Deceived by the Enemy, Part 1b

Tonight, I want to give you a description of that deception by the enemy. First of all, you have Israel, who was concerned about their own safety and security.

Second of all, you have Israel, who became compassionate toward the quand of the Gibeonites, toward the misery of the Gibeonites.

Look at them. Their wineskins are worn out. Their outerwear is worn out. They're in need. How can we meet the need? And so you move from that to understand point number three.

They became caught up. In the testimony of the Gibeonites, they became caught up in the testimony of the Gibe. Listen to what the Gibe said. It says that when Joshua asked them, Who are you? And where are you from? Where'd you come from? They said, We're your servants. We've come from a very far count. A very far country. We've traveled a long d. A long way. And you know what? We've come. Because of the name of the Lord your God. Wow. Man. They got a good testimony. They've come because of God. They've heard about God.

Listen to what they said. 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 Am who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon, king of Esh, and to Og, king of Bashon, who was at As. We've heard about all that. We know. We know what's going on. We've come because your God is famous. We've come because the Lord your God is great. We come because we have heard about the greatness of the God you ser. And Israel got caught up in that testimony. They got enamored with that testimony.

You couple that with their compassion with people who didn't have any. Clothes that were worth having, shoes that were worth wearing, and food that was basically moldy, dry, crusty, not worthy of eating. And they talk about your God and how great He is and how marvelous He is because they've heard about all that's taken place. They get caught up in the testimony. Why did they get caught up in testimony? Because they became compassionate for their misery. And why is it they became compassionate for their misery?

Because, on some level, there was a concern about their own safety and security. And maybe these people would be a benefit to them. Maybe they would come alongside them and they would provide extra ammunition in their battle against the nations they would face. But they got caught up in the testimony. Notice this.

They said in verse number nine. Because of the fame or literally literally the name of the Lord your God They came and appeared as want to be worship of the true God of Israel They came and wanted to prove that they were a part of Israel's worship experience, that they wanted to be a part of that. And so they gave testimony to that fact. There are a lot of people who come to church and they want to be a part of the church because somehow they want to move in so that they can express the desires of their own business and make you a part of their clientele.

There are others who are like politicians who only go to church during election time and make sure they're on camera so people see them going in and out of churches so that those of the evangelical movement will vote for them. You see, we become very sly when we want to get people to agree with us and to be a part of what we're doing. So you hit them where they are sensitive. Oh, your God is great. He's marvelous. We've heard about what he did way back in Egypt. Wow, what a deliverance. Man, you guys got the great and awesome God.

He's amazing. And when you came over here, we saw, oh, wow, you guys are fabulous. You guys are amazing. Your God is so. Great. And yet, as they got caught up in that testimony, there's something, point number four, that they didn't do, and that is they were careless. In their scrutiny of that testimony, Israel became very careless in the scrutiny of their testimony. You will notice that Joshua says, Who are you?

Where are you from? You will note they never gave an answer to that question. We're from a far country. Well, the next question is: well, what country is that? Give us the name of that country. But Israel became very careless in their scrutiny of their testimony. They took it at face value. Joshua says, Who are you? Where are you from? How did you get here? And there's no follow-up to that. There is nothing that would lead them further along the lines that would cause them to question the testimony of the Gibeonites.

That was carelessness on the part of Joshua and the nation of Israel. They should have pried deeper. They should have looked deeper into their lives. To make sure they were who they said they were. And Joshua did not do that. Notice it says in verse number eight: We're your servants.

We want to be your servants. It doesn't mean that we want to be your slaves, we want to work for you. In those days, it was a term of endearment. It was a term that was said, we want to be your comrades. We want to be alongside of you. We want to be a part of what you're doing. And we want to make a covenant with you. And so instead of examining them carefully. And making sure that their testimony was true. Remember, they're in the land of the enemy, they live in the land of the pagans. And so, therefore, because they're in the land of the enemy, they can't trust anyone.

They can't take what they hear at face value as true. These people are the enemy. They are in the land of the enemy. They must scrutinize what that individual says. They must test what that person says. They must examine what that person says. They can't just take How he looks at face value and says, Wow, you've come a long way. Look at you.

I mean, look at your clothes are tattered, your hair. Oh, you need a shower. You need to shave. Look at you guys, man.

You guys, oh, you are, you must be from a far country. When in reality they were not. Not at all. And so they became very careless. Because in their testimony, there was the omission as to which country they were from. And you'd think that as a leader, you would want to examine: well, what far country is it? How far away is the far country? And yet Joshua in Israel did not do that. And you will also notice That the Gibeonites never mentioned the conquest of Israel at Jericho, nor at Ai.

They couldn't do that. Because if they did, then Joshua would know that they weren't from a far country, but they were in country. And so they were very sly about what they spoke about and what they said they had heard about. And making sure they didn't speak about the most recent victories. And yet they never asked them, which country? They never asked them, who are you? What is your name? Where are you from? They took at face value what they saw. You should never do that when you live in the land of the enemy.

I like to say, you know, you can trust people. You just can't do that. I'm reminded of Christ's words about the Pharisees over in Matthew 23, verse number 27: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Verse 33, you serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?

Folks, there are a lot of people who appear righteous on the outside. They appear Christian on the outside, but in reality, they're not. And we just can't take it at face value that because they go to a church and they are a part of a church that they truly know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We cannot be deceived that way. We just can't go around thinking that people are Christians based on how they act, based on what church they go to. There are people who go to this church that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, yet they're here every week.

The Pharisees, boy, they could really put on a show. I mean, they could make people think that they were religious, and everybody in Israel did think they were religious, except Jesus knew their hearts. He knew they were full of dead men's bones. He knew that they had this outward appearance of righteousness, but on the inside they were far from God. And that's why Christ made that indictment in Matthew chapter 7. There will be many on that day. He will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many marvelous deeds in name?

And he will say, Depart from me, I never knew you, you practice lawlessness. I never knew you. It's imperative that we exam the testimony of those who say they are truly, truly righteous. Joshua was deceived because he was careless in the scrutiny of the testimony of the Gibeonites. He was careless. They became compassionate, comp toward the quandary of the Gibe. And I'm all for being compassionate. I'm all for being merciful. But you know most people who want your money They're deceptive You see people all the time are seeking a handout and want to deceive you And they want to get you on their side.

You've got to be very, very c. Joshua was not. They were concerned about their own safety, their own security. They became compassionate toward the misery and quand of the enemy. On top of that, they got caught up in the testimony of the Gibeonites. And then they became careless in the scrutiny of that testimony. And fifthly, They, Israel, became compelled by the urgency of the covenant. Notice what it says.

It says in verse number 11: We are your servants. Now then, make a covenant with us. You see, they're very much in a hurry to make a covenant. They came earlier and they said very clearly that they wanted to make a covenant with them because they were their servants. And now they said, listen, we need you to make a covenant with us. They needed to make it now.

In the Hebrew, it's a sense of urgency. There's a sense of you got to do it now. Why? Because they don't want to be questioned any further. They don't want to be asked any more questions. They want to have Israel make a covenant with them so their lives will be spared. And Israel became compelled. With the urgency of making a covenant with these people. They got caught up in the testimony, and all of a sudden, now they got to that point where they had to make a decision, and they had to make it now.

You've been there. The guys who come to your door, the solicitors, you know, they come to your door, they always play on your emotions, and they want you to make a decision right now, not today, make it now, not tomorrow. M they call you on the phone. Maybe you're going to go try and buy a car. The car says, You've got to make it now.

And they pressure you. You feel compelled because of the urgency of the moment. You know, I I I like when those guys come to my door, you know? They always like to say, oh hey, listen, hey, I a Michigan fan too, because I a you know, a Michigan door knocker and I a I got a Michigan bench outside my my heart my my door, I a some Michigan walking stones out there. People come to my house, they know that I'm a Michigan fan, right? So the guy knocks on the door and he says, hey, I'm a Michigan fan too.

No, you're not. I know he's not a Michigan fan. He's lying to me. He's not from Michigan. He's not a fan of my team. And so I always answer him and say, hey, you know what? I'm not in the mood to buy it a day. They say, oh, I just want you to look at it just for a moment.

I, that's fine. I'll look at, but I not buying. And they go through all the rig of what they're doing. And boy, some of them are really good. They're really good. You know, and they always say, Oh man, you know how many kids you got? I tell them how many kids they. Oh man, that's great. And I'm going, you what? It's not great because if it was great, you'd be married and you'd have that many kids too. So don't try to fool me. What do you think I'm stupid? You think I was born last night? Come on, man.

Better than that. And you know, they go on through that. And I'm just not compelled by their urgent need. I'm not. Kind of cold and hard-hearted when it comes to that stuff, you know? And and and so I it doesn't move me, but Israel became Compelled by the urgency. We need to make a covenant. We've come this far. Look at us, man.

We need food. We need clothes. Make a covenant with us. We want to be your friend. We don want to be your enemy. We want to be your servants. We want to be your comrades. We believe in your God. We think He's great. And they became compelled by the urgency that was presented to them about making a commitment and a covenant. With the enemy. Which leads to the next point. And that is Israel became captivated. By Gibeon's flatter, Gibeon knew how to play Israel. Gibeon knew how to work on Israel. And that was to appeal, listen, to the pride of Israel.

They knew, hey, we've heard about your God. Wow, he's great. We've come from a far country. Now, think about this: you're Israel. You've lived under the reproach of the enemy for years. Gilgal, okay, Joshua chapter 5, we read where God says, Now I'm going to remove the reproach.

Of all your enemies. That's what Gilgal means. They're rolling away of reproach. And so Israel had their reproach all rolled away. And now their enemies are going to look at them differently.

They're going to fear them because they are the servants of God. And now you have these people. Quote quote from a far country and they've heard about your God and not only has God removed the reproach of Israel in the surrounding cities but in a from far countries way beyond us Our testimony spreads far, far away. Man, this is great. It appeals to their pride, and Gibeon would flatter them. And Israel became captivated by that flattery. They got sucked into it. When someone wants to deceive you, they'll always speak well about you.

They'll always speak well about the things that you like. They'll speak well about how the God that you serve. They're going to flatter you. They're going to feast on you because they know about the boastful pride of life and how easy it is to get sucked into those things. That's what happened to Israel. But most important, most importantly, and number seven, you need to get this, and that is this. Is became confident in their own ability. They became confident in their own ability. How do we know that?

Simply this. Verse number 14. And they did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Not at one time did they ever seek the counsel of their God. Not one time did they sit down and make or offer a prayer to their God. To ask him, Should we do this? Not once. And why do people get sucked in? Why do they get deceived? It's because they refuse to seek God. And why do they refuse to seek God? Because they become confident in their own decision-making process. They became confident in their own abilities. I can do this.

I can make a wise decision. No, you can't. You can't without seeking the Lord. That's why the Bible says that.

We are to lean not on our own understand. In all your ways, acknowledge him, he will direct your path. That's why we are to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean on Him, not our own understanding. But how many times have we done that? And Israel was confident in their own ability. We can make the decision here. This is a good choice for us. We can take care of these people. They can be a part of us. We can make a treaty with them. We can make a covenant with them. We can do this thing. It's going to be okay.

And yet, Joshua knew what he was supposed to do. All he had to do was go to the high priest and talk to the high priest about talking to God, and they would find the answer as to what they needed. All you could do is read number 27 to figure that one out. And Joshua knew that, but he didn't do it. He didn't do it because he was confident in his own ability. I love what F. B. Meyer says in his commentary on Joshua. He says, before entering into any alliance, Taking a partner in life, going into a business with another, yielding assent to any proposition which involves confederation with others, be sure to ask the counsel of the mouth.

The Lord. You know, how many times do we think that we're marrying the right person without ever asking God? How many times do we think that we're making the right business proposition without ever truly consulting God? How many times do we think we're making the right decision for our family without ever consulting God? How many times do we make a move for our family without ever consulting God? We just think it's the right thing to do. Who said? Well, I'm pretty smart. I think we can. I think we can do it.

Did you ever consult God on the matter? Did you ever talk to God about the issue, the situation? Well, no, don't need to. Yes, you do. You do, or you'll be deceived. Things won't necessarily be as they appear. Seek the will of the Lord. Lean not unto your understanding. He'll direct you. He'll guide you. He'll make sure you know the right thing. Over in Exodus 34, verse number 12. Watch yourselves that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land unto which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst.

God said, be careful. Watch yourselves. When you go into the land, don't make a covenant with anybody. So we saw it in Deuteronomy 7. We saw it in Exodus 24. God says, don't do it.

The enemy comes in. What does Israel do? They make a covenant. God said, don't do that. What do they do? Ah, it's okay. What can be the worst thing that happens? Can't be that bad. They never sought the counsel of the Lord. They never did that. And they became deceived by the enemy. Folks, this is so important. How many times do we make a decision, go someplace, do something, without ever seeking the counsel of the Lord? It's devastating. It's destructive. It's so, so bad. We got to be careful. In Israel, Joshua, they were not.

James says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Do you know what to do? If you don't know what to do, seek the Lord. If you do know what to do, seek the Lord anyway to make sure you're doing the right thing that brings glory and honor to His name. Listen to what Alan Redpath said about this section in Joshua chapter 9. He said these words: Never, never, never trust your own judgment in anything. When common sense says that a course is right, lift your heart to God, for the path of faith and the path of blessing may be in a direction completely opposite to that which you call common sense.

When voices tell you that action is urgent, that something must be done immediately, refer everything to the tribunal of heaven. Then, if you are still in doubt, dare to stand still. If you are called on to act and you have not time to pray, don't act. If you are called on to move in a certain direction and cannot wait until you have peace with God about it, Don't move. Be strong enough and brave enough to dare to stand and wait on God. For none of them that wait on him shall ever be ashamed. That is the only way to outmatch the devil.

That's a good word. That's a good word. And we need to be the kind of people that don't fall prey to deception. No matter what your situation, no matter what you might think about it. If you become too concerned about your safety, too concerned about your security, beware, you are open for deception. You are open to be led down the wrong path. In Israel, it became compassionate toward those who were filled with misery and were faced with a quandary. And they themselves Became caught up in the testimony of those who appeared one way but were really another way.

And then they became careless in the scrutiny of that testimony. They didn't search it out. They didn't ask the right questions. They didn't ask enough questions. They didn't ask penetrating questions. They didn't get to the heart of the m. And all of a sudden, they found themselves captivated by the flattery that was given to them because the reproach. Of the enemy had been removed, and they were a people of great popularity. And that meant a lot to them because they had suffered so much reproach for so many years.

But unfortunately, they never went to God to ask him, is this the right move? Should we do this? Where do we go from here? And because they didn't, they made a covenant with the enemy. And guess who gets upset about it? The people of Israel. The leaders make a covenant, and because they don't follow the word of the Lord, the congregation is pretty upset with them because they made a major blunder. Good lesson for those of us who lead. May God give us the grace to seek Him in every situation.