Follow the Promises: The Costco Sample Chapter

A single line from Joshua 9 stops us cold: they did not ask counsel of the Lord. We’ve all been there—sold by a convincing “sample,” trusting our senses, moving fast, and calling it wisdom. This conversation unpacks how self-sufficient independence quietly becomes the enemy of a life with God, and how humility, not hustle, is the operating system of the kingdom.

We walk through the Gibeonites’ deception with clear eyes. They manipulated their way into a covenant, but under the lie was a real fear of the Lord and a longing to belong. Joshua exposes the falsehood, yet spares their lives and assigns them to serve near the altar. That move is the heartbeat of grace: truth tells the hard story, and mercy writes a new chapter. Over time, these once-deceivers stand with Israel as warriors and even appear among prophets and mighty men. Redemption does not just forgive; it re-forms.

We ground the call to humility in the life of Jesus. Philippians 2 shows power laid down, not lost—God the Son choosing the servant’s path all the way to the cross. From there, we get practical: how to pause before decisions, ask God for wisdom without shame (James 1), open Scripture with expectation, and keep returning until clarity comes. We explore covenant security—sealed by the Spirit, not until your next mistake, but unto redemption—and how God turns rushed choices into meaningful service when we bring them into the light. If you’ve ever made a hasty treaty with consequences that linger, this is a gentle invitation to slow down, seek counsel, and step closer to the altar where pretenders become participants.

If this message helps you trade pride for prayer and hurry for humility, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so others can find it too.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:26

In our follow the promises study through Joshua, we're going to be talking about the Costco sample chapter.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

This is the Costco sample chapter.

The Haunting Line: No Counsel Sought

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Let's pray. Jesus, we want to thank you for your love and grace. I thank you so much that uh for the incredible uh time of worship that we've had and and now uh just sharing. And uh, Father, we we now just in prayer, we come to you and acknowledge, Lord, that we need you so much. We open our hands wide to receive from our Heavenly Father just the blessings that you want to pour into us through your word today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yeah, the Costco sample chapter. Uh you ever made a decision based on one of those Costco samples that you regretted later? Yeah, so like you you get the you taste, you know, you you have the kale-flavored pesto chicken that you you and it's like fireworks. Angels are singing, or you're you're you grab a full box and you take it home, and then it just tastes different, and you just toss it on the ground, and it's a big loud bang. You got sold on that sample. Oh, but Dana actually, John suggested this one was a better example when he heard what I was talking about today. You ever been on Amazon or Timu and then ordered something off of the eBay or Timu or Amazon, and then when you got it, it was completely different, right? Like one of those like swimming pools that it looks like 10 people can fit in it, and then when you get there, it's like you couldn't put two toes in it. Yeah, I think that's funny. So, Joshua chapter 9, what we're gonna study today is this we'll call it the Costco sample chapter, right? Because Israel tastes the bread, they inspect the wineskins, they examine the sandals, and everything looks convincing. But then comes one of the most haunting statements in the Old Testament.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

They did not ask counsel of the Lord.

Pride Versus Humble Dependence

Jesus’ Humility And Our Surrender

Enter The Gibeonites’ Deception

SPEAKER_00 2:44

No prayer mating, no seeking their their God's face, no pause, just inspection, analysis, conclusion, flesh-powered living. God made gave me a brain for a reason, so I gotta use it and I gotta depend on it. Yes, but they trusted in their senses more than their source. That's where we're gonna, that's our big lesson today. The real enemy that we're gonna discover in Joshua chapter 9 is not the goober Gibeonites. I call them goober Gibeonites. Not necessarily evil, they're just kind of goobers. All right, we'll get to that. But the real enemy is self-sufficient independence that Israel just keeps struggling with. Israel keeps stumbling through their self-centered independence, self-sufficient independence. It's this quiet confidence that says in every situation, I got this. I got this. You get to choose your rights, you get to trust in your instincts, you move fast, you decide now. But the kingdom of God doesn't run on our instincts, it runs on humility. Humility. And Joshua 9 isn't really about being deceived by other people, it's about being deceived by ourselves. And yet, even in a decision made without prayer, even when a covenant is signed too quickly, we're gonna see something, we're gonna see God still weaving grace into this story. Because it's not just about failure, it's about what happens when a flawed people stumble into a covenant with a God of love who will always pick them up, always be there for them. Does that sound like a good story? All right, well, let's dive in. Chapter 9, verse 1. It came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan in the hills and in the lowland and all the coasts of the Great Sea toward the Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, say that ten times fast, when they heard about it, all the Israel, you know, moving in and taking over the promised land, they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord. So all these small nations and kings that lived in the land, they all can put aside their differences. They all rooted, you know, some of them rooted for the Vikings, and some of them rooted for the Packers, and some of them rooted for the Raiders, some the bears, lions, and they're gathering against the righteous people who rooted for the Broncos. And so had to just throw that in there. These all these people like literally had their own gods, right? All these little kings, they had their own gods, all of them evil, wicked, all of them. They because their gods that they worshipped were actually like demons, okay, who, yeah, it was bad. And they were these kings were always fighting each other. But guess what? They could all unite against the people of God. Their cultures were all based on wickedness and death, but this was the end of their time. God was bringing judgment, but still, they're gonna fight for their right to party. So, spiritually, all these forces of evil are gonna stand against us as God's family, also. You know, all the different forces of evil in the world they unite against us. Our enemy has this foothold of self-centeredness in this world that he is gonna fight to defend. It's the core of all rebellion against God. We call it the love of self, or we can just use one word, pride. That's what Satan convinced Adam to walk in his pride in the garden, and it's continued in every situation, every human being, we are infected with a pride of self-sufficiency that Jesus has to save us from. We are a light in the darkness, we are a gentle voice of love and selfless humility that both scares the world but also invites them in at the same time to join us. And this is why Jesus living through you matters. Okay? Your life is not about you as a Christian. Your life is about Jesus living through you. We surrender to that. We don't make it happen, we don't earn it, we don't deserve it. We surrender, we give him control, we let him live through us. And this is why it matters, because his love and his humility shine through you as you surrender control to him. So I want to I want to read to you in Philippians 2 this this verse about Jesus and humility. It says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. That means he's God. He's literally the exalted God that should be praised forever, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, fallen men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, of those on earth, and those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We, when we let him live our lives for us, when we invite him to do that, the world sees his power, his love, and his humble character in your life. And the world is deeply impacted by him living through us. So the attack that that we're facing in our world today is spiritually, it's always this you should choose self and pride and all your rights. Right? I deserve this, I've earned this, it's all about me. That's what the the the enemy is just trying to get us to agree with, versus this life of surrender to Christ living in our hearts, just letting him live in us and through us, where he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ. He was humble and he lives in you, so you can choose to be humble by surrendering control to him. All right, new character alert for our journey: the Gibeonites, the Gibeonites, okay? These are the scheming Gibeonites, we'll call them the goober Gibeonites, because I like the word goober. Verse 3. But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily and went and pretended to be ambassadors. They took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves, and all the bread of their provisions was dry and moldy. Dry and moldy. And when and they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and they said to him and the men of Israel, We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a covenant with us. Okay, so what's going on here? Obviously they lie, right? Very clear. They're just trying to shake it, but they were rightfully afraid of God, and they had respect, honor, and even love for God. They were desiring to be a part of Israel. Rather than stand against God and his people, they wanted to be a part of them. They were not perfect, okay? But they wanted to be on the right side of things. Hmm, think about that. The only way that they knew how to live life from their culture and their demonic history was this deceptive way of manipulation. If I want to get something in this world, I have to manipulate it, I have to make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

That's not true. That doesn't work with God, right?

Israel Trusts Senses, Not God

Pain, Prayer, And Real Dependence

SPEAKER_00 12:27

But God, so manipulation never works with God, but God loves and cares and chooses to redeem these dirty, manipulating goober Gibeonites. He wants, he he sees their heart and he wants to meet them there. I know you're trying to manipulate me, that's not gonna work. Shut up, stop doing what you're doing, and let's let's have a real conversation, guys. All right, so look at verse 7. Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, Perhaps you dwell among us, so how can we make a covenant with you? So already they're like kind of sniffing it out. Wait, what if you guys actually live here, right? Maybe the fact that they were speaking their language would have been a clue. But so how can we make a covenant with you? But they said to Joshua, Oh, we are your servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are you and where did you come from? Like, where'd you really come from, guys? So they said to him, From a very far country, your servants have come because of the name of the Lord your God. Uh for we have heard of his fame and all that he did in Egypt. So look, they're already starting to start to tell the truth. It's really him, Joshua, that we're impressed by. And he uh and all he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, to Og, king of Bashan, and who was at Astaroth. Therefore, our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provisions with you for uh for the journey, and go and meet them and say to them, We are your servants. Now therefore make a covenant with us. This bread of ours, we took it hot for our provision from our houses the day that we departed to come to you. But now look, it's dry and moldy. And these wineskins which were filled, new and see they are torn, and these garments and our sandals have become old from our very long journey. And the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So they look at Tetha evidence that they didn't even ask God. So Joshua made peace with them, and he made a covenant with them to let them live, and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. So, verse 14, in your Bible, you could highlight it. I highly recommend highlighting in your Bible if you want to. The real issue here wasn't how clever they were, because their enemies weren't that clever, but the issue was Israel's self-sufficiency. They still haven't got it through their head that they need God every step of the way. They can't go a moment depending on themselves or thinking that they have this figured out. This self-sufficient independence, self-sufficient independence that they have is the opposite of humble dependence. And it seems like this is a really hard lesson for the people of God to learn even today. I think in the church today, it takes humility to seek the Lord like he's asking us to. We have to acknowledge that we need him. Why do I struggle to seek the Lord? Why do I struggle to pray? 99 times out of a hundred, it's because of pride wrapped up in this idea of self-sufficiency. We're like, I should be better, I should do more, I should, I should, I should, I should. Instead of I have nothing to fear, he accepts me because he loves me and his grace. So why don't I consistently seek him? Well, I'll I'll tell you this. I can tell you when I seek God most, and it's probably you guys will probably agree with me. We seek God most when we're broken and hurting.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Right? Right? When we've been humbled.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Wow, that's amazing because we're already told it takes humil, God gives grace to the humble that humility is a requirement to live by God's grace, and humility is the opposite of pride. So God helps us to seek Him by making your life suck. Well, or pain, and I do not mean to make light of your suffering because it can be very, very, very painful, and trust me, I've been there. But it's all for a purpose, and God says, You can seek me before you're in pain. But we're like, nah, I'm good. But then, oh, here comes the pain, and we're like, oh shoot, I should have been doing this the whole time, and I maybe wouldn't have gotten myself into some of this stuff. Well, let's see. Jesus was our perfect example of humility. He didn't just say, be humble, do as I say, not as I do. No, Jesus was the perfect and uh example of humility. When he needed wisdom, he sought his father. Do you remember when he was choosing his 12 disciples? I'm sure he got the message, choose these 12 guys, and he's like, I must have heard that. Let me talk to God again about that, because these guys are crazy. You don't want me to pick these 12. I mean, one of them, we know what's gonna happen there. Right? But what happens is it says that he went all night out into the into the wilderness and he prayed all night with his father before he chooses those twelve, chose those twelve.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Even Jesus, who knows everything, had the humility to say this is a big decision. I mean, we got the first pope we gotta decide on here.

Seeking Wisdom: Ask, Believe, Receive

Truth Revealed And Mercy Given

From Deceivers To Servants Of God

Three Promises For Stumbling Saints

SPEAKER_00 18:47

That's a joke. This is a big decision before we choose the 12 apostles. I'm gonna talk to my father all night long about it. That's not works, that's humility. It's not he had to put in 12 hours and okay, that should be enough. God will give me the answer now. No, he just wanted to spend time with his father and seek the heart and the mind of his father. And that's the example Jesus sets for us. Look at what he says in James chapter 1, verse 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, who? Any of you, this is a promise of God to you, every single person here. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to only the people who deserve it liberally and without reproach. He doesn't say that. He says he gives to all, liberally and without reproach. So God says, I promise to give you the wisdom that you need if you ask me. Well, he goes on and said, But let him ask in faith and with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. So this is the promise and blessing that's ours in Christ in the new covenant. When we seek God, he promises to meet us and answer us and give us what we have asked him for, mainly wisdom. He says, ask, seek, and knock. Do you see how everything in this new covenant depends on humility and faith? See, asking is humility. God, I need you. I need something from you. I am looking to you to give me what I need. And then believing is faith. Receiving, that's a this is how grace works. God wants to be the giver and he wants us to be the receiver. And he says, all that's required of you is humility, ask me, and faith, depend on me. Believe that I am going to meet that need that I have given you. So this is how we get this wisdom. Israel chose not to seek God's face because they still haven't learned that He is He's a promise maker and a promise keeper, right? They haven't learned that. In their hearts, they haven't learned it. So let's continue on in our story. Verse 16. And it happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Shaphirah, Biroth, Kirith, Jiram. But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers. Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. Now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them. For all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them. So the truth finally comes out, okay, because you can't trick God, obviously. Remember, God won't be manipulated. He requires truth for you to have a relationship. You have to be honest with God, but he also gives grace and desires to redeem fallen people. So did we all have perfect motives and perfect hearts and perfect words when we came to God the very first time? Were we like, oh crap, Jesus, I need you? Probably more like that, except I cleaned it up a bit. You know, but God saves us anyways. Even while exposing our pretense and our self-sufficiency in many ways as He's saving us. Verse 22, then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you when you dwell very near us? Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves, woodcutters, and water carriers for the house of my God. Is that really that bad? Just think about that for a moment. He says they'll be slaves. They're going to be working at church. We'll think about that for just a moment. So they answered Joshua and said, Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. Therefore, we were very much afraid for our lives because of you. We have done this and have done this thing. And now here we are, in your hands. Do with us as it seems good and right to do to us. So he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation for the altar of the Lord in the place which he would choose even to this day. Okay. So they're punished by becoming slaves. But really, they were just given jobs, allowed to live, and they were even invited to serve God and be part of God's kingdom. Wow, this is really gracious. This is a really good deal. Joshua, you know, he confronts their deceit. He's like, You guys lied, but yet he keeps them alive and places them in service to the altar of the Lord. So what do we see here? The Gibeonites found salvation in the God of Israel, just like Rahab did in chapter 2. You remember that? Rahab, the prostitute, right? She had everything cleaned up before coming to Jesus. No, not at all. She just said, I want to be saved. God saved her, you know, through that whole story. Rahab and the Gibeonites came to God as sinners. Rahab was a prostitute, Gibeonites were liars. Both Rahab and the Gionites were willing to risk losing all their friends. Rahab, all her friends died. Gibeonites, too. They would have nobody that they had connection with except this new family, this new kingdom that they were going to be part of. And they all found salvation in God only. Rahab, and check this out. No, they became fully part of the kingdom, part of the nation, so much so that Rahab married a guy, had kids, who became the great in the line of David, the king, and then Jesus, she was one of Jesus' great-great-great-grandmas. She's the direct grandma of Jesus, like 20 generations before Jesus came. And the Gibeonites, they become so much a part of the nation that they had, they were they produced warriors that always fought with Israel. They produced prophets who were always speaking God's heart and mind to the people. And they even some of David's mighty men were Gibeonites. These were truly redeemed and truly brought back into God's family. It's a pretty neat story. Okay, so what are our applications and lessons for today? Follow the promise number one would be God will lead us and speak to us when we seek him.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

That's his promise.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Colossians 1.27 says, To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. When we can be deceived by appearances so easily, we need to seek our Father for wisdom. And we need to trust in the Spirit that He has given us, not in our senses, not in our own thoughts. And how do we do that? You simply come to God and you ask freely. You rest fully in your relationship with Him. And He gives wisdom generously without reproach. So if you can just get alone and seek God and say, God, I need you to speak to me. This is how I would recommend you do it. Get alone, pray that prayer and say, I need you to speak to me, God. And then just open your Bible and read because we know the Bible is the word of the Lord. And just read. There's not a time limit. Just read until you believe the Spirit kind of you sense that he is speaking to you, that he is giving you some wisdom. And maybe he doesn't, maybe he stays silent. Come back again another time and seek him again. Seek him until he speaks to you. Now someone's gonna come to me and say, I sought God and he didn't answer me.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

And I say, No, you didn't. If God was willing to answer all these goobers like Rahab and the Gibeonites, he is certainly gonna answer you. These stories are written for you. Your father will speak to you when you seek him.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

But he says the only requirement, seek him with your whole heart. Believe that your father loves you and will speak to you, and you will hear his voice, but you must believe. So many of us pre-decide God's not going to speak to me. That's crazy talk. Those are weird Christian things. God doesn't speak to people in this world. Only AI gives me my wisdom. We trust what ChatGPT sells us explicitly. There was a lawyer this week that got disbarred because he had like 50 examples of his precedent that he was arguing with a judge. 22 of them were fake that ChatGPT made up because he didn't do any of the research.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

Woo. USA.

Closing Prayer And Surrender

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Your father loves you and he will speak to you. That's something to believe. That's a promise you can believe. All right, so that's our first lesson for day. Follow the promise number two. God honors our covenant with us, even if we fail. Even if we fail. Israel didn't kill the Gibeonites. Um their heart to seek God's favor was rewarded even if they weren't perfect. And they had some kind of faith. It may have been as small as a mustard seed, but it was enough. Because they they loved God, they wanted to be, they just didn't know how to make it happen. So they were saved. And I'll read to you Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also you believed. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. So you are sealed. We won! Did McKinnon score? Was McKinnon a star?

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Okay. I was you spoiled it for me. I had it recorded.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Just message. Alright, all that's to say, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Not until your next mistake or until you have perfect faith. You are fully alive in Jesus the moment you believe. And that's not going to be taken away from you. No matter how much you fail and struggle, God's gonna be like, He's mine, she's mine. They believe. All right. Follow the promise number three. The law exposes our problems, but grace redeems us at the same time. Ephesians 2.13 says, but now Christ Jesus, now in Christ Jesus, you who are once off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. God turns human mess into meaningful ministry and life. The Gibeonites were a mess in our story this week. They were not knowing right from wrong, but God not only accepted them, but he invites them to serve in a special way. There may be a lot of messes in our room today.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

There's probably a lot of messes on this island.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

And you may have made terrible decisions and mistakes. You are not out of fellowship with God. If you make a hasty decision, if you make a full-on terrible decision, you are not out of fellowship with God. There is no break with God that you have to fix or repair. God does not put you in time out. Jesus has secured a permanent union with you, meaning you can't get yourself out of that by making mistakes. All we have to do is bring it to him, agree with him about it, and say, I want to live, this is not who I am. I want to live for your glory. Because Jesus inside me wants to live for your glory. And then trust him to work all things out for our good. Alright? So the the Costco switch. Don't trust those stinking samples. Don't trust the Etsy pictures. Well, not Etsy, like eBay or Amazon. Make sure you read the reviews. Because you don't want to get right tricked. Okay. All right. We're going to sing a song. We're going to be out of here. I love you guys. Thank you so much for studying with us. We're going to miss you guys, especially you and everyone else too. Let's pray. Father, we want to thank you for your love and mercy. We want to praise you that even though we come to you with imperfect motives and imperfect hearts, Jesus, you take us, you wash us clean, you lift us up, you confront our self-centered ways and you lead us in the way of truth. And by the power and and love of your grace, you adopt us as your children, giving us new life. You come and live inside us. And Father, we praise you. And Lord, forgive us for trying to take back control of our life. And we want to grow in grace. We want to grow in trusting you and knowing you. Father, we thank you and worship you and we praise you. And we give all to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand to praise the Lord.