Joshua 9:1-26

Flattering to Deceive

What have we covered in Joshua so far?

Does anyone remember what we covered last time?

Israel succesfully captures Ai.

Chapter 8 finishes with this:

Joshua 8:32–33 “32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel.”

Joshua renewed the covenant with the Lord.

What is a covenant?

Google says an agreement.

What is the modern day equivalent to a covenant? A contract.

What are things we sign contracts for?

Marriage, house, job, car, schooling, goods & services, etc.

Turn to Joshua chapter 9.

Joshua 9:1–5 “1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel. 3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly.”

So we are introducted to these people, the Gibeonites, and what had they just heard about?

What had just happened to Jericho & Ai. If you look at a map they would be next along the line of conquest. Having just heard what happened to those cities they come up with a plan. So what do they do?

Joshua 9:4–5 “4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly.”

They play dress up. Give us all your worn out stuff, we are going to look tired and beat down and take broken wineskins and stale bread. They went all out to try and prove who they were.

And so they come to Joshua.

Joshua 9:6–8 “6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” 8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?””

What do they want? They want to make a covenant with Israel. And what is Israels first response?

How do we know your not from around here? What if you live next door and are just trying to save yourself?

They were right in being cautious and asking questions. But the Gibeonites continue

Joshua 9:9–11 “9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.” ’”

There is two things I want to point out from what they said:

What did they not say? Something they admitted internally in verse 3 but won’t say out loud? We know what you did to Ai and Jericho. Why wouldn’t they admit that? It would confirm they were from nearby. If they had heard about things that just happened, they couldn’t be from far away.

Its important to note what God had commanded Israel.

Exodus 34:12 “12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.”

Deuteronomy 7:2 “2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.”

This land I am giving you and everyone in that land and be on guard—do not make a covenant with those people for it will hold you up. Destroy them—don’t even mess around with it.

However there was another side of the coin.

Deuteronomy 20:10 “10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.”

Deuteronomy 20:15 “15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.”

For that cities far away—offer terms of peace. The passage goes on—if they agree then live at peace with them, if they don’t, kill them. I am not sure if the Gibeonites knew this but they probably did. So how could they save themselves? Pretend you are not from nearby—pretend you are from far away and should be spared.

2. This line of argument has been used before in Joshua. Does anyone remember who else said this?

Joshua 2:10–13 “10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.””

Joshua 9:9–11 “9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.” ’”

We have heard what you have done in Egypt. We have heard what you did to the Amorites. We know what you did to Shion & Og.

Please deal kindly with us.

Rehab pleaded in chapter 2 and is almost the exact same as here in chapter 9. One of them is flattery and one of them is faith—how do we know the difference?

Can two people say the same thing but there be totally different meanings or heart behind it? Can two people give them same confession about Jesus and they not mean the same?

We know from the parable of the soils that not all who confess Jesus as Lord with their lips will be saved. That is why Romans says if you confess with your mouth AND believe in your heart you will be saved.

Plenty of people confess with their lips. Confession without belief is meaningless.

Rahab confessed and believed and she was saved. The Gibeonites confessed but didn’t believe. They were attempting to deceive to save themselves and so they lied about where they were from and gave false flattery about their God to try and convince them.

Joshua 9:14–15 “14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. 15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.”

Joshua gives in. He makes a covenant with them—a agreement for protection. A binding a agreement that he can’t break.

Joshua 9:16 “16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them.”

No surprise—they find out they are not who they say they are but they are stuck—they made an agreement with them. And they cannot break it.

We continue in the story.

Joshua 9:17–20 “17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.””

You knew what was coming—they come to their cities and guess what they can’t do? Attack them. And so they can’t do anything so the people murmur. These stupid leaders, they made this agreement and not we can’t do anything.

We can’t touch them—I know, they lied, it was wrong, we were fooled but we promised and we can’t touch them.

But there is something they can do.

Joshua 9:21 “21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.”

Ah—we can make them servants. We’ll keep our deal—we will spare you, but your going to have to work for us.

Joshua 9:22–26 “22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty 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 from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them.”

You tricked us—you lied. We are going to spare you, but we are going to make you work for us. You will serve the temple are wood cutters and drawers of water.

What are contracts or agreements you make that you can’t get out of even if they other side lied or deceived or gave false impressions?

Let me give you a real practical application. Be careful who you spend your time with. And be really careful who you pursue in dating/courting whatever you want to call it. Because you have to be an ultra careful who you marry. God hates divorce—and if you get into a marriage and find out they are not who they thought they were—maybe they aren’t even a believer—you are bound to them. What God has brought together let no man separate. And that is not one of the grounds for divorce in the bible. And there are people in really hard marriages—they love the person to death but they don’t walk with the Lord and their is pain and heartache in life because of it.

What are things you don’t think to pray about because they seem simple or straightforward? What is a time you ended up regretting it because you didn’t think of something or it didn’t work out? (i.e. whats a time you could have avoided heartache or pain if you would have prayed and sought consul?)