Ill-Advised Covenant

Introduction:

Illustration:

Imagine a young lady who has been dating a young man for 3 years. For whatever reason, the relationship fizzles out, and they breakup. Within 30 days, the young lady is in another relationship with another young man. Some would call this a rebound relationship, but the relationship progresses and within 2 months they are engaged. She is feeling so good in this relationship that she is confident about transitioning from a general relationship into the covenant of marriage. Her confidence is such that she does not seek any counsel from her loving parents or other adults in her life. Within 6 months she is married. This is what some would call an ill-advised covenant. It is not merely a relationship, but it is a special relationship between two parties. It is ill-advised because she did not seek counsel.

One key difference between what I have just described and the world in which we live is that there are many voices on various platforms today. Among the voices are celebrities and politicians. These are the public sector voices like Donald Trump or AOC or Tucker Carlson. Then there are the voices that maybe we overlook. The overlooked voices include those voices which we ask questions to on a regular basis. For example, the voice of the internet comes through names like "Siri" or "Alexa". With these two names, we have the internet at our disposal. There are still a closer segment of voices which we have speaking, those are the voices within our relatively smaller spheres of influence. These voices are the ones we see in status updates through quotes, pictures, short videos in the feeds.

In the milieus of voices, we have a lot of counsel being given out. Worse still, people are making covenants without seeking the counsel of the Lord. These covenants are causing difficulty for their covenants to the Lord.

There are some covenants you cannot make and expect that we will remain faithful to the Lord, and there are some covenants that, if you make them, they make your commitment to the Lord more difficult.

Briefly tell the story.

KIDS PAUSE: We should not make special promises until we have received counsel from God’s Word.

Body

SERMON THEME:

What we will learn in this passage before us is that the LORD expects that his people seek his counsel so that they do not make ill-advised covenants.

(1) Ill-advised covenants happen when we forget the Lord’s written commands. (v. 1-2)

First, note what the narrator does. He intentionally gives an opening summary that calls to remembrance not just what the LORD had said, but what the Lord had commanded. Within this list is the Hivite, which are the Gibeonites. See Deuteronomy 20:16-18.

Deuteronomy 20:16–18 KJV 1900

But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

Note, it is the LORD who is speaking. This is the One with whom Israel is in covenant. Second, it is something that has been commanded. Remember that our obedience is part of our worship.

Application: It is good at this point to be confronted with some real truths. Are you the LORD of your life or is God the Lord of you life? Second, will you try to water down what God has commanded, or will you strive to obey what God has commanded?

The kind of counsel that we are going to be speaking about in this passage is not some hidden counsel as if Joshua and Israel did not know what they were supposed to do. The kind of counsel that we are speaking about is counsel that the LORD had already given and that they needed to heed.

Application: Thus, the issue today is not a question about some secret will of God. When I speak of God's people seeking counsel, I am specifically saying that God's people should seek counsel from the very written word of God, and not from whimsical impressions. People are so concerned about what they do not know that they have overlooked what they can know and Who they can know better in the Word of God, which preserves for us the counsel of God.

KIDS PAUSE: The Bible gives to us commands to help us make wise promises.

(2) Ill-advised covenants happen when we are self-confident in our minds (v. 3-15).

Several things happen in these verses. First (v.3), there is an intentional contrast between the way the Gibeonites respond to what they hear versus the rest of the nations West of Jordan. The message of Jehovah is stirring up unrest among the lost.

Second, the Gibeonites request a "covenant". Our bibles use the word "league" but it is actually the same word used the other times for "covenant". These are non-covenantal people that are seeking to enter into covenant with God's people. This should remind us of God promise to Abraham -- that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This story with the Gibeonites and the story of Rahab are glimpses of what would ultimately through Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, it is important to see that the human mind missed the opportunity to expose the deception (v. 7).

Application: Today, people make foolish ill-advised covenants that compromise the integrity of their faithfulness to the LORD, not because they are unsaved people, but because they rely deeply upon their own reasoning and not upon the inscripturated truth. Because we live in a fallen, sin-cursed world, we must recognize how fallen our thinking capabilities are. Our minds must be disciplined under the word of God and the truth of Christ regularly. There are some decisions we make where there is not really a right/wrong, but it is always wrong for a Christian to neglect the clear counsel of the Lord in favor of our own fallen brains.

Rather than always beginning your answers with, "Well, I think..." maybe we should begin our answers with, "Well, Jesus said..." and if we cannot even think of a principle that would guide our words, then maybe we are not seeking the counsel of the Lord.

As you see Joshua 9:14, this appears to be the place where the covenant is ratified. The taking of the provisions may actually be implying a tradition of the suzerain treaty where they ate a meal together to ratify the covenant.

Joshua 9:14 KJV 1900

And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.

KIDS PAUSE: We should trust the mind of God more than our own minds.

Consider I Corinthians 2 here.

The story does not end with the ill-advised covenant. There is a path forward.

(1) Ill-Advised Covenants need a humble response (a moment of confrontation) (v. 16)

[Ex: no 30 warranty on this one]

This verse is the climactic verse, in my opinion. It is the moment that the children of Israel hear that they have been deceived. What then is the real deception? They have been deceived into disobedience and unfaithfulness to the LORD.

This calls us to remember the very first time a human was deceived into disobedience and unfaithfulness to the LORD. It was in the Garden of Eden when Eve was deceived. The immediate response was a hiding from the presence of the Lord.

Application:

It is absolutely important that this point of confrontation not be missed. As you sit here today, you must not be thinking about anything else except whether you have made or are making ill-advised covenants that lead you in a path of disobedience an unfaithfulness to the LORD.

What might some of these ill-advised covenants be? This will not make sense unless we explain the exchange of the covenant, as we see it here in the passage. The covenant here is one where the lesser state (Gibeonites) came to the greater state (Israel) and submitted to their mercy. They exchanged their freedom for the benefit of life and security under the greater state. Then there is an exchange of tokens. Thus, when I speak of you and I making ill-advised covenants, I am talking about Christians, who are slaves of Jesus Christ, entering into agreement with other masters, and exchanging tokens of commitment to and for that master.

There are three areas in our lives today which I would like us to consider.

- The area of physical appetites. This includes any and all sins where we pursue forbidden lusts. Sexual immorality physically and/or mentally. Adults and teens alike should not enter into an ill-advised relationship whereby you become enslaved to nothing but the satisfaction of your own physical appetites.

- The area of physical aesthetics

[Illustrations: "Facial Aesthetics of Dayton].

Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health disorder in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can't be seen by others. But you may feel so embarrassed, ashamed and anxious that you may avoid many social situations.

When you have body dysmorphic disorder, you intensely focus on your appearance and body image, repeatedly checking the mirror, grooming or seeking reassurance, sometimes for many hours each day. Your perceived flaw and the repetitive behaviors cause you significant distress, and impact your ability to function in your daily life. [Mayo Clinic]

This means that you are easily lured by what appeals to the eye, and that you are so committed to appearances that you are willing to compromise the integrity of your faithfulness to the Lord. You are the person who is motivated by aethetics and you make your primary decisions based on appearances not upon substance.

[Ex: ?]

- The area of proud acquisitions. The pride of life is not just a pride about who you are, but it is a pride about what you have. It is a materialism that is willing to make ill-advised financial decisions at the expense of covenant to the Lord.

These three are quantified by John as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the yes, and the pride of life. When you hear these things, do you stop and take an honest self-inspection? In this chapter, this verse must be one of the most humbling verses. This ought to lead us to strongly consider our own lives, and what we do when we hear that we may be wrong.

KIDS PAUSE: We should be honest about poor decisions that we have made.

(2) Ill-Advised covenants need a corrective response (v. 17-25)

This section of versus shows us that though God's people made and ill-advised covenant, they did not have to stay there. There is a plan set in motion to correct what had taken place. First (v. 17-21), note that correction did not involve covenant-breaking. This covenant which they had made would be one that even the Lord would hold them to in the future. (v. 21) The correction plan is stated -- a plan to make the Gibeonites servants for the congregation.

Two (v. 22-25), Joshua's pronouncement of a curse upon them seems to be a mute point. Gibeon, for all of their deception, seems to have a better handle upon the counsel of the Lord than Joshua and Israel did.

Application:

When we make ill-advised covenants which may potentially hinder our faithfulness to Christ, it is good to wisely make corrections without breaking our word, if at all possible. Some of you have taken promotions at work without seeking wise counsel from God's Word. It has cost you your commitment to the LORD and his church.

On the other hand, I have known men who have asked to be demoted so that they might have more time for the things of the Lord. Sometimes corrections like this need to be made.

KIDS PAUSE: It is good to make corrections according to God’s Word.

(3) Ill-advised covenants need a redemptive perspective (v. 26-27)

These last two verses are so encouraging. What happens is nothing short of amazing. Though the Gibeonites were the enemies, they now become servants who draw provisions for God's people and specifically for the altar of the LORD -- an altar where sacrifices were made for the atonement for sins.

Eventually, the Gibeonites are assimilated into the nation of Israel, and we find them later in the Old Testament as part of the people of God. This role into which they entered reminds me of what the Psalmist said: Psalm 84:10.

Psalm 84:10 KJV 1900

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Application: Though we make ill-advised covenants, God can use them for good. We will see more of how God redeems ill-advised covenants in the next chapter; but for now, it is good to know that if you have been enslaved to sin, materialism, self-pleasure, adultery...there is a way forward and the Lord can still use you for his purpose. The Lord can use our poor decisions to bring outsiders into the inside. He can use decisions we make, where we neglect the counsel of God, and use them to bring glory to Himself.

In the end, even though He can and does does this; it is good to be warned against making covenants which are ill-advised - decisions where we do not truly consider the counsel of the Lord. This message is to warn Christians against making ill-advised covenants -- decisions where we neglect the counsel of the Lord.

CHRISTIAN CONNECTION:

How does the LORD help us with this?

The LORD continually warned his people to seek his counsel. The entire book of Proverbs is given so that they would have Wisdom. Listen to the words of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:14.

Proverbs 8:14 KJV 1900

Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

The LORD wants his people to live wisely, but as we know, God's people forsook his counsel, and sought the counsel of false-teachers and diviners, but God's desire for mankind comes through in passages such as:

Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 KJV 1900

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 11:1-2

Isaiah 11:1–2 KJV 1900

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

These are promises that show to us how the LORD would provide the counsel. The Lord would provide the Counselor who would live according to all of the counsel of the LORD. Everything this that was inscripturated in Moses, Jesus kept.

[ill: this is what makes a statement by Steven Furtick that "God broke the Law" for love.].

Jesus did not break the law. Jesus came as the Counselor to keep all the counsel of God so that He could make a people who are transformed keepers of the counsel of God.

Jesus lived obediently to the counsel of God for people who could not live perfectly obedient to the LORD’s counsel.

Jesus died horrifically for people who against the counsels of God.

Jesus rose again to empower his followers to a live in covenant obedience.

SPECIFIC APPLICATION:

This means that people who are in covenant with the Lord:

- Want the Word

- Feast on the Word

- Seek wisdom in the Word

- Trust the Word

- Lay aside sin because of the Word

- Are sanctified by the Word - in heart

- Live by the Word

- Sacrifice for the Word

But above all, this morning, I want to tell you that you should not be only a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word lest you enter into self-deception (James 1:22-25)

James 1:22–25 KJV 1900

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

KIDS PAUSE: Jesus saves us so that we would hear the Word of God & Obey the Word of God

Conclusion:

- Be warned against making ill-advised covenants which cause you to compromise the integrity of your relationship with Christ.

So, in the midst of many cultural voices such as political leaders and celebrities, we admit that there is the voice of the internet through Alexa and Siri; but we also admit that we have voices calling us to commitment - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. As Christians, we are a people who have been equipped to wisely consider the counsel of the Lord so that we do not enter into covenants that compromise the integrity of our covenant with Christ.

When I'm faced with anguished choice, I will listen for Your voice, And I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word. Through this dark and troubled land You will guide me with Your hand As I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word. And You've promised to complete Ev'ry work begun in me— So I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.