Joshua 9:1-15 ... When the enemy doesn't play fair

If you've ever been duped by someone, you know how embarrassing and consequential that can be. We'd all like to believe that we have good discernment and the ability to see through other people's deceptions but the truth is, people can be very clever. It turns out that our spiritual adversary operates in much the same way, occasionally coming at us bluntly but usually looking to deceive us in some way.

So what do we do about that?  

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Transcript

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Sometimes the produce lies to you. You're there in the grocery store and you come across those plump red strawberries and that full leafy lettuce. You take your time and inspect them and then proudly put them in your cart. You are a smart shopper and a healthy eater, and you anticipate the deliciousness that awaits. Well, a couple of days later, you go and you pull out those delicious red strawberries and you begin to prepare them for something delicious that you're gonna have, maybe with some ice cream or just with some whipped cream, and you you start cutting off the stems and then you you feel it. You feel that soft spot. Ah, that's okay. One that's sort of going bad out of the bunch, at least you're gonna have them now. Well, soon enough, you come across another one, and it is growing facial hair. And then you discover another and another, and soon you realize that you have been duped. Those strawberries, they lied. Hey, welcome to Meet Me in the Word. I am genuinely happy that you've joined us today. We're in Joshua chapter nine, verses one through fifteen, the part of the story where Israel's enemies use food to lie to them, albeit in a different kind of a way. Go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Joshua chapter nine, and we'll see what this is all about together. But first, let's pray. Jesus, thank you for today. God thank you for the goodness that we can receive moment by moment, day by day when we walk with you. God, we're here to meet with you. Would you meet with us? Amen. All right. Joshua chapter nine verses one through fifteen. Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things, the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as far as Lebanon, the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Parasites, Hivites, and Jebusites, they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel. However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse. They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn out sacks and old wineskins cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, We have come from a distant country, make a treaty with us. The Israelites said to the Hivites, but perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you? We are your servants, they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, Who are you and where do you come from? They answered, Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God, for we have heard reports of him and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, Sion King of Heshbon and Og, King of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtarath. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, Take provisions for your journey, go and meet them, and say to them, We are your servants, make a treaty with us. This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is, and these wineskins that were filled were new, but see how cracked they are, and our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey. The Israelites sampled their provisions, but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and their leaders or and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. We're gonna save our quiet reflection for the end today. Uh so we're just gonna go ahead and jump right into what's going on in in this passage. You guys, I think it's a scam, right? Uh and if you if you snuck a peek at the next uh part of of this chapter, you're like, oh yep, for sure it is. And uh and it works, and it's just it's the worst possible outcome, really, uh, for for Joshua and the leaders of Israel. And it's just one of those gotcha moments uh that that I think we can all relate to, uh, but this is how it plays out for them. The key verse uh for me that I wanted to share with you is verse 14. The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. This is a lesson learned the hard way about our adversary, because I think we all know what to do about evil or opposition that is blatant. And you know, at the beginning of this passage, uh, there it says it talks about those kings west of the Jordan, and they uh they form this alliance and they come against uh Joshua and the Israelites all together. And I feel like Joshua and the Israelites kind of knew what to do about that. Like that's just obvious, it's upfront. We're we're coming at you, we don't like you, we don't like that you're moving into our land, all of that stuff is happening, and uh they they understood it for what it was. There was no complications, right, in in the context of of what was going on there. But but then you know, these Gibeonites, they they take a an end around, so to speak. They they kind of uh deceive, well, they actually do deceive, I don't think they just kind of deceive. They they did. That was that was their intent, and it worked. And there's a lesson there for us as well. And I really wanted to move us today right into that kind of personal application. I I think uh, you know, if you read the story, you probably understood the story, and I don't need to unpack all of that for us, but to really emphasize this spiritual truth that we need to inquire of the Lord because our enemy, our enemy knows us, and our enemy isn't stupid. Our enemy is smart and understands that that when when he presents kind of in a straightforward kind of way, we'll know what that is and we know what to do about it. But when he looks for the opportunity to see, that can become a little more complicated, uh, especially for us. Uh, you know, when we when we face evil that comes at us, uh sometimes that is scary. And I and I don't want to minimize that when when oppression comes, and and I'm thinking even about you know, our brothers and sisters that live in places where where the you know the gospel is is closed off and it might even be like illegal or uh like it they're risking their lives to place their faith in him. That that can they understand what that looks like and and they live in that context, and we can recognize that for what it is. We know that we're supposed to fight against that. And spiritually speaking, we we understand that as well. But the trouble is, again, like those Gibeonites, our enemy is smart and looks to play us. By the way, when you get played, that doesn't feel good. Like if you've been duped before, I'm raising my hand. Yep, I've I've been tricked, right? And and I tend to believe the best about people, and and and I I feel like I have discernment, but I can't always trust that. I mean, sometimes people are just really good liars and and they can fool us. So if that's happened to you, don't feel badly about it. Uh, you're just human. And and those people are predatory. Uh the Gibeonites were predatory in their goal. And and so we recognize that that uh that Satan is is very, very similar. Sometimes, right, sometimes he poses, or sometimes Evil, not just Satan, I don't want to say it's all him uh directly, but sometimes Evil poses as a sympathetic figure, right? That's what the Gibeonites did to Israel. They they you know they got in their shoddiest clothes and their worn-out sandals, and they they grabbed uh you know bread that was dry and moldy, and and they just they they they thought about this, right? They they put a lot of uh mindfulness into their deception, and Satan does the same thing, right? He he takes time, he understands that that it's gonna take some effort to to cloak himself to look as something other than than who he is. So sometimes evil comes and it poses as a sympathetic figure. Sometimes it's an attractive distraction. And it we we just we get fooled by our eyes. The it comes to us in a in an attractive uh package, so to speak, and whether that's you know something of a of a sexual allure or or just it looks good, right? Just that kind of an idea, and and so that we can fall for that stuff. Sometimes evil appears as a solution to our desperation, and then we find out that there are strings attached. We find ourselves overwhelmed by things like financial debt, and evil comes along and says, Hey, I've got a solution for you. Or we find ourselves just feeling distraught over the way our relationships are going. And evil comes along and poses as somebody who will meet the needs that we know that we have, that we're yearning to have met, but it's just playing us, and and that never feels good. And and so what do we do about all of that? And it really does come back to this very, very simple idea that we just need to be consistent with to inquire of the Lord. The Israelites, including Joshua, trusted their senses, they trusted their own ability to deduce what was true and what wasn't. They even asked some decent questions like, hey, where do you guys live? But they just received their answers and they looked at the evidence presented to them, and the evidence suggested that that the Gibeonites were telling the truth, but they weren't. And sometimes we trust ourselves a little too much, and we forget that our enemy is clever, and so we need to do something different. We need to inquire of the one who actually knows. We need to inquire of the Lord. James chapter one, verse five says, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. That's where we need to hang our hats more often than not, to just keep coming to the Lord and saying, God, I I think I understand what's going on. I I feel like I I've evaluated everything that's there. You know, I looked at those strawberries, they looked ripe to me. I looked at how this person presented themselves, I think this is the right thing. And yet we still need to come to him and say, And Lord, would you help? And it's an acknowledgement there that we're not as wise as we think we are, and we need to consult the one who has ultimate wisdom and to let him direct our paths and shape how everything is going. So let's come back to that quiet reflection, and that's what I'd like to leave you with today. Take time to just listen to God, not only about the passage that we've just read, but invite him into your heart and into your mind and just say, Lord, am I being deceived? Am I falling for something here in my life that that I'm not I'm not recognizing? God, would you show me what that is? Give me the wisdom to understand and lead me in paths that are set by you, not by my own insecurities, not by my own needs, and let me not be guided by my own wisdom, so to speak, but rather by yours. And when we do that, uh, I think the Lord will show us what we need to be shown and lead us in the best possible way. But let me pray for us, and then I'm encouraging you, go ahead and take that time of quiet reflection and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you. Jesus, we recognize that that sometimes we fall for stuff and we feel silly about it when it happens, but God, we know that you are the source of truth, and so we can come to you at any time about anything. God, even the stuff that we feel sheepish about. God, would you reveal uh to us what we need to know? And Lord, especially for everyone who's just taking a moment now to to be quiet before you, God, uh meet them in that moment. We love you. Amen.