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Joshua: Pass Over and Possess • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.
And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
Introduction
Introduction
There are many times in our lives that we are unsure of what to do. We ask for advice of others. We spend time planning and strategizing. In our passage this morning, we see that the people’s own experienced failed them. How often is that the same for us too!
We need to be looking throughout the book for our theme for 2025. The central focus of the book of Joshua is that God wants us to move forward and take ahold of the blessings of our salvation.
Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.
As we saw in our study of Ephesians, God has blessed us with spiritual blessings. All the saved have access to these blessings. Do we share them with the lost? Do we live them faithfully in our lives? Do we thank God for them daily? The book of Joshua leads us along the path of living the victorious Christian life. All we need to live victoriously, we already have in Christ. We must just cross over the river of fear and take ownership of the land of Promise!
When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they had been given the Law. This was a series of specific commands that reflected the holiness of God and the method His worship. The people were to be distinct through the actions that they took on a daily basis.
However, the Law was not able to kept by man. No one can follow it all of their days because only God is perfect. The Law pointed to the Cross where Jesus Christ died to bring us righteousness. He took the punishment that we deserved because we have broken God’s law. He gave us access to eternity with God because of the new life in Himself.
The Israelites had seen the blessing of God when they followed His plan of battle in Jericho and Ai. They had seen the effects of sin through the deceit and greed of Achan. One man’s sin had kept an entire nation back from victory. In chapter 9, however, the pride of the people was going to get them into trouble, even as it does us today.
Declaration
Declaration
When we fail to ask for God's perfect wisdom, we are only left with man's limited wisdom. Asking for help is what God desires us to do. He taught the clear path to victory in His Word and was ready to reveal it. Observe the contrast between the two parties in our passage today.
1. Sin Works in the Shadows of Deceit
1. Sin Works in the Shadows of Deceit
And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
Chapter 9 begins with a description of the reaction of the Canaanites to the victories at Jericho and Ai. There is the smell of fear coming from the hearts of these cities. But instead of offering terms of surrender, the inhabitants of the land are preparing to wage a combined war on the Israelites.
In the midst of this fear, some of the people have a different strategy to ensure their survival in the land. The people in the cities of Gibeon are going to try to deceive the deceivers. The battle of Ai was a great tactical victory through the command of God to ambush the overconfident defenders. Now, the people of Gibeon are going to try to carry out the same method of deceit but in the negotiating room. This is the method of those who commit evil. Paul exhorted us,
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
The people of Gibeon chose to operate based on deceit. There was a conscious choice to bring the children of Israel into disobedience to the command of God. This is how the world, flesh and the devil all try to overcome us in our lives.
The people in the land represent the temptations that we experience even in our spiritual lives. Taking the land of Canaan was not just going to be through the act of crossing the river. Even the two cities that they had already captured would not be enough for the entire land to be taken. Many battles lay ahead. The traps of the enemy are placed in secret for the believer through speech.
The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood:
But the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
No matter who they were, there should have been no agreement between them and Israel in verse 6. There should have been a clear warning with the request for a league. This same word was used in the commands of God to the Israelites in the wilderness about the people in the land. God had said,
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
The word “league” is really the word “covenant”. God chose to form a covenant with Abraham and his children. This was an agreement by God to do for them something that they could not do for themselves. There would be a land that would be their eternal possession. There was promised a Seed that would come one day to die for the sin of the world. There was also to be a blessing that allowed all people to be saved through the obedience of One, Jesus.
The people were not to extend a covenant or agreement to the wicked people of the land. They deserved death because of their continual rejection of the opportunity to repent. They had by this time had over 400 years to make things right. Nothing had changed since the days of Sodom and Gomorra.
Christian, be wary of the sin in the shadows. That is how Satan is able to get a foothold in your life and mine. He is willing to use deceit to work evil because that has proven effective. It has been rightly said, “the reason that the devil uses the same methods over and over is because they work.” Brother, we must be vigilant against the deceit of sin to bring us into covenant with the works of darkness.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
What will the Israelites do?
Sin works in the shadows of deceit in our spiritual lives. We struggle with our flesh, the world and the devil. Fight Christian valiantly and watch carefully for the deceitfulness of sin!
2. Wisdom Lives in the Light of the Word
2. Wisdom Lives in the Light of the Word
And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them. And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
Wisdom is something that is found in God. He gives it to mankind as He chooses. Job, in likely the oldest book in Bible, records
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who hath given understanding to the heart?
Who can number the clouds in wisdom?
Or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
Twice in those verses we see this word wisdom. God gives something different than just general knowledge or experience. He gives the correct answer that is only found in the perfect, holy, all-knowing God. He gives us that wisdom through His Word.
For the Lord giveth wisdom:
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous:
He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Man possesses some wisdom. We can figure out how to make a rocket that flies into space and lands on the moon. We can put together plans to produce electronics in ever smaller sizes. Man is slowly exploring the floor of the ocean. But the wisdom of man begins and ends with a fallen creature. We are all sinners as our father Adam was a sinner. We have all chosen to go in the wrong direction because we believe that our wisdom is better than God’s. How wrong we are!
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Instead, we need to have some way to have our sin taken away. We have sought for our wisdom which is evil and fallen. Christ is the end of wisdom for salvation.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Joshua took time in chapter 8 to build an altar to worship God at Mount Ebal. He was following the instructions of God in the law. This was an event that Moses had commanded them to carry out when they arrived in the land as a testimony to one another of the seriousness of obedience to God. Deuteronomy 27 records the instructions for the people.
In following the commands, Joshua took the time to write out all the law to ensure that it was permanent on the plaster. This would have been a memorable event to all who saw it. Moses had told the people,
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Chapter 8 ends with a complete review of the law. However, chapter 9 shows that the people were not completely listening. Why didn’t they seek God’s wisdom? Why didn’t they listen and remember to what God had said?
Why don’t we? How many of us grew up knowing the Word of God? How many of us had Christian family or friends? How many of us have the clear Bible in our language for us to read? The answer to the final of those questions is everyone.
James tells us in the New Testament how to handle temptations and trials. Where there are tests, we don’t have the answers. It is not open book on our experience. It is Open Book through God Himself!
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Moses had said, "If thy presence go not with us, we don't want to go" but we see the opposite in verses 14-15. The choice to walk alone was one that the people consciously chose. We choose it too when we walk in darkness without the light of His Word.
And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
The issue was not that they talked with the people of Gibeon. The issue was that peace was made. Peace is not worth any cost. The remainder of the story shows us the severity of this choice by the princes and especially by Joshua the leader. There could be no going back on the oath that they made because it had been made on God Himself.
The wisdom of God lives in the light of God’s Word. Asking God for next steps is the right path forward. Looking in and remembering His Word is the guide for the uncertain path. Living in light is a choice for the traveler in the land of Promise.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When we fail to ask for God's perfect wisdom, we are only left with man's limited wisdom. Asking for help is what God desires us to do. He taught the clear path to victory in His Word and was ready to reveal it. We see here the contrast between the two parties in our passage.
The central issue of this chapter is the need for consultation with God, just as it was in chapters 1 and 5. The people knew the clear command of God from chapter 8 but they did not ask for help in their doubt. There should have been someone who pointed to the commands of Scripture! Joshua did not ask for help from God. Ultimately, it was his choice that caused the compromise. The leader needs to be sure to make the biblical choice as we see in the crucial verses 14-15 and 26-27.
In chapter 11, we see the sad truth of this singular event,
There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.
Often in our lives, we make mistakes. Sometimes they occur because we do not heed advice freely given by others. Sometimes they are the result of not asking for advice as we see in our passage here. One ancient writer said this,
To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.
Plutarch
While learning from our mistakes is valuable, perhaps the greatest value is found in avoiding especially those mistakes that are sinful through following the Scripture. God has given us the guide for all that we will encounter in our lives. We have access to the throne of grace for help. God tells us, “Ask!”.
Brother,
Are you living in sin and deceit today? Maybe you have something that you need to confess to God or another to ensure that you live a life of honesty. There is forgiveness at the cross of Christ. Live openly the truth of the Gospel so that all the world will see your faith.
Are you asking for wisdom? Are you searching the Word of God for guidance? What better example could we have of wilful negligence of the resource of God Himself than our passage this morning. They had just heard all of the Law but chose not to obey it. How often we neglect prayer and obedience to the Word of God! Compromise comes from trusting in our own wisdom.
Choose today to live honestly and prayerfully. The application this morning is to live in touch with God Himself. Joshua’s spiritual life was not what it should have been. He did not pray about what he should have. Have you?
