JOSHUA CHAPTER 9, “Deceived By
The Gibeonites”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. In our last study, we looked
at the conquest of the city of Ai
1.1.1. We saw in that battle how
Joshua waited upon the Lord for his marching orders from start to finish and
thus was successful
1.1.2. We saw that as soon as the
sin that had been in their camp was removed that the Lord told Joshua the plan
that would succeed in victory for them and then He told them to go out and
assured him that they would be victorious
1.1.3. We discussed the importance
of not letting your defeats defeat you and render you ineffective in your
testimony and Christian service
1.1.3.1.
I mentioned that I am comforted that the book of Joshua shows God’s
people failing and falling into sin, and this is because I also sometimes fail
and fall into sin. If the book only included
stories of the great victories of God’s people, I’m afraid that I would come to
the conclusion that I would not qualify to be one of God’s people. Wonderfully however, it shows God’s people
failing yet not being utterly cast down.
Failing, and yet letting the Lord work good from their failures
1.1.4. We saw again that there were
many lessons for us to be learned in this story
1.1.5. We saw yet again another
memorial built by the children of Israel, this one to remind them of what the
Lord had done in this conquest of Ai
1.1.6. We saw that after the
victory that Joshua lead the people to go up to Mount Ebal and carry out a
ritual involving their recommitment to the Lord’s covenant through obedience to
the Commandments of the Lord
1.2. In our study today, we are
going to see Joshua and the children of Israel again fail just after another
glorious conquest in battle: They fail
to seek the Lord’s counsel for wisdom and discernment and are deceived by a
group of Gibeonite men who come to them seeking an alliance claiming that they
have traveled from a far distant place to make peace with them
1.2.1. We will look in our study at
the importance of always being prayerful and asking the Lord for discernment
and wisdom and thus not being led by our own reasoning
1.2.2. We will look at the two ways
that the Devil comes to us as Christians:
the roaring lion, and the subtle serpent who deceives
1.2.3. We will consider various
ways in which the Devil deceives God’s people
1.2.4. We will see yet again how that
if we as His people will let Him, that the Lord will turn all of our failures
into good in our lives
2. VS 9:1-2 - “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.”
- Joshua tells us that the kings in the
2.1. Joshua and the children of
2.2. The kings of the land of
Canaan were now putting aside their differences and prejudices against each
other that had festered after all of the years of their tribal wars. They now had a common enemy and the only
thing for which they could have a common bond from which they could unite was
their hatred for and common purpose to destroy the people of God.
2.2.1. Is it not true even in our
own day that the only true unity that the people of this world seem to have is
their common defiance of and hatred for the church and the Jews? Both of these groups are to be the objects of God’s
mercies and purposes for the future of our world...
2.3. This group of kings making
an alliance for war against God’s people represent Satan as he comes to God’s
people as a “roaring lion” seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
3. VS 9:3-6 - “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 And 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.”” - Being
fearful of their lives, the Gibeonites come up with a scheme to deceive Joshua
and the children of Israel into making a covenant of peace with them so that
they could have their lives spared
3.1. We see here that after
the conquest of the city of
3.2. Gibeon was located just 25
miles from Gilgal where the children of
3.3. Joshua and the children of
3.3.1. The lesson Joshua hadn’t
learned was that of the subtlety of the enemy and the need for discernment
against his attacks.
3.3.2. I find that in my life as a
Christian and as a pastor that the one thing that I seem to need most and often
am wanting is discernment and wisdom. How I have paid a price so
many times for my lack of these spiritual gifts of discernment and wisdom.
3.3.3. I think that all of us as
Christians often underestimate our enemy in the spiritual realm and the fact
that he is plotting against all of us day and night, trying to come up with a
plan that he can get the Lord to agree upon so that he can ensnare us into some
sin or into unbelief.
3.3.3.1.
Thus, sometimes we naively flirt with:
3.3.3.1.1.
Temptations.
3.3.3.1.2.
Prideful attitudes.
3.3.3.1.3.
Worldly thoughts.
3.3.3.2.
We seem to not realize the fact that at the other end of that lure we
are beholding is the Devil trying to reel us in as his catch.
3.4. Though Joshua had brought
the people back to Gilgal, the place of consecration, he still had not learned
that the time when he needed to most be in prayer and seek the Lord is after a
glorious victory. Just as he had failed just
after the battle of Jericho and presumptively gone straight up to Ai in battle
without first coming before the Lord, here after the conquest of Ai though
Joshua took the children of Israel up to Gilgal, he apparently did not come
before the Lord in prayer, and he did not ask for discernment concerning
these Gibeonites.
3.5. These Gibeonites represent
Satan as he comes to God’s people as a subtle serpent to deceive them.
3.5.1. Satan is much more a threat
to us as God’s people as a serpent than as a roaring lion.
3.5.2. In 2 Cor. 11:14, we read
that Satan comes and masquerades as an angel of light in order to deceive God’s
people.
3.5.3. The scriptures also tell us
that Satan is a liar, and the father of lies.
3.6. The Gibeonites come up with
an elaborate plan in which to deceive Joshua and the children of
3.6.1. Said they were sent as an
official delegation on a peace mission from their city.
3.6.2. Worn-out sacks on their
donkeys.
3.6.3. Worn-out, torn and mended
wineskins.
3.6.4. Worn-out and patched sandals
for their feet.
3.6.5. Worn-out clothes.
3.6.6. Dry and crumbled bread to
eat.
3.7. Like the Gibeonites, people
in this world are always scheming and using all kinds of means to try and
deceive God’s people. We as God’s people
are always running into Gibeonites.
4. VS 9:7-14 - “7 And the men of
4.1. When it comes to being
deceived, that old saying that, “If it seems too good to be true, it is!”
is one that we Christians ought to keep in mind.
4.2. The Israelite men were
initially skeptical of this group, as they should have been. However, it was slothfulness or laziness
that they did not follow up on the “red flags” that were going off in
their minds and do more to investigate the Gibeonite’s claims. After all, the Lord had been very clear
with them in Deut. 20:16-17 that for all of the people who were within
the land of Canaan that they were to make no alliances and leave none alive,
“16 “Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving
you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.17 “But
you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and
the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded
you.”
4.3. The reason they were
deceived is found in verse 14:
‘they did not ask for the counsel of the Lord.’
4.3.1. It was prayerlessness on
their part.
4.3.1.1.
It is hard for a Christian to learn the lesson that you must never
neglect prayer, for it always leads to making bad decisions and the joining of
yourself in ungodly alliances.
4.3.2. Perhaps Joshua and the leaders of
Israel didn’t seek the Lord’s council because it would have been time
consuming since they would have had to find the high priest and have him
get out the Urim and Thummim to discern the Lord’s will.
4.3.3. Their actions were
inexcusable.
4.4. Notice here in these verses
that everything that the Gibeonites told Joshua and the leaders in
4.4.1. They said that they had come
from a long distance because of the fame of the Lord their God.
4.4.2. They mention that they
had heard of the great work that the Lord their God had done in delivering them
from
4.4.3. They called themselves
‘your servants.’
4.4.4. They use all of the
language that a true proselyte would use who was desiring to come and submit
themselves to the worship of the Lord as a Jew, in other words they convinced
them that they wanted to come and sit at their feet and learn.
4.5. I have mentioned it before,
but we as Christians have to be so careful to never be taken with any kind of
flattery from people for this is always a snare of the Devil for us.
4.6. Notice that the Gibeonites
are careful not to mention the victories at Jericho or Ai since there would not
have been time for news of these events to have come to their far away land in time for the Gibeonites
to have heard about them before beginning their travel.
5. VS 9:15 - “15 And 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.” - Joshua and the children of
5.1. Satan’s desire all along for
God’s people was fulfilled. Here we see God’s people
entering into a covenant which would from now on keep them from “God’s
best” for them for them. From now on
out they were going to have to live with the consequences of a decision that
they had made when outside of God’s will for them. They would have to settle for God’s “second
best” for them now.
5.1.1. How many times I have seen
Christians make alliances that they should not have made in business, their social
life, or concerning a dating or marriage partner. We Christians need to learn from this story
with Joshua about being extra cautious and prayerful about any kind of
alliances we make for ourselves.
5.2. We Christians tend to think
that we are a lot stronger than we are, or that though others may be deceived by the Devil and led astray
that it couldn’t happen to us.
However, the scripture tells us in Jer. 17:9 how easy any of us
can be deceived by the devil because our heart is so deceitful, “9 The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
5.3.
As I see it, the Gibeonites come into our lives as God’s people in two
different ways:
5.3.1. There are Gibeonites who
come externally into our lives to deceive us:
5.3.1.1.
There are Gibeonites that come into:
5.3.1.1.1.
5.3.1.1.1.1.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing who come into the church to lead people astray.
5.3.1.1.1.1.1. The scriptures are full of
admonitions to beware of false brethren coming in among the church who are
wolves in sheep’s clothing.
5.3.1.1.1.2.
There a million financial schemes being pulled on God’s people by
sham ministries all of the time and the people pulling off these schemes
are successful only because like Joshua God’s people do not take the time to
investigate them sufficiently.
5.3.1.1.2.
Christian Businesses.
5.3.1.1.2.1.
Ungodly people wanting you to join with them in partnerships and
alliances.
5.3.1.1.3.
Christian Personal lives.
5.3.1.1.3.1.
The guy at church who poses as a Christian so that he can find
a Christian girl to marry.
5.3.1.1.3.2.
The non-Christian group of friends that you hang around with who
quench your zeal and testimony for the Lord.
5.3.1.1.4.
Christian Home life.
5.3.1.1.4.1.
Compromises made with the world and the flesh where when a person comes
home his/her true colors and self come out, though he/she may act like a Christian at
church, school, or work.
5.3.1.2.
These are people who come into our lives posing as being true
Christians, however they are false believers who tell us false accounts of
their conversions and commitment to Christ, and their agenda is to get us to make
an alliance of some sort with them, an agenda which will make us unequally
yoked with them.
5.3.2. There are Gibeonites in our
hearts:
5.3.2.1.
We Christians have temptations that come into our lives in which we
are deceived, just as if the Devil whispered directly in our ears. I don’t believe that the Devil necessarily
knows our thoughts or can directly place a thought in our minds, however he has
external means for triggering these things in our minds and he is very cunning.
5.3.2.2.
Many times we Christians can have a thought come into our minds,
and it can trigger a whole bunch of other thoughts and justifications in
our minds and sometimes lead us think that it was the very voice of the Lord
that we are hearing.
5.3.2.2.1.
Beware of following “common sense” and the whole thought processes that it can
create in our minds. Often these sort
of trains of thought have come directly from the pit of hell.
5.3.2.2.1.1.
Alan Redpath writes about how we need to beware of following our common sense,
“How can we ever match Satan and his subtle ways? Listen to me.
Never, never, NEVER trust your own judgment in anything. When common sense says that a course is
right, lift your heart to God, for the path of faith and the path of blessing
may be in a direction completely opposite to that which you call common
sense. When voices tell you that action
is urgent, that something must be done immediately, refer everything to the tribunal
of heaven. Then if you are still in
doubt, dare to stand still. If you are
called on to act and you have not time to pray, don’t act. If you are called on to move in a certain
direction and cannot wait until you have peace with God about it, don’t
move. Be strong enough and brave enough
to dare to stand and wait on God, for none of them that wait on Him shall ever
be ashamed.”
5.3.2.2.1.2.
Prov. 3:5-6 tells us of the folly of relying upon our own understanding, “5 Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own
understanding. 6 In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
5.3.2.2.2.
As I was preparing this study, I received a call from an old friend I have known for many
years. He has been in a difficult
marriage for many years, in an unequally yoked type of situation. He told me that he was convinced that the
Lord had spoken clearly to him that he was to divorce his wife, and he was
seeking my counsel. As we began to
discuss and unravel the events that had occurred leading up to his supposed
discerning of the Lord’s speaking to Him, it soon began to be apparent to him
that perhaps it was not the “clear as a bell” voice of the Lord at all. He knew he now needed to really come before
the Lord and seek much further confirmation about this.
5.3.2.2.3.
As my wife and I have done quite a bit of counseling of couples with
marriage troubles we have both been astonished at the number of times that a
husband or a wife has felt sure that they were in the will of God concerning
how they have been handling their spouse and marriage, when it is so clear that
they have not been following scripture and being obedient to the Lord. Virtually every counseling session both
spouses have built such a case in their minds of how the problems are virtually
all caused by the other spouse.
5.3.2.2.4.
The building up these arguments in our defense is to become
“judgmental” of others, and when we find ourselves standing in “judgment” of others, it is
usually the case that we’ve been struck by the Gibeonites of the heart.
5.3.2.3.
One pastor told me his frustration that after pasturing a struggling
church for many years he noticed that Christian people just have a hard time
getting along with each other and liking each other. This is the result of the Gideonites of the
heart causing dissension among the true members of the body of Christ.
5.4. Going back to our story
here, we see that it was yet another victory that led Joshua to become
vulnerable to
the deception of the Gideonites.
5.4.1. Beware of the Gideonites of
the heart after you have begun to have victories in your walk:
5.4.1.1.
Just started to grow in your relationship to God.
5.4.1.2.
Started to attend a church and get plugged in.
5.4.1.3.
Started to have your quiet times regularly.
5.4.1.4.
Started praying with your wife daily.
5.4.1.5.
The word of God just started opening up to you.
5.4.1.6.
You just began to experience real worship for the first time.
5.4.1.7.
Etc., etc., etc.
5.4.2. These victories puff us up
and make us start thinking that we are more mature or wiser than we really are.
5.4.3. Alan Redpath writes about how we need to
be careful of the attack of the enemy after great victories and successes, “Every
victory that the Christian wins in his own personal life is an invitation for a
full-scale attack by the enemy of his soul.
Every time a child of God steps into an experience of blessing he is on
the verge of another assault by the enemy.
Our blessings and battles go side by side. If you are being pressed on every front and
are in the thick of the fight, praise God!
If you are finding temptation almost too much to bear and the struggle
almost too hard to carry on, I want you to know that I am tremendously
glad. You may be feeling miserable, but
I am most thoroughly happy on your account.
It is a good sign! If you are
being tempted right and left it is because you are going right through with the
will of God in blessing.”
5.5. Notice that the children of
5.5.1. The only time when we as
Christians are not expected to keep our oaths we have made to people is when to
do so would be to commit a greater or more horrific sin.
5.5.1.1.
Herod should not have kept his oath to Herodias’ daughter to give her
anything up to half of his kingdom, when to do so would mean committing murder,
the beheading of John the Baptist.
5.5.1.2.
I don’t believe that Jephthah should have sacrificed his daughter in
Judges chapter 11 because of his foolish oath that if the Lord gave him victory
in battle that he would sacrifice to the Lord the first thing that came out of
his tent.
6. VS 9:16-20 - “16 And 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 And the sons
of
6.1. Realizing three days later
that they had been deceived by these Gibeonites who lived only 25 miles away
from them, the children of
6.2. We see here in this verse
the importance of keeping an oath or vow that we have made to people. Even though the Gibeonites had been
deceptive when they came to the children of
6.3. Note that there was now
dissension among the children of
6.3.1. The people wanted Joshua and
the children of
6.3.1.1.
They would lose the spoils they could have gained in the victory.
6.3.1.2.
They would have to live with the Gibeonites and they were concerned
about the influence of them and their religion upon their culture and for their
sons with whom the Gibeonites would possibly intermarry.
6.3.2. There are occasions in the
church when the leadership are going to be led of the Lord to make a decision
that is unpopular, however they must stay with their decision because they know
that it us truly honoring to the Lord.
6.3.3. There are some churches that
have a congregational form of government, where every member votes for decisions. In the
6.3.4. I believe that this
dissension amongst God’s people came however as a chastisement from the Lord
upon their leaders.
6.4. We see that in wisdom the
children of Israel determine to let this failure of their’s work out for good, for the Gibeonites were
now made their slaves and helped them greatly throughout their generations in
the menial tasks associated with their worship and living.
6.4.1. As was mentioned last week,
it is an incredible encouragement to us as Christians to see that the children
of Israel fail and fall into sin, for each of us are prone to fall into sin,
however even more so we are encouraged to see that their defeats do not defeat
them, but they keep on walking in the blessing and victory that they have been
promised, and they allow the Lord to work their failures into good in their
lives!
6.5. The scriptures give us two
very important assurances that the Joshua and the children of
6.5.1. Their very next victory
turns out to be their most glorious victory found in the book of Joshua.
6.5.2. Centuries later in 2 Sam.
Chapter 21 after king Saul violated this oath to the Gibeonites when in
misguided zeal the children of Israel killed some of their men, the Lord
brought severe vengeance against the children of Israel for this act, requiring
the death of 7 of Saul’s sons.
7. VS 9:22-27 - “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 “And 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.” - The Gibeonites tell Joshua
why they deceived the children of
7.1. When Joshua finally corners
the Gibeonites about their deceit in carrying out this plot to cause the children of
7.2. As I consider the Gibeonites, though I see that they
lied and were deceitful, I believe that they were also very wise. They conceived a plot that would be to the
saving of their lives, and it worked beautifully. Oh that people in our world today would
come to the One for whom Joshua is a type, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
see their coming to Him as their only hope for the saving of their souls. This too would work to the saving of their
souls.
7.2.1. The wonderful thing about
the Gibeonites coming to Joshua and the children of
7.3. Joshua’s treatment of the
Gibeonites who had beguiled him and the children of Israel is meek and gentle
and is a reflection of the One for whom he is the type, the Lord Jesus Christ.
8. CONCLUSION:
8.1. Do you recognize that the
Devil is constantly plotting ways to subvert you from the plans that God has
for your life?
8.1.1. Be vigilant and always on
the alert for him
8.1.2. Expect that as you are
taking a step closer to the Lord and having any victory that the Devil is
scheming of a way to subvert your progress and make you ineffective in your
walk
8.1.3. Pray without ceasing and in
every decision for discernment and wisdom
8.1.4. Put on the full armor of God
so that you may be able to have victory over the enemy (see Ephesians chapter
6)
8.1.5. If daily spending time with
the Lord and in His word is hit or miss in your life, realize that you are
going to be out maneuvered by the enemy, and at the end of a day you are going
to wonder how what started out to be so good ended up somehow getting so
derailed
8.2. Are you allowing the Lord to
work good from your failings and sins that you have committed?
8.2.1. If you will turn back again
to the Lord in repentance and just be faithful to Him, though your failings
have caused you to perhaps miss His best for your life, He will still turn
those failings into good things in your life
8.2.2. The scripture promises us in
Romans 8:28 that every single one of the things that happen in our lives are
working together for good in our lives, “All things work together for good
to those who love God and are called according to His purpose”