Joshua 9 Bible Study (The Gibeonite Deception) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Thankful that you're here in the midst of a pandemic. I trust you're not afraid. That's why you're here. Right? We shouldn't be afraid.

Alright. Meet me in the book of Joshua. Let's go to the book of Joshua chapter nine where we left off. It is no doubt, I hope, that we have learned so much up to this point in the book of Joshua when we saw them face the challenge of those towering walls at Jericho. And there was little, no little warning and encouragement that we received when we saw how God was able to redeem Israel after they faced another town called Ai.

And the richness of the wisdom presented in this book has not ceased. It will only continue as we especially come to this chapter, as this nation now is about to face another group of people. Now we need to be reminded what this book is about. I mean, there's many messages, but we are now in the section of this book that deals with Israel being led by Joshua to do what? What are they doing at this point?

They've already entered, so what are they doing now? They're they're conquering. This is a conquest. They're taking it bit by bit. They are fighting for the inheritance that God had promised them for so many years.

And so everything about this section especially teaches the new covenant believer a great deal about what? Spiritual warfare. You and I are in a war, and you and I are fighting for something. God has promised us things, and we are advancing to receive and experience all of his blessings. And so you and I have the permission within the parameters of the New Testament to go to a book like Joshua and seek to find some treasures of truth that we can apply today, pictures, so to speak, of a physical war that we can apply to our spiritual battle.

And I must say on a personal level that Joshua chapter nine has blessed me tremendously because it is very unique to the warfare that we see surrounding this chapter. I would highly encourage you, every week I hope, but especially today, to pay close attention to what God wants to tell us through this chapter. Don't miss it tonight. This every week, we we believe that God can change us, but there's something about the truths here that are so unique. We can't afford to miss it.

We can't afford to miss it. And so we read from verse one. 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. Verse two, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel. Now they heard of something.

What did they hear of? Well, what we've been studying over the past few weeks, that they conquered Jericho, that they conquered Ai, and surely the news spread like wildfire. Maybe they even witnessed it to some degree. Who knows? But it is for certain that they heard the news that Israel, this invading nation, is making progress.

So what does that mean to these nations that represent the land of Canaan? One simple thing. They are advancing, and they are winning. They are a threat to us. And so what is the response?

It's not surrender. It's not to humbly come and say, forgive us. Your God is the living God. No. They gather together as one.

Here's a coalition made now where they are now going to try to stand against God and his purposes. And we have to understand this truth. This is not the first time that the world has stood against God and his purposes. In fact, what you see here in Joshua nine verse one and two is going to be echoed at the end of this book, which is at the end of time, where Satan once more will whisper and convince the nations to gather together to not fight against just the people of God. Listen to how serious this is.

Against Christ himself when he physically rules and reigns on this earth. Read Revelation 27 to nine. And between this point here and that moment, Satan will continue to try to resist God and his purposes from advancing into this world. We see it so many times. I mean, think about it.

We see it here, and I'm sure you can think of different moments. My mind goes to even when Jesus comes to this world in his first coming. And you know what's amazing? You see Herod and Pilate, and I love this. It says that they were at enmity with one another.

But when it came to Jesus's trial, they unified and they became friends. We see it also mentioned in a global scale. You can almost picture it in different times where even when God was about to bring a deliverer with Moses, you saw just an uproar on a national level to try to stand against God. And you know what's amazing? In our day, we're hearing the cry of the secular world for what?

Unity. Unity. We need to be unified. Here's one thing. We may not see it for different reasons, but one day the church believers will witness this world putting aside their differences.

And don't be surprised if they gather together for the sole purpose of standing against God. It's gonna happen. And these pictures only show us, what, the Bible is not shy to tell us how depraved man is, how dark, how wicked, how vile, how hollow their soul is. There is such you know, and the fact that there are so many different nations and ethnicities, there's one common thing we have, a wicked heart that is bent on rebelling against God. And that, unless God comes and changes somebody, that will be the bonding factor between this world.

So much so that when Jesus shows his dominion physically, they will still want to dethrone him. Incredible. I don't believe we know how wicked we really are, but the bible tells us over and over again. But on another level, verses one and two tell us something on a personal application. You know, if the Christian is longing to advance in their personal relationship with God, right?

If that's you tonight, if you really want to grow in God, not just knowledge but being used by God, And serving God, and bearing fruit for God, and impacting others for God, and not just touching others, but even in yourself knowing a greater victory over sin, knowing a a greater manifestation of the glory of God within you and through you, even effortlessly. If that is you, here's the lesson from verse one and two. It will not go without challenge. It will not be something that you can just waltz into. It's something that you and I are going to have to fight for.

This is what we're being taught here that the more you grow, the more fight you should expect. Now, God has promised us that he'll be with us. God has promised us that he will fight with us and through us and empower us. But we can't think that we're just gonna be carried along without our will being implemented and engaged. As we reach out to God, we have to do that so he can reach down and take us where he wants us to go.

So what do you see here? You see a greater defense system coming against the people of God because it's a symbol of them grabbing a hold of God's purposes and promises in greater ways, and it will be challenged. It'll be challenged for them. It'll be challenged for you individually. Satan is not just gonna let a believer who is serious about their walk with God go ahead in their generation so easily.

Now if you don't want to advance in God, if you're comfortable where you're at, you have no worries. Verse one and two don't apply to you. They don't. There's gonna be no gathering, there's gonna be no threat against you, so to speak, because you're not moving forward. But if you are, don't be surprised of the spiritual warfare.

Don't be surprised of persecution. Don't be surprised of onslaughts against your thoughts. Don't be surprised. He wants to paralyze you as much as he can. But what we learn from the book of Joshua as a whole, there's nothing to fear.

Nothing to fear. Listen, I'm more afraid of doing nothing for God than I am seeing what the devil will throw at me for living for God. I don't wanna live a wasted life. I only have one. I don't have five.

I don't have 10. I don't have a reset button. Life's not a video game. You have one chance to live for God. And the devil himself knows, unfortunately, he has a greater revelation than many professing Christians of what one life can do for the glory of God.

And so he will do what he's doing. He will do He will gather a storm against even one soul, because one person with God is the majority. So it's a warning but it's also an encouragement. An encouragement to what? You know what's amazing?

I read this and I think, God, you could have not given us the book of Joshua. He couldn't. You know why? He could have just come in and say, okay, guys, you stay there beyond the Jordan. Let me take care of them.

And he just breathes on them and they all die like flies and then they can just waltz in and build their homes and enjoy. And we could have just skipped this entire book. But no. He brings them in. He puts a weapon in their hand and he has them step by step doing what?

Why does he allow warfare? Why couldn't he have just done what he did with Egypt? Because this is a picture lesson for you and I in the new covenant. God allows warfare for many reasons, and here's one of them, so that you and I can remain dependent on God daily. If he just gave us everything like that, many of us would say, thanks God, I'm just gonna enjoy this life and walk on through.

No. He makes it so that we face challenges and opposite. For what reason? So we would fall on our face, say, God, I need you. I don't possess the wisdom, the clarity, the I don't have the strength to do this without you.

It's amazing what means God will produce for you and I to stay close to him. He'll even allow warfare. I can tell you some of the most desperate cries of my prayers have been when I was experiencing some kind of challenge in the spirit. Just makes me it just throws my I'm just like a rag doll. Lord, I can't do this.

I can't do this. And guess what? Sometimes it can happen moments before I come up on this pulpit. And it just creates this dependency. So many people quote Ephesians six, a well known passage, and they go straight to the armor of God.

Put on the helmet. Put on the breastplate. Put on the belt of truth. And that's a wonderful thing, but you can't go to the armor of God without going to the verse that introduces the armor of God, which is Ephesians six ten. Let me just read it.

You don't have to turn there. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. And then he goes on to describe the armor of God. So this placing of armor and thing, that's not that's not divorce from God. This tells you and I that the source of our wisdom, of our strategy, of our strength, of our endurance, of our weapons, of our arsenal are found in him.

In him. So the closer you are to him, the more resources you have. The nearer you are to him, the safer you are and God designed it to be that way. And what we're gonna learn in the rest of the book of Joshua, especially this chapter, is what happens when you choose not to do that. When you try to do warfare or try to advance in God's will apart from God.

And so let's read on in verse three and five. But important word. I mean, it it could have just been as bad as it was there. Right? All these groups are coming together in an alliance against the people of God.

But, but when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, They, on their part, acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn out sacks for their donkeys. Now pay attention to the details. And wineskins worn out and torn and mended with worn out patched sandals on their feet and worn out clothes, and all their provisions were dry and crumbly. What is going on here? Gibeon is amongst those who stand in opposition to God.

And what we read here is that as much as there's this coalition being created, this this merging of these different groups in the land of Canaan, there was one small group from them that chose to go a different route. They thought to themselves, we're not gonna necessarily join with these other groups. We're gonna do warfare a different way. We're gonna have a different strategy. We're gonna go about this with a different scheme.

And right here, you and I must be reminded of this, that our enemy does warfare in different ways. He is much more clever than you and I might think. And what we see here is that they're about to do something, as we read, in a cunning manner. There's something sneaky about what they're gonna do. There's something deceptive.

And I wanna say right off the get go that what the Gibeonites are going to do is equally and if not more dangerous than what we read in verse one and two. See, the enemy can attack in the form of an opposing soldier or he can come as an apparent ally. Satan can come with fierce harassment or he can come with lies coated with half truths. The enemy can come with full force and no subtlety or he can sneak his way in with a kiss like Judas. And I wanna show you how that's true in the New Testament.

I wanna present to you at least two ways Satan attacks, just from what we see here. So do you see how the enemy is gathering himself? In two ways. Open attack with this coalition, there's nothing subtle about that. And then you have the Gibeonites that are coming with a different strategy.

Go to first Peter chapter five verse eight. Here's one way the enemy attacks. This is so crucial. This is a very well known verse. Many have memorized it.

First Peter chapter five verse eight. Be sober minded. Be watchful. Your adversary Pause. Everybody in here, you have a savior.

Amen? Amen. Yeah. You also have an adversary. If you have a savior, you have an adversary.

You might have asked for one about the other, but it comes with a package. You're filled with the Spirit. He sealed you. You just got yourself an enemy. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

What an interesting description to give to our adversary in the spirit, that he is prowling around like a roaring lion. Now many people have tried to, reduce the threat here by saying, yes, he's a lion, but he doesn't have teeth, and yes, he's a lion, but he's on a leash shirt. But Peter here is not toning down the threat of Satan. He's presenting a real threat by saying that our enemy roars like a lion. Now, on a very simple interpretation, when a lion roars, is that being subtle?

Is there anything subtle about a lion roaring? Are you not more aware of the presence of a lion when he roars? Now pretend for just a moment that you are in a tent with your friends in some other part of the world, maybe some kind of safari. Somebody brought up as an idea, you thought it was a good idea. So you are, you're out there in the middle of the wilderness, and you just hear the crickets, you're ready to fall asleep, the light is going out, and all for a sudden in that midnight black hour, you hear a roar, echo in the atmosphere.

The birds are awakened, they fly out of the trees, you can hear them flapping their wings. In that moment, how do you feel? I don't care who you are, I don't care how big your muscles are. For a moment, you're gonna feel paralyzing fear and realizing there is a lion around this tent. And what Peter is trying to say here is that Satan, in his attempt to devour us, makes his presence known sometimes.

He comes and his threats are clear. He approaches for the sake of pushing the child of God into a corner with pure intimidation, and he's not trying to hide it. And there are many ways he does this, and one of the ways is found in the book of first Peter itself. I mean, we come to first Peter five eight and we see that he presents this warning, but go to chapter four of the same book and look at verse 16 and and see that one of the ways I believe that Peter is trying to say that he roars let's read it. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

What's that mean? It means persecution. If you suffer because you're a Christian, you're being persecuted. If you're suffering for other reasons, okay, that's not in the realm of persecution, but for your faith, for your convictions, for what you believe. The audience that Peter was writing to were suffering at some level because they were followers of this Jesus of Nazareth.

And then he goes on to write and then he begins to explain how the enemy roars and one of his roars are the roars of persecution. Is there anything subtle about persecution? If the government were to say today, If any Christians go to church because what they preach is hate speech, is that subtle attack? No, it's obvious attack. And that's one of the ways he comes.

And in many parts of the world, this is how the devil is manifesting himself. He is coming like a lion. He is roaring, and people are fleeing their homes, and people are meeting underground, and people can't have nice stuff to be able to worship better. No. Because there's roars.

And many people are paralyzed to the point where they open their own mouths and deny Jesus Christ because of it. When persecution comes, believe that in due time it'll come to America, and we won't not have to come to church not just because there's a pandemic, but because you believe something that goes against another agenda. Don't be surprised if it happens in your lifetime. I feel like I have to say that almost every message just so we don't get shocked when it does happen. But then he goes on to say, be sober minded and watchful.

What does that mean? Be clear in your head about the spiritual reality of warfare. Don't be petrified. Don't be obsessive about this enemy, but be responsible and be wise enough to to understand that he is on the parameters of my life. That he is pacing back and forth, that he is looking for an opportunity to roar and to shake me in my faith, and to cause me to fear.

And I love that Peter writes this because not only is Peter inspired by the Holy Spirit to give such instruction, Peter himself experienced the shivers and the cringes that come when the enemy belches his threats. Do you know how? How how can he say be sober minded and watchful? Because Peter wasn't sober minded, he wasn't watchful when Jesus was praying and saying pray with me lest you fall into temptation. He didn't pray.

He fell asleep. He fell asleep at the wrong time. When he was in jail, he fell asleep at the right time. But in that time, it was time to gird up your loins and fight in prayer. Because the enemy in the spiritual realm, while Jesus was praying, I'm sure in the spiritual realm he was prowling around like a roaring lion.

And then when it came to Peter being near the trial, warming himself by a fire, questions were presented to him. Pressing questions. Aren't you one of his disciples? Hey, I saw you with him in that forest. And question after question was met by denial after denial.

Do you know those were roars, right? Do you think those were just random questions presented by curious individuals? No. Jesus tells us, listen, in Luke twenty two thirty one, to Peter himself, before Jesus was arrested, listen to these words. Simon, Simon, that's Peter, behold, Satan Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.

Satan demanded to have you. The energy behind that, the atmosphere, the the setting, the timing, there was something that the enemy had planned, to bring Peter to a place where he could hopefully devour him and hopefully, hopefully, the enemy thought, maybe I can get Peter to come to the place like Judas. Being so overwhelmed by his despair that he would give up on life itself. And so let me let me push him into a corner and press him and ask him. Why?

Because if he had confessed that he was with Jesus, he probably would have been thrown in that same trial and whipped and beaten just like his master. So there's fear, genuine fear. His life was at risk if he were to pledge allegiance to this Christ. But Jesus tells him here, he demanded for you. He wanted to devour you, but I would not let him.

In fact, I'm gonna use him to, yes, press you, but only so that you would be humbled. Because Peter said, if you if you're gonna die, I'm gonna die with you. They might deny you, I won't. And Satan, knowing that Peter was an influencer, knowing he was a leader, wanted to have him, and Jesus only let him go so far. Yes, the lion does have a leash.

He was humbled, he was broken, and that was necessary for his calling in the future as God would use him. And then he writes first Peter and he says, listen, be sober minded and watchful. He is there. When you least expect it, when you're there resting even, there can be a roar. And if you're not filled with the spirit, if you've not been prayed up, you can shake and you can fall.

So you can almost parallel this to Joshua nine one and two where he just comes with an open attack, but then there's another way. And it's in second Corinthians eleven three. Please turn there. The enemy is not limited to such attacks. His terrorizing assaults are not just found in in roars.

There's another way he can attack, and and I believe it's much more dangerous. He can roar, but he can also quietly make his way into a believer's mind so unnoticed, just like a snake might come from a a forest and make its way into the backyard of somebody's home and nobody would even know it. What does Paul say? But I am afraid For Paul to say that is pretty impressive. I am sincerely worried that as the serpent deceived Eve Oh, we we saw the enemy as a lion, now we see him as a snake.

As the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts oh, that's this is the battlefield, brothers and sisters, of the snake. Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. That is the venom of the snake, to pull you away from a sincere and pure devotion to Jesus Christ. And where does he do it? Right here.

Why is Paul saying this to the Corinthian church? Let's let's understand some context. Paul is writing this because he has heard from a source that there are these false apostles that have crept into the church and they were impressive. Who knows what they looked like? Who knows how they acted?

But whatever they were saying, that was a dangerous thing. And what they were saying was, Paul goes on to say, if anyone preaches a different Jesus, hey, be careful. It can have some truth in it, but if it's leading you away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, be careful. Now, these false apostles were so influential that they were even convincing the Corinthian Christians that Paul was an inferior apostle, and that's why you go on to read how Paul defends his ministry. See, they wanted to discredit Paul so that they can look superior, and then their message would be easier swallowed.

And Paul says, hold on. A snake has come into the assembly. Snakes have come into the congregation. And what I find amazing is that the Apostle Paul goes all the way back to Genesis chapter three. And he pulls that whole scene.

And what he wants to tell us by the Holy Spirit, not just the Corinthian church, but you and I today, is that the same way that the enemy worked in that garden is the same way that he's working in many churches today and in many believers' lives individually today. I'm not trying to scare you, but it could be very much true that the enemy is operating as a snake in your own life and you don't even realize it. Because you think he only roars. And you're waiting for attacks and slander, and you're waiting for pushback because of what you believe. Listen, he's doing that in many parts of the world, but I believe in America, he's in full snake form.

How? How do we parallel those truths? We can spend the rest of this bible study talking about how he's like a snake and what he did in the garden he's doing today. But I wanna just look at one feature. One feature, one simple feature that many people overlook.

It's in Genesis three in the first verse. Turn there please. Highlight it if you have to. Genesis three verse one. What does the Holy Spirit tell you and me?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made, full stop. Now scholars debate, was this a real serpent? Was this just him morphing into a serpent? Let's just take it for what it is. It says the serpent, an actual animal, was more crafty.

How was he crafty? We don't know. But he was more crafty than all the other animals of the field. And we don't know how he was, but the principle with this description is absolutely vital to understand. Why?

Satan uses crafty things and Satan uses crafty people to achieve his purposes. Crafty. Cunning. Persuasive. Now let's add another reality.

When you hear snake, probably 90% of us say, I want nothing to do with a snake. I hate snakes. They they and then it evokes all these emotions. Right? Do you think that was the case in the garden before the fall?

Do you think out of all the animals, the devil would use a snake, an intimidating creature, to approach Eve to tempt her? Was the enemy gonna think, what's the the best animal to seem harmless to approach Eve so she that she would not feel threatened? Oh, a snake. No. Because for second Corinthians, we we just read in that passage, later on says that he comes and disguise himself as what?

An angel of light. He disguises himself as an angel of light. So you go to Genesis three, and I'm certain that there was something beautiful about the snake. There's something charming about it. There there was something that made you feel comfortable in its presence.

I know that's hard to believe now, but then surely the enemy used not just a crafty animal, but something of beauty, of apparent innocence, so that it would be easily approachable when he would come to Eve. Wow. Know this, the enemy still today uses crafty things and crafty people to persuade Christians from a sincere and pure devotion to Jesus. I can tell you, there's a lot of false teachers in our day that are really crafty, and they even look cool. They dress cool.

They talk my generation's language. They have my vocabulary. Crafty, smart, intelligent. I'm telling you there's a lot of movements that are crafty. They seem innocent, harmless.

They even seem almost Christian. A lot of politicians, I don't think that's a secret, crafty, Persuasive. So much so that they've turned Christians to be more political than spiritual. I'm telling you there are many young people that are being duped by the music industry because it's good. It sounds good.

It's crafty. It's artistic. It feels good. And filth is being fleshed into their minds. And they don't know why they're so emotionally unstable, because the devil uses crafty things.

He uses crafty YouTube videos. He uses crafty Instagram influencers. Crafty. A lot of Christians today that are being influenced by crafty friends, beautiful friends, seemingly innocent, All the while, they're being pulled slowly away from a sincere and sold out devotion to Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you this, most Christians don't even see it when it's happening.

The roars are easy. That's the devil. Point it out when it's a snake. Now I'm not saying that there's a demon under every rock and there's a demon behind every movie and there's a demon behind every song, But what I am saying is this, you can come to the point where you are so discerned in the spirit that you don't need somebody to tell you if this is from God or not. And so, how did Eve give in to the snake?

Well, the same reason why so many people today give in to the enemy who comes like a snake, because they are driven in life by sensation rather than truth. If it looks right, if it feels right, if it tastes right, then it's right. And if you don't choose to make a conscious decision to get into this word and allow the truths in here to frame your way of thinking, there is no telling of the trouble that you will get in yourself into. When you allow the garden of your devotion to have a snake slither in and you don't even know that it's there to destroy your fellowship with God. Live by your sensations.

Live by what you see, what you hear, what you feel, what you taste, what is known, what seems to be right. That is a recipe for disaster. And that's what we're gonna learn for the rest of this chapter in Joshua. Remember what we read in those two verses, three and five? They came with worn out clothes, worn out food.

They came with a script. They came with costumes, so to speak. Now we're gonna see the interaction between the Gibeonites as the enemy comes like a snake And see where they're gonna come to in verse six. And they, these are the Gibeonites, 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. There's two problems with that request.

One, they didn't come from a distant country. Two, they wanted to make a covenant. Why is that a problem? Because in Exodus thirty four twelve, the Lord strictly told the people of Israel, when you go into this land, do not make a covenant with any of those that reside in the land. No covenant.

You're saying, why? God wants to exclude people? No. In many cases their judgment has been sealed after hundreds of years of sinning against God. And God is using Israel as an instrument of judgment.

And he, in his wisdom, knowing the capability of their hearts, if they were to join in covenant with the people, who's gonna be affected? The Israelites. That's why later on in Exodus 34 it says they will be a snare to you. You're gonna worship their gods. So no contract.

No deal. No truce. Trust in me and destroy what I tell you to destroy. And in life, for you and I as Christians, there will be a continual sense of persuasion from things and people that will try to make a covenant with us, try to enter into our lives, when God in fact says destroy it. I don't want it to be in your life.

I don't want it to be in your church. I don't want it to be in your marriage. Yet there will be this sense of just make a deal. We won't hurt you. Just let me into your mind.

Let me onto your screen. Let me into your thought. It I won't affect you. And this is what we're seeing here. And now we see the response of the elders of Israel.

What do they say in verse seven? But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, stop. No accidents in the bible. Who are we dealing with? The gear screen.

Let me into your thought. It I won't affect you. And this is what we're seeing here. But the men of Israel said to the Hivites they were Hivites. They were Gibeonites.

But the Gibeonites, a group of people from the Hivites. The people, Israel didn't see them as Hivites. Why is that important? Let's go back to verse one. As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, the hill country, and then the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites.

There before the elders of Israel are the objects of judgment and they don't even realize it. The Hivites were supposed to be eradicated. And there they are trying to make a deal with the nation of Israel. So what happens? They have a strategy, they have a strategy, and you and I have to pay pay very close attention to see how sneaky they really are.

The first thing that they say is in verse nine. Let's look. They said to him because Joshua, what does he say in verse eight? He says, who are you and where do you come from? He said that after they said what?

We are your servants. So he says, they say, We've come from a different different country, distant country. We want to make a covenant with you. And they go, But what if you live with us and we don't even know it? That's a wonderful thing.

Their discernment is in function. They're asking questions. That's beautiful. We can applaud them for that. So where do you come from?

And look what they say in verse eight, we're your servants. That's not an answer. We are your servants. You didn't answer the question. The question was, where's your address?

But you know how deceivers work? They love to use flattery. We're your servants. We're here for you. You're our masters.

We're your slaves. Deceivers love to flatter as an attempt to bring down any wall of hesitation or guard, so you'd be more easy to target with falsehood. Flattery can be dangerous. And then Joshua steps up amongst the leaders, says, hold on. Where do you come from?

And this is what we have to understand. Verse nine. They said to him, from a very distant country now they're exact very distant country. Like, really, really far. They're Hivites, they're neighbors.

Look how tricky they are. From a very distant country, your servants, your servants have come. And what? Because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him and all that he did in Egypt, 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, the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtoreth.

Let's stop there. We are from a very distant country. False. You're not. But the rest of their statement is absolutely true.

Because we have heard what the Lord your God did in Egypt to Og and to Sihon, notice that they didn't say to Jericho and Ai. They didn't say we heard what you did just recently. Why? It would have been too sudden. It would have been too soon.

It would have been too recent for a distant country to hear what they did to Jericho and take So they removed Jericho and AI from the equation. And they kept the events that were further down the line so that it was more realistic. We heard what you did a few weeks ago and and we got the news. So what's their first tactic? Lies coated with truths.

Why? Because here's Joshua now trying to dissect, trying to determine if these guys are legit and now he has to cut through truth before he gets to the lie. It wasn't a blatant lie. There's now a fogginess about the whole thing because now he knows like, yeah, God did do stuff. And Rahab told us, surely Rahab told us that she heard the same thing.

So maybe these guys are operating in the same humility as as Rahab. Can you imagine what was going on in his mind? And this is important because you know this very well that the enemy loves to use scripture. He loves to use truth to present false information. This is how wicked and vile our adversary is.

He loves to take truth and try to use truth as a means, let's say, something sweet to swallow so that the bitterness would not be immediately detected until it poisons your system. You and I very well see that in the temptation of Jesus Christ. But I love what Jesus Christ does, and sometimes we miss him because he presents scripture. Right? We know that.

He uses truth, but I love how Jesus answers one of his temptations. Turn there if you want. It's in Matthew chapter four verse six and seven. And look what the enemy says to Jesus. In verse six of Matthew four, he says, and said to him, the enemy, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you, Psalms 91.

And on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Is that true? Yes. Why was it misapplied? Because he was using as a means to tempt Jesus to be reckless and unwise and careless.

Psalms 91 has been quoted a lot during this pandemic, but believe that the enemy can use even today Psalms 91 to trick a lot of even believers. Just go dude, just be reckless, be whatever, he'll protect you. That's not the attitude that the psalmist had in mind. So he presents truth. These are the promises towards those who are close to God, and I love what Jesus does.

It's in verse seven. Jesus said to him, again it is written. You can translate that safely to say, it is also written. So he presents truth. These are the promises towards those.

You know how a lot of Christians are imbalanced in their doctrine? Do you know why there are a lot of even denominations that might be imbalanced in their doctrine? Because they take some truths and they don't consider the totality of the scriptures. This is why we can't leave out on our own personal studying reading parts of the Bible. Because somebody will say, it is written and it is responsible for us to say, but it's also written.

This is how we avoid doctrinal damage in life. When we are able to see a truth presented and we know the surrounding text around it that makes us grounded and more balanced in our understanding of who God is and how he works. Many cults have taken one verse and said, It is written. But you know what Jesus tells us to do? To look at the rest of the scriptures and say, what else?

That's a wonderful method of interpretation. When you see a troubling passage in the Bible, brothers and sisters, please pay attention. Always refer to the whole Bible to shed light on it. This will save you from much confusion and much frustration when you see what their whole Bible says on one topic. Jesus says, Yeah, you quoted truth, but this is what else the Bible says.

Powerful. So it's not enough to just memorize some scripture. I'm not saying you need to memorize the Bible, but to be familiar enough with the Bible. So that when something is presented with a hidden agenda, coded with truth, you're able to say, but there's something else in the Bible. Jesus is our example on how to handle the scriptures.

Now, we go to verse 12 of Joshua chapter nine. And what do we see? So the first thing that they did was they used lies coated with truths. This is this is a deception to the mind, to the ears. Now we come down to verse 12.

Look what they say. Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you. But now behold, it is dry and crumbly. So now after they told them those lies, the conversation stopped being a dialogue.

It's a one way presentation. Okay? The Gibeonites are talking, and they have dominated the conversation. And so after telling the lies, they reach into their backs and say, look at our bread. And then you go on to read that they actually took the provisions for themselves.

So they felt the bread. Maybe they even tasted the bread. And they realized this is dry. This doesn't make sense for someone who's coming from a near place. This only makes sense if you've been traveling for so long and they feel and perhaps they pass it around amongst each other and they realize this is dry.

Here is an attack upon feeling and taste, sensations. Feel it, see it, taste it. And now you can you can almost feel the walls coming down. Then he goes on to do what? In verse 13, these wine skins were new when we filled them and behold they have burst.

And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from a very long journey. So now they're they're they're showing their costumes. They have props. So they they touch their ears, they touch their mind, their thoughts, lies coated with truths. They appeal to their sensation, they appeal to their taste and now their sight.

Look. Look look at my look how look at the the color, it's gone. Look at the design, it's it's worn out. And you can just imagine the elders watching. And the question that we have to ask at this point is, what would you do if you were in their place?

They ask questions already, and again, we can applaud them for that. Maybe ask more questions. Would that have been the right thing? Maybe sit them down and say, hold on, we have more inquiry? Maybe.

But verse 14, which is the hinge verse of this chapter, tells us exactly what they should have done and failed to do. So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. They were convinced based on the evidence set before them, and they operated under pure feeling and reason, and their own calculation, and what made sense in the moment. And here's the lesson for spiritual success in our lives, that you and I should not be convinced in any matter until we seek seek God's counsel on the matter. How many people have been in so much trouble because of one thing, what they failed to do here?

Seek God's counsel. Do you wanna know blessing in your life? Do you wanna know a simple rule to know success in your life? When it comes to matters, do not be convinced until you've sought the counsel of God on that matter. It's very simple.

It's not, like, huge. And we learned how God's counsel is different from men's last week, didn't we? Joshua and the Israelites, when it came to AI, 3,000, that will be enough. Next chapter, God said, actually 30,000. You missed it way off.

But clearly, like Israel, even believers today, we don't learn from our past mistakes. It often takes many mistakes in the same area before we finally get it. We had just studied how their failure to seek God's counsel led to something. Though it was a different reason why they were defeated at AI, there was still this this attitude of dependency. Here's the independency and here's the thing, it's repeating itself again.

This is what we're prone to do. How could these men make a contract with these strangers without seeking God's counsel? Because like people today, their senses were satisfied. Like, it makes sense to me in my brain. My emotions are aroused.

In my own calculation, it seems to be risk free. Why ask God? Why ask God? And you know what would have made this story so amazing? I was thinking about it today.

I was reading this last night actually, I was reading this and thinking, oh, it would have been so awesome to see how God would have exposed the deception if they had sought God. Oh, chapter nine would have been completely different if Joshua and the leader said, we appreciate your provisions and your distance here, but we need to do something and we'll can we set up a meeting tomorrow? You guys made it all the way here anyway. So just stay. You have one of the tents here.

We'll we'll we'll take care of you, but let's go. Guys, we need to pray. Because this is risky business. Yeah, but Joshua, you saw their bread. Joshua, you saw their wineskins.

You saw their clothes. Come on, man. Like, they're willing to be our servants. We need to pray because this could lead to something that we will regret. So let's pray.

Oh, what would have been after verse 13 that they would have just sought God's counsel, but we don't read of it. We don't know what would have happened. And you know what God doesn't do? What many people want God to do a lot of times. Just come on the scene be like, Joshua, no.

They're liars. Stop what you're doing. They're gonna deceive you. He doesn't do that. He doesn't rescue them because he's established a law.

It's a law in the spirit that God honors men and women who pray. He's established a decree. My guidance, my provision, my protection, my leading in life is only for those who humble themselves and seek my face. Wow. Yes, oftentimes God is gracious enough even in our folly he intervenes.

Sure. But is that the rule? Is that the rule in scripture? Do what you want and God will come and clean up your mess. No.

If he does, he's just showing extra mercy on top of the mercy of him saying pray and I will help you. But he's established a rule. You make me your habitation. You make it your priority to be a man or a woman that continually seeks my face and I will make it my priority to protect you in your life. I remember an example of a church that I knew of, and there was an incident where a new person within the church came into the scene and there was something about the person that was suspicious, but he was he was using his ability to communicate and even his storytelling.

And what he was doing, he was actually taking people and their provisions for his personal gain coated with lies. And then within a few moments, it didn't take too long for the leadership to detect it, confront it, and that person was never seen again. And I asked somebody who was a part of that church because they described the whole scene and I was very familiar with it. How did that happen? And without a hesitation he says, oh, this church?

Oh, they pray. They're watchmen. They're always on the walls seeking God. And so when it came laser focus, they were able to detect it. Powerful.

Without hesitation. Was that church perfect? No. But they prayed. Would you like to know tonight how you can avoid the attacks of the roars of Satan or the subtle underhand schemes of the snake.

Because both are potential threats to every believer, to every local church, especially those who are, like we heard, are advancing. They live for the gospel. They wanna be spiritual. They want to be holy. You wanna know how?

We've been talking about lion and snakes. Right? Go to Psalm 91. And let's look at verse 13 of Psalm 91. And look at this powerful promise in Psalm 91, verse 13.

You, speaking about those, you will tread on the lion and the adder. What's an adder? A poisonous snake. The young lion and the serpent, you will trample underfoot. We've been talking about the lion.

We've been talking about the snake. And here's Psalm ninety one thirteen. The lion, you will trample underfoot. The roars of the lion, you will not be intimidated by them. The poison of the snake who comes in to bite your ankles without you seeing, you will trample.

For every child of God, wrong. This is for every child of God. Right? No. There's a condition upon this blessing.

This guarantee is not automatic. All you have to do is read on to verse fourteen and fifteen to see who this applies to. Because, there's the condition, because he holds fast to me, this is God, he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. Look at verse 15.

When he calls to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. You wanna trample? You wanna live your life not being pushed around by any vicious attack, sneak attack, you wanna avoid all of it?

Hold fast to him in love. Go back to the beginning of that. What does it say in Psalms ninety one? One, this is the context. We can't just take verses here and there and apply them without the context.

Psalms 91 verse one and two, He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Verse two, I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Let me say this boldly from this place tonight. Many Christians don't live like this. They don't.

That's not the language that they have towards God. That's not what they feel in their soul. And when you choose not to make him your habitation, mean, you choose not to hide underneath him, when you're not dependent upon him. You are exposing yourselves. You are out there apart from the shadow of his wing covering you for the lion and the snake to have their way.

But you who choose to say, I will hold fast to God in love. You know what that means? I'm gonna cling to him. I'm not gonna frame my relationship with God where I'm only gonna seek him when I really really need him, and what I mean by that is I really want him to do what I want, and he has the power to make it happen, so I'm gonna seek him for my will. That that doesn't apply here.

No. No. No. No. It's a complete surrender.

It's a complete dedication. And when you have that language in your soul towards God, when you're convinced that you can read Psalm 91, you can read verse 14, that's me. I hold fast to God in love. I'm not perfect at it, but I want it with all my heart. I call upon Lord of the Lord.

When that's you, you can know a safety from roars and the slithers of the serpent. What a promise. God is faithful to rescue us, individually and corporately. When we make him our home, God will honor those who know how to honor his presence and his word. If he's the dwelling place, if we hold fast to him, he makes this promise to us.

Now, if we're not willing to do so, to know God intimately in the place of prayer and the word, we are not only bound to make mistakes, we are bound to make mistakes that can last a lifetime. We can cover the rest of these verses verse by verse, but we're just gonna skip to verse 18. What happens in Joshua nine eighteen? Well, within a few days they find out. They make a covenant with the Gibeonites and the word gets out.

Somehow we're not told how it happens, but the word gets out. They are Hivites. You know what's powerful? We can spend a whole another Bible study on the second part of this chapter, which is this. They gave them their word and they could not turn back on their word.

Listen, the Bible values a word with so much weight and gravity. They made a contract, you are with us, and what does that include? We won't touch you. When it was exposed, how many would say, line them up and kill them? They lied to us.

No. The word that they made stood above even the initial command that was given by God. That's how powerful a promise is, a yes is, a no is, that they couldn't retract, they couldn't reverse, they could not cover a sin with another sin. And so they were honorable in saying, okay, it's fine, but you're gonna serve us as woodcutters and you're gonna get water for the rest of your days. But do you see how the consequence was not just temporal?

And God was gracious to the Gibeonites. When we go later on in Joshua, we're gonna see how gracious he was to the Gibeonites. But staying in this lane of our application, we have to be careful, especially those who are in verse 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.

Oh, yes. Staying in the place of dependency on God is important for all believers, but especially the believers that have other believers under them on any level. Pastor, bible study, disciple, maker, anybody that's under you, it calls for a greater responsibility to remain under the shadow of his wings because there are other people at stake. All the blessings that flow from heaven upon leaders that pray. All the blessings that flow from heaven upon the church that praise.

Not just the leaders, but when you have leaders who pray and the congregation who prays, what can stand against? You know what's amazing about this? You wanna know how dangerous this was? You know how serious this was? Pay attention.

This is the first time that the second generation of the nation of Israel were recorded to have murmured against their leaders. How much did we read of that of the first generation? Their parents, they murmured, they complained, they murmured. See the lack of seeking God on the leaders part presented a new threat and that was internal conflict. See, it's so simple to do it and the the consequences of not doing it are so serious.

Are so serious. But God was gracious. God was gracious to them. God did not give up on them. And I don't wanna speak furthermore, I want the weight of what we just heard from the word to just sit on our hearts.

Go back to verse 14 before we close in prayer. So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. Did not ask counsel. And you might be wondering, what would have God done if they sought his counsel? I don't know, but I know one thing.

That when a person knows how to seek God's counsel on different affairs in life, ministry, personal, relational, business, whatever, God is able to make himself clear. And you should see how God can circumstantially maneuver you, supernaturally close doors and open others, expose something that you didn't see beforehand only because you said, God, this makes sense, but this is a big investment. This makes sense, but this can be emotionally detrimental. This makes sense, but I'm asking your counsel. What do you say about it?

The moment you release it at his feet, you receive his promise. He'll take care of it. He'll take care of it. A praying man has nothing to fear in life. A praying woman has nothing to fear in life.

A prayerless Christian has everything to fear. Has everything to fear. But oh, if we just seek his counsel. We protect ourselves from so many things, especially regrets, especially regrets. That's what makes prayer so exciting.

You know what makes prayer so exciting? Here you are presented with something in life and you can go to God and say, God, I'm gonna bring this to your feet because the moment I do, I know you're gonna bless it. And I know you're gonna take care of it. And I know you're gonna give me an answer in due time. I know it because I'm doing my part and I'm seeking you on it.

Isn't that make prayer exciting? Doesn't that make situations, life decisions exciting? To know that you can go to your God and the enemy doesn't have anything, whether he comes as a lion to devour or a snake to poison your mind and derail you from the will of God, you run underneath his shadows and you remain hidden in those shadows, making you less visible to those threats. And you will know God's leading. This is the lesson from Joshua nine.