are like and look what he says to Moses and the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 8 vs 10-18 – He only needs to say this because he knows the heart of man!
Pride takes away God’s glory and instead gives it to us which is underserved.
So Joshua makes a covenant with the people and then only three days later they find out that actually the people are Hivites from the next city! The people are angry and want to kill them but Joshua kn
