Revision as of 15:41, 20 July 2022

Theological Proposition/Focus: God is truth and hence the source of truth and has a high expectation that His people be truthful.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must go to God and petition Him, as Truth, for discernment. Failure to have asked God is not an excuse for making a bad decision.

Introduction:

Image: Over and under reactions

Often times we find ourselves balancing on a knife-edge. On one side there is danger, on the other there is danger. For example,

Under Reacting: about 3% of Americans are thought to be immunodeficient

Overacting example: Every Spring 35 million Americans fight allergies that incorrectly identify pollen as a new virus or bacteria.

You don't want to be in either state. God calls on us to be discerning people, going to Him and trusting him to correctly identify how we should respond to situations.

Need: We need to seek God so that we can practice godly discernment.

Preview: In this text, we are going to see that discernment matters because God holds us to a very high standard.

Setting the Stage:

Remember that God has been the central character of Joshua.

God was in charge in Joshua 1.

God brought Israel across the Jordan in Joshua 3.

God brought down the walls of Jericho in Joshua in Joshua 6.

God delivered the city of AI in Joshua 8

By this point in the story, we have learned that God is the central figure of Joshua and no matter what one should always go to God. In Joshua 9 we are going to see a case where Israel probably should have gone to God first before just acting.

Body

Discernment matters because those not among God's people often play by different rules (1-13).

Two common, worldly responses to God's power.

When some witness God's power they attempt to rebel (1-2).

What we see here is that the people of Canaan very clearly heard and understand that this invasion force was different.

The geographical description is likely intended to convey that the opponents came from all over Canaan.

Here we do not read about any fighting but rather the formation of a force in opposition.

We need to recognize that there are people who defiantly go against God and His people.

When some witness God's power they attempt to manipulate (3-6).

The city of Gibeon was a city not far from AI (about 5 mi northwest of Jerusalem).

It seems that the Gibeonites quickly learned about what had transpired in Jericho and Ai.

The ruse involved the appearance of a long trip followed by a plea for partnership.

Background: Israel was allowed to make treaties with far away peoples (don't read Deut. 20:10-18).

Something I am struck by is

The request of a ברית (covenant) vs. God's covenant.

The people had a covenant with God but here they enter into another covenant.

Ultimately we must recognize that

Without God there is no truth (John 14:6).

You see we know that

Satan is the father of lies who naturally speaks lies John 8:44

Satan will scheme and lie to trick us if at all possible. We must be on guard

Verse 7 suggests that the Israelites were skeptical but they failed to go to God.

Unfortunately, Israel turned to their own wisdom instead of God's wisdom.

Image: Looking up the rules when playing a board game because truth matters

Have you ever played a board game with someone who only sort of knows the rules? Sometimes after playing the game for a few minutes, it seems like either a rule changed, or something just does not make sense. At this point, most of us probably ask to get the instructions out and look at the actual rules. Why? Because the truth matters. Discerning the truth is critically important.

When responding to God, don't forget Rahab.

What does Rahab have to do with any of this? I want you to remember, that Rahab also noticed there was no defeat of God. However, in the case of Rahab, instead of turning against God, or trying to trick his people,

Rahab asked for God's mercy.

I worry that sometimes we spend so much time trying to manipulate our way, trying to do the worldly way, that we forget we serve a merciful God.

MTR: Search yourself and make sure you are turning to Truth.

Discernment matters because God holds his people to a very high standard (14-21).

Failure comes from failing to turn to God (14).

I want you to

Notice that Israel's failure was not that they were deceived but that they failed to ask God.

None of us has perfect knowledge. This means that there will be times when we are deceived or tricked. Being deceived or fooled is not itself a failure. Failure comes when we do not go to God to seek help discerning.

You see, what it comes down to is that

Ignorance is not bliss (Ephesians 5:15-17).

We live in a fallen world, a world in which we are called to make the right use of every opportunity (see also Col. 4:5).

We live in a fallen world (days are evil).

Life is short (making the most of every opportunity)

We must go to God for wisdom (understand what the Lord's will is)

God expects His people to keep their word (16-21).

When the truth was uncovered the Israelites were livid (18).

The unjustified grumbling of Exodus and Number was now justified.

Yet, they had given their word by the Lord God and could not break it (19).

Are you a person of your word? When is it acceptable to break your word? Most of us would probably argue that if we make a commitment under false pretenses that it would be acceptable to break our word. Here I want you to understand the standard that Israel kept. Even though they had been deceived, they kept their word.

It seems that when we make a commitment we are expected to keep it no matter what!

This story is an example.

Jacob tricking Isaac into giving him the blessing in Genesis 27 is an example.

Understand the significance of this. We often treat our words somewhat flippantly. When we commit to something we need to see it through!

Image: Canceling appointments for silly reasons

Have you ever made an appointment for a meeting with someone and then just not felt like it or decided you are too busy? I am guilty, I think we take our commitments far too flippantly.

MTR: Take stock of your current commitments and make sure you are honoring them.

MTR: Consider your pending commitments and go to God for discernment.

Discernment matters because our choices can have long-term consequences (22-27).

Bad decisions often have consequences.

In the video-game age we are spoiled by the reset button.

Image: saving games so that you can fail and just restart from your save.

Growing up my brothers and I had a NES that we loved to play together. We would play for a few hours and sometimes we would win at the end, sometimes we would lose at the end. There was no save so if you made a mistake that was it. Still, there were no real consequences for failure. Sure you lost a few hours but you could start over tomorrow. Today almost every game lets you save your progress, so if you make a big mistake you just go back and start from the last place you saved. No big deal.

In life, there can be significant consequences.

We will momentarily talk about how God can redeem bad decisions.

but for now I want you to know that sometimes bad decisions yield significant consequences.

The Gibeonites lost the very thing they hoped to save, freedom (22-25).

The Gibeonites were responsible for deception. While their deception did not absolve Israel, it did warrant consequences. In the case of the Gibeonites, these consequences came in the form of perpetual service for the house of God.

Perpetual service to the house of God.

You may recall that at this point in history the Israelites worshiped God not at a temple but at the tabernacle, the tent.

The house of God was likely originally the tabernacle and later the temple.

The significant number of sacrifices offered to God warranted significant labor carrying wood and water.

It is also interesting that

Israel was forced to live with a constant reminder of their failure here

Every time an Israelite visited the Tabernacle or Temple they would have been reminded of their failure to consult God. Moreover, Israel was in a position where they were expected to keep the oath in perpetuity.

Saul's later violation of the oath brought national consequences (2 Sam. 21:1-6).

Saul had sought to destroy the Gibeonites hundreds of years later.

God, in response to this misplaced zeal brought about a famine in the land and David was forced to reconcile. Ultimately what we see is that despite hundreds of years,

God still held Israel accountable.

Nevertheless, I also want to point out

God redeems despite our failures.

The biggest issue with the Canaanites was their idolatry and idolatrous practices.

Violence, fornication, and all kinds of evil were committed in the names of their gods.

However, here in the last couple of verses, we see that God redeems despite our failures.

The Gibeonites were directly exposed to worship of God.

You might wonder how this ended, did the Gibeonites ever turn from their idolatrous ways and embrace God?

In Neh. 3:7 we see Gibeonites helping repair the walls of Jerusalem.

It seems that the Gibeonites fully assimilated into Israel and presumably began to worship none other than God.

It is just like God to not just forgive but transform mistakes into blessings.

MTR: Determine to see how God turns past failures into present redemptions.