The Crisis of Compromise

How many times does the word compromise, compromises, compromisers, etc. show up in the Bible?

Answer: ZERO

However, compromise plays a huge part in our Christian lives.

1828 Webster’s: “settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions.” The etymology of the word is hard to find. The word is found in Middle English and has a long history in antiquity.

com- with; together

promiso- with promise

"In English, this coming together to reach a promise or agreement became synonymous with the part of the process in which one concedes some of what they initially set out to get. Compromise then became married to the idea of concession, of giving up ground, of somewhat losing in original position.

When someone is compromised in the sense that you describe, it means that they have lost ground, they've been breached, they've lost their position, and so they are no longer viable. They in essence become like a compromise lost at the negotiation table: off the table.”

Compromise- the ability to make peace with an opposing party, wherein each party gives up ground and lose some of their original position.

One of our problems is a Western mindset when reading the Bible. We as Westerners speak of contracts and compromises. However, the Eastern person spoke of covenants. Contracts are signed; covenants are cut. A broken contract may cost someone their car…their house…their job. But a broken covenant may cost someone their very life.

The whole point of this passage is that God does not want His people cutting deals with the wicked, nor did He want them to be aligned with ungodly.

II Corinthians 6:14-17: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”

Notice these words:

fellowship- μετοχή- partnership; participation

communion- κοινωνία- fellowship

concord- συμφώνησις- to agree; consent; to be of the same feeling; accord

agreement- συγκατάθεσις- joint agreement

What Led Joshua to Compromise?

fear

Joshua 9:1-2: “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.”

DO YOU KNOW WHY THE WORLD IS SEEKING TO COMPROMISE WITH THE HEBREWS? BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID.

3- heard what Joshua did at Jericho

9- the name of the JEHOVAH has become famous in our land

9- we heard what God did to Egypt for your sakes

10- we heard of your treatment of Og and Bashan

in other words, we are seeking to make a compromise with you because you are GREATER than we are. We are afraid of your God— of your Ark— of your armies— and we don’t think we can win.

In truth, do WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT, or are we afraid of the world?

ILL. “you’re enough!” No, you’re not! If you are enough, what happened at Ai? If you are, what happened in the wilderness to your fathers? If you are, what will be the future of the Hebrews? You are not enough! HOWEVER, Jehovah is!

II Corinthians 3:3-5: “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”

The fact is, ONLY JESUS IS ENOUGH, and we are accepted in Him. Our sufficiency must remain in Jesus!

Ephesians 1:6: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

prayerlessness

Joshua 9:14: “And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”

Didn’t we JUST LEARN that lesson at Ai? Didn’t we just read that Joshua did not seek God’s face for battle plans for Ai and that this fatal mistake cost them 36 men? Didn’t we just learn that prayerlessness costs us momentum? Yes! But it is a lesson we often forget.

What Did Joshua’s Compromise Lead To?

conduct unbecoming to a Christian- eating moldy bread!

Phillip Keller: “This action impresses one as being totally at variance withe the conduct of Israel now enjoying a land abundant in fresh fruit, delicious grains and bountiful livestock. The question may very well be asked, ‘Why would Joshua and his captains even deign to touch the moldy old bread, the fermented wine or other putrifying provisions of the fake Gibeonites?’ Even during all of their forty dreadful years in the dreary wilderness Israel had been so sustained by Jehovah that their clothes never became threadbare; their shoes never wore out; their rations never ran out.”

This reminds me of the prodigal, who feigns to eat the husk that the swine did eat. Look how far you far when you make alliances with the world!

Look at the man in Hell in Luke 15— feigning for ONE DROP OF WATER TO COOL HIS TONGUE, all the while he could have had access to the River of Life in Heaven!

Remember the Syropheonecian woman who says to Jesus— I don’t want the cake, just the crumbs....oh, what humility....but if you are a child of God, you don’t get the crumbs…you get the cake. You don’t get the moldy bread but have access to the buffet of God!

evil alliances- chapter 10- they are now fighting with the people they were supposed to be fighting against

ILL. Benedict Arnold

permanent fellowship- the liberated slaves became slave owners themselves

What Did God Do with Joshua’s Compromise?

He allows the seeds we sow to grow

G. Campbell Morgan noted: “A false step taken by a Christian can be forgiven by God, but you must live withe consequences the rest of your life.” REMEMBER: you are allowed to make your decisions but not your consequences.

He holds us to our word- II Samuel 21

INCORPORATION- He acts in mercy towards our poor decisions; Gibeonites incorporated into the nation of Israel

hometown of Saul

of the tribe of Benjamin

ark rested here

a place of ignorance became a place of great wisdom- 437 years later

I Kings 3:4-9: “And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a pe…”