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.

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 decieved or fooled is not itself 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 and 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).

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 word somewhat flippantly. When we commit to something we need to see it through!

Image: We tend to expect high standards of everyone except ourselves.

What do they call the last ranked person graduating from medical school? Doctor...

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 (22-26).

Bad decisions often have consequences.

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

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

God redeems despite our failures.

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

Conclusion:

Image:

Joshua 9: Discernment Matters

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