DEALING WITH SPIRITUAL TERRORISTS

Pastor Jerry Rockwell

 

DEALING WITH SPIRITUAL TERRORISTS

Joshua 9:1-27

Introduction: We live in an interesting period of history. Who would have thought we would have to deal with terrorists? They have become a common everyday occurrence, whether it is in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, New York City, Bangor, India, or some other remote place in the world, everyone knows about terrorists. We have become so secure in our lifestyle that we do not think of things happening like they do today. It is a testimony to how evil our world has become. It is a reminder of Genesis 6:5 (KJV) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That could very well describe our day. 

Did you ever think there were such things as spiritual terrorists in the Bible? We usually don’t see the happenings of this chapter of Joshua in that light, but when we examine it, we find there are some interesting parallels. One of the strategies of terrorists is to infiltrate. How do you do that? You try to make things look different from what they really are. This is what is happening in Joshua 9. I am aware that the analogy does eventually break down, but the pattern is clear. We need to be constantly vigilant for those who want to infiltrate our ranks and create chaos or discouragement. This is a matter we must be cautious about and careful with our alliances. We can make an alliance with someone who will cause us problems. The primary difficulty lies in our relationship with God. 

The story is clear, and many of you have probably read this story before or heard a preacher preach on this text. We have seen Israel come from another great victory at Ai. When they had destroyed the city of Ai we find that there was a new attitude among the inhabitants of the land. They suddenly form a union and plan to stand against the people of Israel. Let’s look at the text and learn some more lessons on how to overcome failure.

  1. The League of Nations, Joshua 9:1-2. The news of the defeat of Jericho and Ai spreads rapidly. The nations of the land see a great danger to their well-being, and now they join together against the people of Israel. What is interesting about this league is the nation’s joining this league had been enemies of each other. Suddenly they want to ban together and fight a common enemy, the nation of Israel. Note something with me that is interesting. In Joshua 9:1 (KJV) we read, And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof. Note the insertion of the area called Lebanon. This is the same area of land today known as Lebanon. We see a similar thing happening today that happened in Joshua’s day when the nations banned together against Israel. Today we see the unrest in North Africa and the nations of the Persian Gulf and the area now designated as Palestine. When Israel begins to assert itself the whole world turns against it. Did you ever wonder why that is? Because Israel is a reminder to the world that there is a God that is greater than any god they can make. Israel was a demonstration to the people of the land that there was a God who was mighty and they knew Israel represented that God and they wanted to extinguish them and their God. Why? Because they would no longer be able to live the way they wanted to if they began to serve the God of Israel. The world is against anything that is of God. We see this happening in the U.S. People do not want their lifestyle interrupted and if they were to embrace the God of the Bible they would have to alter their lifestyle and they enjoy their life of sin and worldliness. 
  2. The League of Israel with the Enemy, Joshua 9:3-15. The next thing we encounter in this chapter is the people of Gibeon (verse 3). Note some things about this “league” the Israelites made with these people.
  1. The Disguise of the Gibeonites, Joshua 9:4-5. They realize the future is dim for them in light of what Israel accomplished at Jericho and Ai. They knew they would be annihilated just as the inhabitants of Jericho and Aid were. They had a plan. They hatched a plan to infiltrate the Israelites and trick them into a treaty that would protect them. Note that the text says, “They did work wilily…” (verse 4). You may ask “what is wilily?” You say, “I don’t do Bible very well and don’t know what the word means.” Did you ever hear of Wily Coyote? Do you do cartoons? It means they did with trickery, with deceit. Note the procedure they used in Joshua 9:4-5. They made it look like they had come from a far country and wanted to make a treaty with the people of Israel and they would not be a threat to them. They make their shoes, clothes, food, and wine have the appearance of being very old. Their purpose was to make the people of Israel and Joshua think they were from a far country and no threat to the Jews. These matters will be dealt with in the next section. What I want you to note here is the disguise they used to infiltrate the people. 
  2. The Deliberation of the Gibeonites with Israel and Joshua, Joshua 9:6-15. This section is the major part of the chapter and it gives us some information that is critical in our deliberations with the world. We need to ask the question, “How do I avoid the problems Israel encountered in dealing with this people?” 
  1. Determine their identity, Joshua 9:6-8. Joshua does something critical and was a major mistake. First he did not investigate the matter enough. Look at Joshua 9:14 (KJV) And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. [Emphasis added.] Joshua and the leaders of the people made a fatal mistake when they failed to inquire at the mouth of God. They had done this two times prior and you would have thought they would learn the lesson, yet they did not. Joshua asks them in Joshua 9:8 (KJV) And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? There are two questions here that they never answer. He asked them “Who are ye?” and then “From whence come you?” They lie to him and he failed to investigate the matter further. He accepts their answer in Joshua 9:10-11. All they do is tell a lie and then recount the matter of their food and clothing being old which would indicate they had come from a far country. There are some things that Joshua caused him to fail in this investigation. Do you know the procedure used to identify imposters? We have a good example from the airlines and the attempt to identify a person who might be a terrorist. I have a pastor friend who travels a lot and has a physical appearance that is very much like an Arab. He is olive skinned and has deep black hair. He travels a lot and cannot go to the airport and check in with an e-ticket. He is on the “terrorist watch list.” He goes through the security and always has to be questioned and have his bags checked. One time he was flying to a foreign country, which he does often, and the security people began to ask him questions. One of the men ask him what his occupation was and he informed them he was a preacher. The fellow standing beside the man asked, “Okay, quote John 3:16 for me.” My friend did so and the fellow said, “You did it correct and you even used the King James Bible.”
  1. He did not know what the word of God said, Joshua 9:7. This verse indicates that the people of Israel knew they were Hivites. They did not know they were from the city of Gibeon until later. If they would have been familiar with the Bible they had (which was the Law of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy) they would have been alerted to these people. If you go to Exodus 23:27 you will find an answer. Exodus 23:27-32 (KJV) 27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. This passage informs them that the Hivites are among the people with whom they are not to make a covenant (verse 32). They were not conversant with what God had said in His word. You and I often make the same mistake and find ourselves in poor company. We need to remember what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (KJV) 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Folks, if we are not conversant with the scripture we will find ourselves in a situation that will harm our testimony and harm our ability to serve God. It is important that we know who we are yoking up with. Do you find yourself in a bad marriage because you did not investigate the matter adequately? We can make the same mistake Israel did.
  2. They did not investigate the condition of the Hivite, Joshua 9:5-6, 12-13. Several factors should raise a red flag in this matter. There are things that people should have been alerted to when they began to inquire into these people’s backgrounds. We need to do the same. We often fail to make sure the people we want to fellowship with are in fellowship with God as we are. These things that the Hivites used as excuses are the same things that the enemy today uses to make us think they are okay. (1) The matter of the shoes should be a red flag (Joshua 9:4-5). Israel had spent the past 40 years in the wilderness, and the Bible tells us that in that 40-year period their shoes and clothes did not wear out. Deuteronomy 29:5 (KJV) And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. When we seek to fellowship with someone, do we ask how their walk with the Lord is? Do we ask them if they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Seldom do we do that. All you have to do is observe their walk and the way they dress, and it will give you some clues about how close they are to the Lord. (2) The matter of their bread and wine should be a clue to how much they knew the Lord they served. Their wine was old wine, and their bread was moldy. We can also learn some lessons here. Israel had spent the 40 years eating of the bread from heaven, Manna. It did not develop mold, although it became rotten when kept for several days. When one walks with God, they have the bread that is not moldy and not hardened. It is fresh every day. Additionally, the wine was in old bottles and was old. Wine in the Bible is a type of joy. Psalms 104:15 (KJV) And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. This should be a clue to how close one walks with God if they have no joy. They are drinking the “old wine” not the “new wine.” Matthew 9:17 (KJV) Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. You don’t take the new wine of the New Testament and place it in the carrier of the Old Testament. You have to place it in a new vessel. This speaks of the new birth and the new life we have in Christ.  
  1. Deception must be identified, Joshua 9:11:14. These people were pragmatists. They would use any means to save their hide. The deception was that they wanted to appear to be someone they were not. This is the terrorist’s methodology. They present as someone they are not. This means we should be careful in our dealings with those who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is interesting here is that the people of Israel did not go further. Note with me Joshua 9:14-15. This section closes with them making a league/covenant with the Hivites. This was, as we have seen, contrary to the word of God. 
  1. The Lamentation of the People, Joshua, 9:16-21. The bad news comes three days later. We should note that the children of Israel are now on the march, as Joshua 9:17 indicates that they traveled to the cities of the Hivites (the Gibeonites) and did not attack them because of their league with the people of those cities. Notice that the people begin to “murmur” against the leaders of the people, the princes. These princes do the right thing although they had made a league with the people God had told them not to. What do you do in a situation like this? You make a vow you need to keep it. Ecclesiastes 5:5 (KJV) says, Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. When we make a commitment, we should stay with it. There is no honor in giving your word and then backing out. This dishonors your character and your God. The Bible indicates it is best not to vow, but if you do, then stick by your vow. They remained committed to the people of Gibeon, despite some false pretenses in the league. It would have been easy to say, “Hey, you guys lied to us, and this makes the covenant void.” They did not do this, they honored their word, even though it was accomplished under false facts and deception. 
  2. The Lessons to be Learned, Joshua 9:22-27. There are several lessons to be learned here. As we have seen, it is imperative that we investigate the details of an agreement before we enter one. Also, we need to be alert to the facts and not allow our feelings to guide us. You cannot take a person’s word for something. Note what Joshua tells the people of Gibeon they have entered into. These principles must be learned because they are universal. You must choose who you will serve. The Gibeonites never gave a thought to the process that Rahab chose. She decided to give herself to the Israelite people and allow them to determine her destiny. You today have the same choice. You can serve the master of the world or the master of the universe. The master of the world is Satan, who is called the “god of this world” in 2Corinthians 4:4. Or you can give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and serve the Almighty God. You have that choice. One interesting fact in this passage is that the Gibeonites choose the route that many people choose: bondage based on works-based salvation. That is a hard bondage and never frees one from servitude. The Gibeonites are a lot like the people today who choose to serve an addiction and find they are not able to be set free from that bondage until they are set free by the truth. They used deception to get to the place where they were, and that is exactly what happens when a person commits themselves to an addiction. It becomes a “hard bondage.”
  1. Bondage is not freedom, Joshua 9:23. 
  2. Bondage does bring servitude, Joshua 9:24-25. 
  3. Bondage is a lifetime commitment, Joshua 9:26-27.