well i invite you to turn this morning to joshua chapter 9 we continue our study in the book of joshua we come to the gibeonite deception this is found on page 218 218 in your bibles that are in front of you and we'll consider this great chapter again joshua chapter 9 let's give our attention today to the word of the lord as soon as all the kings who were beyond the jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the great sea toward Lebanon the Hittites the Amorites the Canaanites the Perizzites the Hivites and the Jebusites heard of this they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel but when the inhabitants of Gideon of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn out sacks for their donkeys and wineskins worn out and torn and mended with worn out patch sandals on their feet and worn out clothes and all their provisions were dry and crumbly and they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel we have come from a distant country so now make a covenant with us when the men of Israel said to the Hivites perhaps you live among us then how can we make a covenant with you they said to Joshua we are your servants and Joshua said to them who are you and where do you come from they said to him from a very distant country your servants have come because of the name of the Lord your God for we have heard a report of him and all that he did in Egypt and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were well were beyond the Jordan to Sihon the king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who lived in Ashtoreth. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us take provisions in your hand for the journey and go and meet to meet them and say to them we are your servants come now make a covenant with us here is our bread it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you but now behold it's dry and crumbly these wineskins were new when we filled them and behold they've burst and these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey so the men took some of their provisions but did not ask counsel from the lord and joshua made peace with them made a covenant with them to let them live and the leaders of the congregation swore to them at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now the cities, now their cities were Gibeon, Shephirah, Beroth, and Kiriath-Yerim. But the people of Israel did not attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders but all the leaders said to all the congregation we have sworn to them by the Lord the God of Israel and now we may not touch them this we will do to them let them live lest wrath be upon us because of the oath that we swore to them and the leader said to them let them live so they became cutters of wood and draw drawers of water for all the congregation just as the leaders had said of them. Joshua summoned them and said to them, Why did you deceive us, saying, We are very far from you when you dwell among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. They answered Joshua, Because it was told to your servants, for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. so we feared greatly for our lives because you because of you and did this thing and now behold we are in your hand whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us do it so he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of israel and they did not kill them but joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the lord to this day in the place that he should choose and there will end the reading of god's word well one of the great challenges of our time is to stay focused on the mission of the church there's a lot of discussion about that in our day with our changing times and challenging scenarios that we would stay focused on what the the church is to do and called to be in this world we see so much sin and so much evil it's easy for us to forget why the lord left us here to begin with are we just waiting for the judgment what are we trying to accomplish what is this all about it's interesting when jesus prayed that he prayed i pray that you do not take them out of this world but that you keep them from the evil one the reason that he prayed that is because he had a mission for his church and his people it's a struggle today as we see so much um that the times have changed so much and the rebellion is so great it's it's a struggle to stay focused on what the mission is what is our goal and to think about what people need the most what do people really need today it's not to be saved from politics. They need salvation, don't they? That's why we're here. That's why we're left here. That's why the Lord has his church in the world. And believe it or not, even though Joshua is about the conquest of Canaan, what we see in this book are great foreshadowings of the time in which we live we see the nations beginning to stream in we see things happening that have been shocking like Rahab and her family delivered with the same sort of action that happened in Egypt when when God's people were delivered when the angel of death passed them over and while judgment is real so is salvation and this is what we should desire of people i think we have to remember that in our day and of all the anger and frustration that we have what does joe biden need what does count kamala harris need what does nancy pelosi need what does donald trump need salvation but we're all worked up we're all worked up well we remember when god sent jonah to nineveh he didn't really want to go somebody has to stay in california don't they right right can't all flee california head to texas should i not have concern for the great city of nineveh in which there are more than 120 000 persons who can't tell their right hand from their left and much cattle that is a stunning question should i not care for them what they need well i think that's the tension in this text today can compassion be shown even in joshua to the nations in the midst of the conquest of the land where judgment is announced if we could find that in joshua wouldn't that be remarkable if we could see that in joshua where the lord gets attacked incessantly for wiping out the canaanites if we could see the real heart of it all right here wouldn't that be amazing well that's what we have in this confusing situation that is before us even though israel greatly deceived we have this difficult scenario that is set in front of us and i found this believe it or not it's an easy read i think i think you probably felt like well this seems like a pretty straightforward passage it actually was one of the most complex and difficult to write this sermon i i even up to the last minute in my study i was still banging my head over this text we learned something crucial here we learned something about how to handle ourselves in this world in the midst of the the cunning devices of the evil one we learn lots of principles like that we learn about prayer for sure there are lots of moral implications of this but i don't want to miss the larger what you might say redemptive historical picture that's given to us i think it would be a mistake just to make this moral we're going to look at this today by looking at the great deception of gibeon and then the failure of israel but the oath by the end that saves them and look at sort of the the goal looking at the big picture if we can of the lord's plan with the nations and that's where we are here today in joshua chapter 9 the nations are on high alert did you notice that right at the beginning of chapter 9 that we read this coalition has formed between all the kings of canaan in a collaborated effort have joined together to fight Joshua and Israel a specific command was given to Israel one that we have to remember from Deuteronomy this was the command when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them then you must devote them to complete destruction you shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them that is harem warfare that is just total under the ban destruction that everyone gets nervous about with the book of joshua here we are right in the middle of it we're right in the thick of it this is the hard part of joshua i think for us living in the new covenant i often say be so thankful you live in the new covenant it is wonderful to live in the new covenant that's why uh hebrews was saying to us how will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation look at the mercy shown to the nations we're not on a mission to destroy the nations are we it's a remarkable thing that when jesus was ascended right at his ascension before he went he said go into all the world and do what destroy them save them make disciples of all the nations baptize them so this is this is the the commission we were given joshua's commission was destroy them old covenant new covenant save to the ends of the earth that's when you live now here we're having a sort of forecast of i think what we get to enjoy but israel was specifically called never to make a covenant with them you ever asked why well in a sense that's still true to this day there's a reason unbelievers do not marry unbelievers um there's there's covenant responsibilities here the big reason was was to keep what was holy a holy nation separate from what was profane um god's people were not to marry into them god's people were not to to um to worship their idols and this is exactly why the covenant was commanded you cannot make a covenant with them for you will be assimilated into them that's what we saw throughout history even solomon learned a hard lesson didn't he but i think there's a tension here that we have to to to to wrestle with uh we saw this with rahab remember rahab the prostitute the harlot she came in with her family and and and the same kind of covenant language was used she and all of her household and received the same blessings of israel as the angel of death symbolized there by the nation drawing the sword against jericho passed over her in her house but now a scenario is set before us in which they found themselves confused what do we do can mercy be shown to a people we open up chapter 9 all the nations have taken a stand against the lord psalm 2 is just right in mind here against the lord and against his anointed it really does sort of capture for us up front the whole stance of the world against the church this or the psalm 83 i think captures this so well keep not silence oh god hold not your peace and be not still oh god for your enemies make a tumult they hate and they and they that hate have lifted up the head they've taken crafty counsel against your people and consulted against your hidden ones they have said come let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of israel may be no more remembrance for they've consulted together with one consent that's right here they are a confederate against you amid everything that's happening notice that make them like a tumbleweed oh my god like chaff before the wind as fire consumes the forest or flame sets the mountains ablaze so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name oh lord in the middle of that judgment psalm there's a strange statement isn't there do this so that people will seek you may they ever be ashamed and dismayed may they perish and disgrace let them know that you whose name is the lord that you alone are the most high over all the earth well that takes us to gibeon just 19 miles away from i we read that they get together and they give this cunning plan it's a brilliant plan they come together and they said here's what we're going to do we are going to resort to this ruse we're going to we're going to fake them we're going to put on put on a sackcloth and we're going to carry old sacks and we're going to have old wine skins torn up and patched up and sandals on our feet and our bread will be old and it will be moldy and crumbly and what we're going to tell them is that we've traveled from this far off land so that Israel would be deceived and that Israel would recognize that and that they would show them mercy. But how could it be done? The command was clear. Wipe them out. No covenant. You see why this is confusing. They said, we'll specifically ask Israel to make a covenant with us. so this is what they do they they show up looking rag ragged and beaten and torn up from a long journey and the emphasis there on old wineskins torn and mended and patched sandals and old garments and they they pose the question look we've come from this far off land we're a people who dwell in canaan would you please make a covenant with us we want to live now as a preacher and an interpreter of the bible you have to stand back and ask questions of a text and one of the questions you have to ask is is this sincere well it doesn't seem totally sincere they're lying right what would you do these are the exact words of rahab we've come from a far country but we've heard about the lord god we've heard of his fame and we heard what he did to sihon and og notice the proposal we are your servants make a covenant with us please it was deception but in what way i think the remarkable thing here is gibbeon knows the law of israel somehow they figured out the law of israel and they're studying the law of israel they know that if they could get israel to make a covenant with them in the name of the lord that God is so holy, God is so righteous, God so demands the upholding of oaths that they would not be destroyed if they could pull this off. Now someone can disagree with me here, but it's so strikingly similar to Rahab, who after deceiving the king of Jericho was commended for her faith after a great deception. How can we look at this differently? They have found out a way to try to confuse Israel into making a covenant with them. The heart of the deception was that they came from this great distance. They came all the way from this great distance. It's like coming from Fresno to Escondido. You came from Fresno. good comes out of fresno i'm saying that because our track team won yesterday we made it third place and we have to go to fresno so i was just thinking about that maybe this is intended to make gentiles feel the awful predicament that they're in for all those outside the covenant we just take this all for granted that we gentiles were brought into the covenant Do you know where we would be today as Gentiles if no mercy had been shown to us? Wiped out. What do you think Judgment Day is? Without hope, Ephesians 2, and without God in the world. Who thinks about that? Who thinks about that today at all? a day of judgment's coming and all who have not entered in the kingdom of heaven by a new birth are doomed to destruction. That's a tough pill to swallow. But nobody even cares. Who thinks about it? What if you did care? You might say, I'll do anything I can to be in that covenant. i'll do anything i can to be in the courts of the lord i wouldn't miss worship for anything what if can you put yourself and give you in shoes for just a minute there's no way of being spared this was a brilliant plan this was this this was just a brilliant plan i mean if you were to look at this and say look at the zeal and the faith of doing whatever they could do to be spared what if the nations were coming in like that today wouldn't that be awesome people just said i i'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the lord just as long as i'm in kind of like the gentiles in john 12 coming up to the disciples and saying sirs can we see jesus please now the tension in a text like this is how in the world is it even possible we're an old covenant israel we are in harem warfare we are in devote to destruction joshua and this problem i think is what drives the text the indictment here is this the holy spirit inspired something really important in the middle of this did you see it the men of the israel took some of the provisions but they did not seek counsel from the lord the word is mouth and in verse one it says the nations came together with one mouth that's how the hebrew reads here it's again it's emphasis here they didn't seek the mouth of the lord on this matter it's a big point to the text i mean i i really would love to spend a good hour talking about prayer here you know how important prayer is to the decisions of life i mean it's the avenue god's given us to talk to him when we're faced with situations we have no idea what to do and even when the and life is is is confusing at times even when we're faced with situations where the word says this and the situation is so confusing what do we do what do we do here you go seek the lord and this is what proverbs 3 is all about lean not on your own understanding acknowledge him and he'll direct the path that's the promise of proverbs 3 that we love but here was the challenge the word said no covenant wipe them out i find it hard to understand because looking at this from an old covenant point of view i struggled with this question not something i want to say because i don't think this is this is right but initially as you're working through it i came to this struggle and the struggle was this i'm not sure they should ask the lord do you see the struggle here the word was clear it seems kind of black and white there's no provision for this or is there what might the lord have said lord they've come to us they've asked for a covenant your word says no wipe them out lord has said well there's a great deception here you guys they're not from a far country they're from those cities right in front of you devoted to destruction that's what he would have said gone right see the tension of this is is could mercy be found there was a promise to abraham in the covenant of grace that all the nations would be blessed but aren't we too early maybe more important here is that deep embedded in the law of god there was a provision made in deuteronomy 20 in the principles of governing warfare here's what he said if of the cities of the people which the lord gives you and of inheritance you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive but then following that, it says this in Deuteronomy 20, when you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city so the provision was if there was a people in a far off place when they came up to the city now again there were those cities devoted to destruction and here we have that word the of the inheritance he says makes that distinction in Deuteronomy and Leviticus 20 they came up to the city and they asked for peace it could be done well what do we have here no seeking of the lord they make the covenant they didn't think about the law in this way they had they had obviously some understanding of it but we read that that as they make this covenant they find out shortly after the whole thing was a ruse they've been deceived notice what happens israel approached the cities of the place and and and it says here in the text they did not attack them because notice the oath that they had sworn to them by the lord the very name of the lord had been invoked in an oath now now again see the tension here we have the command wipe them out now they have made a covenant with them they've taken an oath and notice the oath is in the lord's name well now they've caused a lot of problems in the congregation all the complaints come what are you doing the leadership's a mess they did something at least outwardly looking at they shouldn't have done so joshua goes to the to the gibbonites as he finds them out what have you done why did you deceive us Notice what they say. Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you. That's why we did this. We're in your hands. Do to us whatever seems right. they're casting themselves on Israel with a question of can mercy be shown? Again, I can't help but to come back to this question. Imagine if people looked at the kingdom of God like this. What if we could just get in? What if God would show us mercy as Gentiles? We heard about your God. We heard about all that he did. It's the same faith as Rahab. How can you miss it? In the midst of a severe judgment that is coming on this world, how can you miss that there is one shocking way of escape? What is it? Faith. But the deception. What's really the heart of this, beloved, as I wrestled this week? What's the heart of it? It's those tensions that you come to in the text, like David and the showbread. The law said, you can't touch that bread. You're not a priest. David goes in and eats. The Pharisees said, ah, you can't touch the bread. Law says no. But he needed to eat. He was hungry, says Jesus. isn't it the principle i desire mercy and not sacrifice not judgment as important as it is there's something that stands out here even more they honored that oath and they made them servants in the lord's house woodcutters and water carriers why because they said, lest wrath come upon us because of the oath that we have sworn. Probably the most important detail of the text of all of this is, in the narrative is, look how much fear Israel had to not break the oath taken in God's name. The oath was not to be broken. Think about how we think of oaths. We took oaths in marriage, didn't we, before the Lord. We took oaths in church when we made a promise to submit to the elders. We took oaths before the Lord. Look at this. We took oaths in marriage till death do us part. We took oaths to love. We can't break it. This is quite a moment. How does this passage end? Why did you deceive us? And of course, they say, we don't want to die. So Joshua pronounces a curse. Here's the curse. Woodcutters and water carriers, you will be in God's house for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord. I stand back from that. You see why I'm wrestling with this text? I sent him back and said, what a deal. What a deal. Better to be a what? A doorkeeper in the Lord's house than dwell outside in the tents of wickedness. You just got in. In fact, this oath was so binding that when Saul came along and tried to destroy the Gibeonites, the Lord was furious at Saul. Look at how the Lord overruled the entire situation. Look at the sin involved, and through it brought them in to his kingdom to serve in his house. So holy and righteous is our Lord, he would see the oath fulfilled. And all along there had been a provision in the law to spare him. Did you notice in closing today, they put on old wineskins and old patches. I don't know how much to make of this. Look at verse 13. And these wineskins which we filled were new and see they're torn. That was not true, of course. They had made them to look old and that's why they tore. They had put new wineskins into old ones. Do you think that might have been what Jesus was referring to? it's a hard passage i've never really understood one of the most difficult parables of jesus no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on old garments for the patch pulls away and it's made worse nor do they put new wineskin in the old ones but they put new wine into new wineskins what was he talking about the fullness of his kingdom in my kingdom you can't disguise your identity. This is what the Pharisees had done. When my kingdom comes in its fullness it exposes what is true and it exposes what is false. What is of faith and what is not. You know when he told that parable, you know what preceded that? The Pharisees criticized him for sitting and dining with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I've not come to call righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Gibeonites wanted badly into this kingdom. They faked wineskins just to get in. But there was faith. They were true. Jesus says in the fullness of his kingdom, fakes are those who refuse faith. Fakes are those who play the religious game. Fakes are those who put on the Sunday clothes but don't believe. They're fakes. Their heart's not there. they don't want a place in the Lord's house. They don't care at all whether they're in the Lord's house. They would do anything they could to get away from the Lord's house. They don't see their sin and they don't see their need. He will expose that. But there's no need for true children to hide. Did you hear me? There's no need for true children to hide. He has opened up a place for sinners. He has opened up a place for the nations to come in. It's always been his plan to include the Gentiles in his covenant. And he made a covenant that all the way back from Abraham had said, I'm going to include the Gentiles. In Christ's death, when he died on the cross, from a place of curse came blessing. And I think the beautiful picture here, beloved, is look at how mercy triumphed over judgment and look at the blessing, even if you're a doorkeeper, of being in the kingdom of God. We can enter his covenant today freely by what? Faith. Faith. And that's the concern of the Great Commission. That's the concern of the church today, that we would bring salvation to the ends of the earth. he's overwhelming god he's wonderful and if you know what you are and you know what you deserve you're with psalm 84 i would rather be a doorkeeper in the lord's house than to dwell out there in the tents of wickedness let's praise him heavenly father thank you for your word to us today and thank you for showing us your plan through this confusing section help us to be thankful to be in your house help us oh lord to be grateful for salvation and thankful that we don't have to play games to try to get in your kingdom we don't have to be phonies you receive sinners who are open and honest about what they are and what they need. The fakes are those who refuse that. Thank you, O Lord. We praise you today and give us joy to be even doorkeepers in your house. In Jesus' name, amen.