07.20.2014 Joshua 9 - Tricksy Gibeonites! Break Down the Stereotypes!

7-20-2014 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

Lord, thank You for the opportunity to worship You – to bring You praise and glory – thank You for those who serve – leading worship – and we appreciate their service to You and to us. Open our hearts to understand Your love and Your blessings through Jesus – help us to see Him in a new way – and to zero in on how to be Your servants and disciples to know You more. Use this story to challenge us to be the Christians You need us to be. Help us to be a light to fulfill Your call and purpose in this world.
This is the third major story – there is then a section how the land is divided and then a couple more stories. There are a lot of similarities in these first few stories – we meet people who do unexpected things. There are three great battles. In each story – something is hidden – Rahab – Spies are hidden – Achan: silver and gold, Gibeon: Identity.
The story is about who belongs and does not belong in the land. Each story ends with the exact same phrase – and that is critical and significant.
Ray and Tammy read – and I will highlight what they read…
Joshua 9:1 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things--those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon… 2 they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.
They have entered the land – and have taken Jericho and Ai – and the kings of the land decide they will form an alliance to prevent Israel from taking all the land. Israel at this point has to go on the defensive – all except for one –
Joshua 9: 3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse (acted craftily):
11 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."'
They resorted to a ruse – they acted craftily. There is one group of people who are different. The Gibeonites. There is a distinction made between them and the rest of the land of Canaan. The rest of the tribes have kings – the kings gather together to wage war. For the Gibeonites, the people gathered together – they will pursue peace. Instead of kings – they have elders. The culture is different – tribes and clans and elders who rule – and they come to Israel as one people - but what the story is doing – the Bible addresses our tendency to categorize, stereotype, and label. We have a natural tendency to do this. We want to say that all of the peoples of the land of Canaan are the same – but this makes it obvious that they are not.
We see this in the church – how you baptize, how you worship – and Israel, in this situation, needs the categories.
This problem comes up – and it is Gibeon. They have many similarities to Israel. They act like Israel. Their social construct is the same – elders/clans – one people coming into the land – yet they don’t worship Yahweh yet.
Jesus addresses our need to categorize – the Good Samaritan – the people Jesus was telling the story to had a certain perspective on this people, and Good was not it! And Jesus makes him more like the people of God than the people of God. The tax collector and the Pharisee. The devoutly religious person who followed all of the Law of God – and the tax collector. And they both go into the temple to pray.
And Jesus breaks down our categories. Tax collectors and prostitutes are the friends of Jesus. There are Roman soldiers and Gentiles – of whom Jesus said – I have not found such faith in all of Israel!
The disabled, the diseased, - marginalized people who are heroes of the faith – even a Canaanite woman!
Joshua 9:6-7
Gibeon is crafty – or as Gollum would say – they are tricksy!
They do not come with altruistic motives – it is not, we are the world, let’s live in peace – they are trying to save their skins – they know they are going to lose – so they come with offers of peace for the simple reason of saving their own skin. But Rahab did the same thing – she was simply concerned about saving her life and the lives of her family – and we have high regard for Rahab – she is in Jesus’ genealogy – and is mentioned in Hebrews 11.
“No one follows Jesus heroically” – John Piper. We all come to God out of a tremendous need that we are week and unable and we desperately need Him to save us. We are no different from Rahab or the Gibeonites. For me – it was fear and guilt – knowing I had not lived my life the way I should have. Some people come to Jesus because they have hit rock bottom. If you think you came to Jesus because you were going to follow Him for the right reasons – to save the world or whatever – you probably have not really come to Jesus.
God saved us by His grace and mercy – not because we deserved any of it – and that was Israel’s problem. We never deserve it. It is always God’s mercy.
Joshua 9:14 –
So what we have – Israel has just won another great victory – after the failures of Achan and Ai – they had a great victory – and now they have a failure. After the victory at Jericho, they failed to seek the Lord – and they attacked Ai and lost. They failed to inquire of God and acted on their own – and the entire book of Joshua began with placing the ark at the beginning – so Israel could see where God was leading. There is this complete failure to allow God to direct them.
On a side note – from a practical standpoint – how do we do that today? We don’t have an ark or a cloud or a pillar of fire – what do we have?
First, the word of God – The word of God uses this book to give us direction. How does He do that? There is a way – I have done it at times – I have seen it done at times – the fortune cookie method – you crack it open and look to see what pops out – and if you follow that method, you probably won’t get far.
As you read the Bible – it tells us what is right and wrong – so as we study and understand the Bible – it tells us – do this and don’t do that – and that is probably 50% of God’s direction for your life – don’t lie, cheat, or steal – be kind!
It also teaches us what is wise or foolish. Stick with the right of right and wrong – and lean toward the wise instead of the foolish.
God never says that borrowing money is EVIL – but getting in too much debt is foolish.
The third thing – discernment – taking what is right and wise – rather than wrong and foolish – and helping us understand those things in our context and world. That is what discernment does for us – allowing us to apply those things to the decisions we make.
Ephesians 5: do not be foolish, but wise, understanding the word of God.
Second – The Holy Spirit. We learn from Him – He is in our lives and He uses scripture to teach and guide us. We need to rely on the Spirit within us to reveal the things that are right and wise and give us discernment.
The Holy Spirit will also help us to understand our motives – is it about us or God? A lot of times – we’ll read a bit of the Bible, but we don’t give God’s Spirit time to reveal blind spots.
Then we need time to discern if the decisions are from God. We don’t inquire of God
Prayer – James 1:5
We look at His word, trust the Holy Spirit – and then come to Him in prayer. This is not in any particular order – but when you have a decision to make – are you asking God for direction? This is where Joshua failed – they did not have a habit of asking God.
Counsel – getting advice. The counsel should look like this – directing them to the first three! To the Word, the Holy Spirit – and to prayer. If it is about a physical thing – how to fix a car – this is not the counsel they need.
5th – Circumstantial – making sure the circumstances line up with the first three. We don’t make decisions by circumstance unless they line up with those
The story goes on:
Joshua 9:16-19
So they make this pact – this treaty – and then they find out they live next door – but they have sworn an oath – made a promise – signed a contract – and they don’t have the right before God to go back on it.
Joshua 9:20-21
They made this treaty – but they had to become their servants.
What is going on there? They are fulfilling God’s instructions for war
Deuteronomy 20:10-11
These verses are different than what is going on in Canaan -
Deuteronomy 20:16
But when it comes to other war – offer peace – and if they surrender, they will be forced labor.
They had people who were not from their land – who came seeking peace – and they offered it and the people become their servants. They obeyed the Scripture.
Joshua 9:22
Here is what they are going to do for the rest of their lives – they will get wood and bring it to the place of worship – where they will burn and offer sacrifices – and so we have these outsiders who are brought into the community – and given a central role in the community – they are there to serve God – and to play a key role in the center of Israel’s worship. There is no mention of them being converted – but there are hints at it. The concept of conversion would not have computed in their minds at that time.
They want peace – they cease serving their gods and idols – and begin serving Yahweh – by bringing wood –and they are brought into the worship experience – they surrender to God and his people – and what we really have is a picture of salvation – it doesn’t spell it out – but it is really a picture of that.
Joshua 9:26
To this day. That is how the story of Rahab and the story of Achan ends – To this day. Rahab plays a pivotal role. The Gibeonites are further mentioned in a positive way throughout the rest of the Old Testament. In Gibeon – they build one of the most significant altars of the land. It is the one Solomon went to.
So God takes these connivers and schemers – kind of like Jacob – like Israel – and God brings them in. God is saying – you are no different from these people and I want these people also. And what God is doing is fulfilling the whole promise He made. God had promised the land of Canaan – but the promise was so much bigger – so they could be a blessing to the entire world –and that is God’s call on us. Not just the blessings He wants to give – but to bless us so that we can bless others.
Leviticus 19:33-34
What an amazing verse – you see this throughout – the alien and the stranger are to be a part of you – and Jesus comes on the scene and says that we are all aliens and strangers – outsiders that God has brought in to become part of His family.
“The church is to be an outpost of heaven – living as aliens in a strange land.
I have been reading through Hebrews – and this really struck me
Heb. 11:
All these died in faith without receiving the promise…
…seeking a country of their own.
When you see the promise from a distance – you confess – I am a stranger and exile on this earth.
When you hear about someone winning the lottery or your neighbor getting a new car and a huge raise – do you think – I am an alien, a stranger on this earth – this is not for me.
When your car breaks down and the bill is more than you can handle - do you confess, I really don’t belong here – I belong someplace else.
Lord, thank You – that as we see the Gibeonites – we are Gibeonites – strangers and aliens in a foreign land – but we are an outpost of heaven – the light of the world – city on a hill – that our light would shine bright – so they may see us and give glory to You.