Deceived by the Enemy, Part 1a

Turn with me in your Bible to Joshua chapter 9. We're making our way through this great book of victory, learning what it means to be a man or woman of victory. And that's what this book is all about. And Joshua is that great victorious warrior. And so we're coming to grips with what God teaches him and how God works in his life. And Joshua chapter 9 becomes very important for all of us. Because we come to realize that throughout our lives we are deceived by the enemy. And so, how do we overcome that?

And tonight, my desire is to help us look at the description of the deception of the Gibe. Joshua, this great man of God, finds himself. Being deceived. The question is: how does that happen? How did it happen to Joshua? And how does that happen to people like You and me. If it can happen to Joshua, that great man of God, then I know it can happen to people like you and me, and maybe it's already happened in your life. Well, tonight we're going to show you how it happened in Joshua's life. and learn some principles that will enable us to beware of falling into deceptive lies.

If you recall in our previous time together in Joshua chapter 8, we saw where Joshua and the Israelites gained a great victory at AI. They had lost previously, they had dealt with the Sund camp, went back, won the victory. When it was all said and done, they they put a memorial stones up once again to demonstrate the fact that they were never to forget what took place at AI. But then Joshua took the nation of Israel to a huge place, really, there between Mount Ebal and Mount Geriz, there in Israel.

And there is a man or a God-made really amphitheater. Not a man-made amphitheater, but a God-made amphitheater by those two mountains that come together there in that valley. And half the children went up on Mount Ebal, the other half went up on Mount Geriz, and those on Mount Ebal would listen to the curses that would be upon the nation of Israel if they did not obey the word of the Lord. And as each curse was read, you can read about it in Deuter 27, Deuteronomy 28, they would say, Amen, amen, amen.

And then they would read about the blessings on Mount Gerizim, as the other half of Israel would stand on Mount Gerizim, and the priests would read about the blessings that would come if they would obey the word of God. And after the blessings were read, they would say, Amen, amen, amen. And it was a great worship service because they were committed to following the word of the Lord. So, sure enough, after the victory at Jericho, After the victory at AI, Joshua had the path to go to where they needed to be to have that great and wonderful Worship service.

And we closed out Joshua chapter 8 in verse number 34 when it says that afterward he read all the words of the law: the blessing and the curse. According to all that is written in the book of the law, there was not a word of all that Moses had commanded, which Joshua did not read, before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers who were living. Among them. Joshua read it all. Why? Well, over in Deuteronomy chapter thirty, Moses says this. Verse number 19, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.

So choose life in order that you may live and your descendants by loving the Lord your God. by obeying his voice, and by holding fast to him for this is your life, and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them. Moses told Joshua and the children of Israel that listen This is what you need to do. You must choose between blessing and cursing. You must choose between life. Death. In other words, if you want to have life, then you will love the Lord your God.

And how will you know that you love the Lord your God? You will listen to the voice of God. And how do you know you're listening to the voice of God? You will latch on to your God. You will cling to Him. You will fasten yourself to Him and trust Him and never let Him go. If you do that, You will experience real true life, and that life will be in the land that I promised to Abraham, your father Abraham, Isaac. Jacob. But you need to obey the word of the Lord. Folks, this is so important to understand.

Joshua chapter 9. Why? Turn back with me, if you would, to Joshua. I'm sorry, Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7. Records these words in verses 1 and 2. When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it. And shall clear away many nations before you. The Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Periz, and the Hiv. and the Jebus, seven nations greater and stronger than you. And when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them.

You shall make no covenant with them and show no f to them. The Lord God through Moses said, Listen, you shall not make any covenant with the enemy in the land of Canaan. You shall destroy them. That's your mandate. This is the word of the Lord. And so when they go in Joshua chapter 8, up on Mount Geriz. And they read all the curses, all the negative things that will happen to them if they disobey the word of the Lord. And Israel was in unison. Amen. We understand. We agree. And then they read all the blessings that will take place if they obey the Lord.

And they would say, Amen, amen. We agree. So be it. Then it's imperative to understand that when God speaks, we're to listen and to obey his voice. And God said very clearly, And Moses and Joshua knew this, and Israel knew this. You are to make no covenant. With the enemy in the land of promise? None. It doesn't get any clearer than that. So what happens in chapter 9? They make a covenant with the enemy. Now, we read that and we think, well, how ridiculous can they be when God said don't do it and they did it anyway.

Well, think about your life and my life. God says don't do this, and what do we do? We go out and do it. And so, you see, you know, the Bible is just so practical. It is so relevant to your life and to mine. And so, when we read this story, and we're only going to read the first 15 verses because that's all the further we're going to get this evening, to try to help you understand the deception.

What did it look like? What took place? So I'm going to read to you the first 15 verses and then we're going to discuss them together, okay?

Joshua chapter 9, verse number 1. Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the coast of the great sea toward Lebanon. The Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hiv, and the Jebus heard of it, and they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel. When the inhabitants of Gibe heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily. and set out as envoys, and took worn out sacks on their donkeys, and wines, worn out, and torn and mended, and worn out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn out clothes on themselves.

And all the bread of their provisions was dry, and had become crumbled. And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal. And said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said to the Hiv, Perhaps you are living within our land. How then shall we make a covenant with you? But they said to Joshua, We are your servants. Then Joshua said to them Who are you? And where do you come from? And they said to him, Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the fame of the Lord your God for we have heard the 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, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashon, who was at Asht. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants. Now then make a covenant with us. This, our bread, was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you. But now, behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.

And these wines which we filled with were new, and behold, they are torn. And these are clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey. So the men of Israel took some of their provisions and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them. And made a covenant with them to let them live. And the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. These 15 verses provide for us a framework by which decept t place in people's lives. How we become deceived by the enemy.

Tonight, I want to give you a description of that deception. I'm going to give you seven points, okay? Seven points to detail for you. The decept of the enemy when it came to Joshua and the Israelites. Okay? Point number one is this.

Deception began for the nation of Israel when they became concerned about their own security and their own safety. Deception began for them, that is Israel, when they became concerned about their own safety and their own security. Where did we get that from? The first two verses of chapter 9.

It says, All the kings beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, in the lowland. And on all the coasts of the great sea toward Lebanon, Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hiv Jebus heard of it, and they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and Israel. What once was an opportunity for Israel to fight each city as it came, now they all gathered together. All the armies in the land of Canaan gather together. All the enemy gathers together in one accord to fight against Joshua and the nation of Israel.

Do you think that for one moment they might be just a little concerned about their safety and security? We've already known. That they've already doubted that when they go into the land, they weren't quite sure that everything was going to happen as God had said. And so now they begin to understand that all the enemy has gathered against them. It's just not one city or one little group of cities. the bad guys all gathering together in unison to fight against the nation of Israel. You will find in your life, as I have found in mine, when I become a little bit too concerned about my own safety, when I become a little bit too concerned about my own security, I'm open.

for deception from the enemy. Why is that? Because I look for answers and I learn to or begin to grasp on to whatever comes down the pike. It might be financial security It might be relational security. It might be physical security, fear of my own life. And if there's a way that I can spare my life, If I have to compromise just a little bit for my own safety, I just might do it. Everybody comes face to face with that sometime or another in their lives. Sometimes it's quite often. But here was the nation of Israel, and everybody had gathered together against them.

They now have become the minority in the land. And all of a sudden, now they're going have to fight not just one city, like they did at Jericho, or at Ai. But the nations as they gather together against them You see the enemy has nothing in common unless the enemy is fighting against the truth Against a holy God. And then those who are enemies come together and fight against God. You can read about it in the Gospels. When Herod and Pilate and the Pharisees, Sadducees all came together as one because they fought again God You can read about it in the end times.

Psalm chapter 2, that great messianic psalm, says this in verse number 1: Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand. And the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. That's a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah and those who will gather together against him at the end. So when you go all the way back to Revelation 19, verse number 19 19. What do you have? You have the kings of the earth all gathered together.

All who were one-time enemies all now become one to fight against the true and holy God. When you read Joshua chapter 9, what you have is a group of people, a nation, gathering together to fight against Israel. And we, as the people of God, need to be able to rest in the security and the safety that the shield God provides for us. For us, that there's safety under his wings, that he's the God that will protect us, he's the God that will guide us, he's the God that will watch over us. Over in Psalm 91, it says this.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust, for it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper. And from the deadly pestilence, he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You see, the psalmist is speaking about the security he has under the shadow of the Almighty. And we, as the people of God, need to rest in what God has said, believe in what God has said, no matter how big the enemy may be, no matter how vast their number.

Number may be, we need to trust in God and what He said. And so the deception of the enemy begins. When Israel becomes concerned about their own safety and about their own security, why else? Would they allow the Gibeonites to come into their camp? Why else would they allow them to come in and not be slaughtered? Maybe this group of people can be of assistance to us when we go into battle against everybody else. Who are these people? Maybe they're our friends. Let's check them out. Let's see. Number two.

Number two they Israel bec comp Compassionate toward the quand of the Gibe. They became compassionate toward the quand of the Gibeonites. Here comes this envoy. Now we know that they have already thought, it says in verse number four, that they're going to do things craftily. They're going to sneak. They're going be deceitful. That's what they're going to do. So, what did they do? Well, it tells us they came with an appearance that wasn't true. You see, their c, Gibeon, was only some 20 miles from Gilgal.

But they came with an appearance that they were from a far count. So when Israel Saw them when they began to question them because of the way their clothes were, the way their sandals were, the way their wines were, they looked like they had traveled a far distance. And so their appearance, their appearance, looked something different than what it truly was. Sort of like me this evening. I had the shirt on. I appear to be a Trojan fan. But those of you who know me know that I'm not. If you're here for the very first time, you'd walk in and think, wow, the pastor here is a Trojan fan.

I'm going to come to this church. But I'm not. It's the appearance. But you see, the Bible speaks to us about judging based on appearance. We got to be very careful about that. Sometimes we make an assessment, an assessment that's positive. Because of someone's appearance. And sometimes we make an assessment that's negative because of someone's appearance. But Satan is very crafty. And he knows how we like to judge based on what we see. And so Israel sees Gibeon, the men of Gibeon. In clothes, in shoes that are worn out.

They look like they've come from a far distance. They look like they're poor people. They could use some assistance. And Israel begins to feel a sense of comp for them because of what they see in them. You've experienced this. Haven't you? You drive on the highway, you exit off the freeway, and there's a man there, or a woman there, dressed in ragged clothes. They have a sign, right? And that sign will work for money. Or could you? Maybe they're a Vietnam vet or something like that, and they have this sign up.

Do you know for certain that they're a Vietnam vet? Do you know for certain that they are anything other than what they appear to be? You see, it's very important that we show comp on the needy, but that we don't show compassion on those that appear to be need. There's a big difference. And this is what this chapter is about: to show us how to decipher between the one who is truly needy and the one who is not. The one who appears one way, but in reality on the inside, is not that way. So here was Israel.

They would see the men of Gibeon. They would see them in all of their poorness, all of their clothes and sandals that were worn out, the bread that was moldy and crumbly. It would have compassion upon them. And they would come with an appearance that was untrue because they only lived just a few short miles away from Gilgal. It's true. Remember our Lord, Isaiah 53? It says that outwardly there is no beauty that we should desire him. Our Lord had no outward beauty, nothing external about him that would cause someone to desire him.

So people would judge him based on his. External appearance, but he was the wonderful counselor, the prince of peace, the mighty God, the king of kings. That's who he was. But they would draw a negative conclusion about him because of his appearance. The flip side of that was the whole story of how Samuel would come to Jesse's house and he would seek to choose the next king of Israel, right? And he thought for sure that it was Eliad because he was the first son of Jesse, and he was a big, strapped, and handsome young man.

He must be the next king of Israel. I mean, after all, look at him. He's got to be the next guy. How can we pass up on this good-looking, strong man? He must be what the people need. And of course, you know the words of our Lord. He said, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on The heart. That's why Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 12, condemn those who glory in appearance and not in the heart.

He condemned them. And that's why Christ said in John 7, verse number 24: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. J not based on what you see, but judge with a righteous judgment. How do you judge with a righteous judgment? You judge with a righteous standard. So, what is that righteous standard? It's the word of the Lord. It's what gives you that standard by which you are to judge man. Because the scriptures are the standard by which man is to live by, not people's opinions or people's desires.

It is the word of God. And so the men of Gibeon would come and they would appear one way and be something el. In Israel, they would have compassion based on what they saw. I mean, after all, look at these guys.

They must be tired. They must be worn out. Look at them. And Satan is very crafty. That's why he appears more so as an angel of light than anything else. Because he wants to deceive us. You see, Joshua was used to fighting with spears, swords, shields, with soldiers. That's how he was used to battling, because he was a warrior, see? And sometimes Satan comes as a roaring lion, but most of the time he comes as a subtle serpent to deceive. And so, in chapter 8, there was a hand-to-hand combat. There was a battle.

And Joshua was used to that kind of stuff because he was a warrior. But in chapter 9, it's not hand-to-hand combat. Because Gibeon, you see, was afraid of Israel. They were afraid of what might happen to them because they knew what had taken place. In Jericho and in Ai, and when they exited out of Egypt, they had heard, as those in Jericho had heard, as we heard from the testimony of Rahab back in chapter 2. So they had heard and they were afraid. And so they weren't going to do hand-to-hand combat.

They were going to deceive Israel into making a covenant with them, making a treaty with them, so they would be at peace with them and they would spare their lives. All the while, God said, don't do that. God told Joshua, don't do that. Way back, Deuteronomy 7, verses 1 and 2.