If you turn back to Joshua chapter
9, I've entitled this message, Hope
for Deceivers. Hope for Deceivers. Somebody may think, well, why
would you give a deceiver any hope? Well, I hope you'll understand
the answer to that question at the end of this message. I wonder
if there is anyone here who feels if anybody in this room knew
me, they wouldn't have anything to do with me. That's the person that this passage
of scripture is speaking to. Hope for deceivers. The title of this message came
from verse four, they did work wildly. They used deception to
save themselves. They were subtle. And this word
also is used in the scriptures in a good sense. It's actually
described with wisdom and with prudence. So this is true regarding
these people. It was deceitful. And this is
true regarding these people. These people showed some genuine
wisdom. And I hope we'll see that by the time this message
is over. Verse 1 of chapter 9, And it
came to pass, when all the kings that were on this side of Jordan,
in the hills and in the valleys and in all the coasts of the
great sea over against Lebanon. The Hittite, the Amorite, the
Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite heard
thereof. Now what did they hear? They
heard about how God was fighting for Israel. Just recently God
had caused the Jordan River to part and the children of Israel
marched through. God called the walls of Jericho
to collapse. They heard about this. And the
children of Israel came in and killed everybody there but Rahab
and her family. And they heard about how the
children of Israel had come into Ai and destroyed every inhabitant. And it was their purpose to come
in and drive out everybody out of the land. They heard this
stuff. And I'm sure they were scared. So what did they decide
to do? They decide to unite forces and
seek to save themselves. Now, if they would have had any
sense at all, they would have pled for mercy. They can't win
against the God of Israel. He's the God of glory. They can't
win against Him, and they should have sued for mercy, but they
didn't. They sought to combine forces to fight and save themselves
from this mighty enemy that was coming to conquer them, Israel
and the God who fought for Israel. So they were scared to death.
And they combined forces, verse 2, they gathered themselves together
to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord. They
were with one accord here, verse 3. And when the inhabitants of
Gibeon, this was part of the Hivites, this was only 18 miles
from Israel, When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had
done unto Jericho and to Ai, this is their response to what
they heard. They did work wildly, deceitfully,
and they went and made as if they had been ambassadors and
took old socks upon their asses, and wine bottles old and rent,
and bound up, and old shoes and cladded, spotted, filthy upon
their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread
of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua
under the camp of Galgal, and said unto the men of Israel,
We become from a far country. We're real far from you. Here's
what we want you to do. Would you be pleased to make
a league with us? Would you be pleased to make
a covenant with us? It's the word that's normally
translated covenant. We know that the only way that
we can be saved is if you make a covenant with us. We can't
make you do it. We can't cause you to do it.
where in your hands would you be pleased to make a covenant
of peace with us where you will agree to have mercy on us. Does that sound like anybody
you know? Their only hope is in a covenant. A covenant that
he made. Not some kind of agreement you
made with him, but in a covenant that he made. That's the way
they come. The only way we can be saved
is if you enter into league, if you enter into a covenant
with us. Now this was deceitful, yes,
it was prudent, yes. We come from a far country. Would
you enter covenant with us? Verse 7, And the men of Israel
said unto the Hivites," now they didn't know they were Hivites.
They thought they were men from a far country. These men used
deceit to make them think they came from a far country. And
the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Perventure, you're one of our
neighbors. Perventure, you're one of the nations that God has
commanded us to destroy. How shall we make a league with
you? We're not allowed to make a league
with you if you're one of the nations that God has ordered
us to destroy. We can't save you. And they said
unto Joshua, we are your servants. We are your slaves. We don't Take any other title
but that. We're your servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who
are you and from whence came you? And they said unto him,
From a very far country thy servants are come. Listen to this. Because of the name of the Lord
thy God, for we have heard of the fame of him and all that
he did in Egypt. We heard about what he did in
Egypt. Now, they heard the gospel. Listen, they heard of the name
of the Lord God. Salvation is for His name's sake. Salvation is in His name. And
they heard of the fame of God, the glory of God, the infinite
greatness of God. And they heard about all that
He did. Isn't that what salvation is? All that He did. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. These people heard the
gospel. I think that's a beautiful summary of the gospel. His name,
His fame, and all that He did. That is salvation. Go on reading,
verse 9. They said unto him, From a very
far country are thy servants come, because of the name of
the Lord thy God. For we have heard of the fame of him, and
all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings
of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon, of Heshbon,
to Og, king of Bashan, that was at Ashteroth. Wherefore, our
elders and all the inhabitants of our land spake to us, saying,
Take vittles with you for the journey, and go to meet them,
and say unto them, We're your servants. We're your slaves.
We're in your hands. Make a league with us. Make a
covenant with us. Enter into a covenant where you
promise to do something for us and to have mercy on us. Now
this thing of covenant, now listen to me real carefully. There are
two covenants. Remember when Paul said in Galatians
chapter 4, these are the two covenants. There's two covenants.
One covenant is called the covenant of works. It makes salvation
in some way dependent upon what you do. And the other is the
covenant of grace. Salvation wholly dependent upon
what he has done. Which covenant do you want to
be under? You know, the nations chose the
covenant of works. We're going to go fight against
Israel. That's our only chance to combine forces and fight against
and seek to save ourselves. But there was one group, the
Hivites, the Gibeonites. They say, our only hope, we don't
stand a chance before this God. If salvation is dependent upon
us, we don't stand a chance. Our only hope is that He, in
His mercy, will enter into a covenant with us where He determines He's
going to have mercy on us. That's it. Covenant of works,
covenant of grace. Which covenant do you want to
be under? You know, it's amazing that most
people would rather be under the covenant of works. Salvation
in some way depended upon you, even as that right down to an
act of your free will, it's still salvation dependent upon you.
Now, if you prefer to be under the covenant of works, let me
tell you something, you're crazy. You're crazy. You're blind. You don't know who God is. You
don't know what sin is. You don't know who you are. And
I say that in love wanting to warn you. I want to be in this
league of grace. I want him to make a covenant
with me where he agrees to save me by his grace for Christ's
sake. He says in verse 12, this our
bread We took heart for our provision out of our houses on the day
we came forth to go unto you. But now behold, it's dry and
it's moldy. It's no good. It can't do us
any good at all. And these bottles of wine, which
were filled, were new. And behold, they're rent. And
these are garments. And our shoes are become old
by reason of the very long journey." Now, they're being deceitful.
They were from only 18 miles away, but they said, we come
from a very far country. And our food is dry and moldy
and withered, and it won't do us any good. Our garments are
old and tattered. Our shoes, that which we walk
in, are clouded and holy and filled with holes. I don't mean
holy hole, I mean filled with holes. What they're coming, they're
saying, my garment is no good. My walk is no good. My provisions
can't do anything for me. Now, if you're seeking mercy
and desire for God to be in covenant with you for Christ's sake, so
you'll be spared, you don't come saying, I've already got good
food to eat. I've got a good garment. I got nice shoes. I got a good walk. I'm in good
shape. And I want you to be in covenant
with me. Now, if you come to God like that, What you're doing
is you're saying, you owe me this. You owe me this. I've done this. I've done this.
I've done that. You owe me this. That's like
somebody saying, you need to forgive me. It's your duty to
forgive me. I thought you were a Christian.
You need to forgive me. That doesn't work that way. And you
sure aren't going to come to God's presence like that. You
need to do this for me because I did that. No, if you want mercy,
You're going to come like these gibboniacs did, with a filthy
garment. Your righteousness is as filthy
rags. Your shoes, your walk, you're
ashamed of it. And the provisions you have won't
do you any good at all. They're dry and moldy and can
offer you no spiritual sustenance. And you come to God like that,
you know what you need? Mercy. Enter into a covenant
of mercy with me. That's the only way I can be
saved is if you do something for me. Would you enter a covenant
because of who you are? You know, this is the way the
leper came. This is exactly the way the leper came. He said,
Lord, if you will, I can't do anything about this. It's totally
up to your sovereign will. If you will, you can. Make me clean. They're coming
the same way that leper did. And this is the way any sinner
comes who comes in sincerity. They know they're deceivers.
They know they're sinful. They feel no different than the
gibbonites. They come knowing their only
hope is if he would make a covenant of mercy with them. Does that
sound like anybody in here? Do you have any understanding
of this? Oh, I want to be like these gibbonites.
This is who I want to be. You know, it's interesting. I
read, or I listened to at least five sermons. I looked up on
Sermon Audio to find out if anybody preached on this passage, and
every one of them said the Gibeonites were religious hypocrites. They
represented the Christians who were nothing more than hypocrites.
And I thought, these guys, why don't they see God? Well, God's
blind in their eyes, but oh, this is such a powerful gospel
message and gospel type that you can see in this. Let's go
on reading. 14. Now this is the Israelites. Verse 14. And the men took of their vittles,
and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. They took
them at their word and said, well, they really are who they
say they are. They're men from a far country. And this is proof. Look at their clothes. Look at
their food. They accepted without asking the Lord about them. Verse
15. And Joshua. You know that he's
the great type of Christ, don't you? Jesus is the Greek word
for the Hebrew word Joshua. Joshua made peace with them and
made a league with them to let them live. And the princes of the congregation
swear unto them, we're going to let you guys live. We're not
going to destroy you. We're not going to kill you.
We're going to let you live. All of their salvation, this
deceitful bunch of guys and all of their salvation was found
in this covenant that Joshua made of peace where he said,
I'm going to let you live. What a covenant. One thing I know about these
men, they deserve destruction. They were liars and deceivers
and the only way they could be saved is if Joshua made this
covenant of peace. Verse 16, and it came to pass
at the end of three days after they had made a league within,
that they heard that they were their neighbors, and they dwelt
among them. They found out they'd been deceived.
They'd been swindled. And the children of Israel journeyed,
verse 17, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now
their cities were Gibeon, and Jephalah, and Biroth, and Kirjath,
G-O-M. And the children of Israel smote
them not. They came to them. They took
this 18-mile journey, and they came to them, and they smote
them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn
unto them by the Lord God of Israel. This covenant had been
made, and the people of Israel, the congregation, murmured against
the princes, Why'd you make a covenant like this? But all the princes
said unto the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord
God of Israel, now therefore we may not touch them. They are
protected totally because of this league we made with them. Now somebody thinks, well, why
didn't they go ahead and break it? Because they got it on dishonest ways. Why didn't they just go ahead
and were going to smite you anyway? Nope, not going to happen. If Joshua
made a league with them, They're safe no matter what. No matter how deceitful, no matter
how sinful they are, they are safe in this covenant. Somebody's thinking, you're saying
it's okay to be deceitful? No, I'm not saying that, but
the only way somebody's deceitful like me or you will ever be safe
is with a covenant like this. This is the gospel, this covenant
of peace. Now, verse 20, This we will do
to them. We will even let them live, lest
wrath be upon us. That's how serious God takes
this covenant. We break this covenant, wrath's gonna come
upon us. We're the ones that's gonna be hurting. So we're gonna
let them live, lest wrath come upon us because of the oath which
we swear unto them. They were spared because of this
covenant. And the prince has said in verse
21, Let them live, but let them be ewers of wood and drawers
of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had promised them."
Now, we're going to let them live, but they're going to be
ewers of wood, drawers of water. They're going to be slaves. Now,
it's better than death, isn't it? It's better than death. As
a matter of fact, isn't it a good thing to be a servant and a slave
in the house of God? It's what I want to be. It's
what I want to be. Now, all of their salvation was
found in this covenant. David put it this way in 2 Samuel
23 verse 5, Although my house be not so with God, yet hath
he made with me an everlasting covenant. A covenant made before
the foundation of the world. And this covenant was made with
Christ when Christ agreed to take full responsibility for
my salvation. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things And sure, and this be all my
salvation, and all my desire. I don't even desire anything
else. Though he make it not to grow. Verse 22. And Joshua called for them, and
he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, and used
deceit, saying, We are very far from you, when you dwell among
us? Why do you do this? Now therefore you're cursed,
and shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and use of
wood, and growers of water, for the house of my God." If that's a curse, let me have
it. If that's a curse, let me have it. I want to be in the
house of my God. Now look how they answered, verse
24. And they answered Joshua and said, because it was certainly
told thy servants. How the Lord thy God commanded
his servant Moses to give you all the land and to store all
the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were
so afraid of our lives because of you and have done this thing.
What he's saying is we didn't have any choice. I mean, it's
either this or we'll be put to death. We didn't have any choice.
We heard of certain things. And you know, when you hear the
gospel preach, you hear divine certainties, don't you? Divine
certainties. God is. God is in control. Salvation's
in Christ. Outside of Christ, there's nothing
but wrath. You hear certainties. They heard these certainties.
The God of Moses said, we're all going to be destroyed. So
this was our only option. It's either that or die. This
is the only way we could come. Verse 25, And now, behold, we're
in thine hand, as it seemeth good and right unto thee. do
unto us. Now this is what every believer
does. We're in his hand. We're in his
hand. He's sovereign. He's in absolute
control. We're in his hand. And we wouldn't want to be anywhere
else. And whatever he sees as right in his sight, Verse 26, And so did he unto
them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of
Israel, that they slew them not. And Joshua made them that day
ewers of wood, and drawers of water for the congregation, and
for the altar of the Lord. They supplied the wood for the
sacrifice. What a blessed place to be. Even
unto this day in the place which he should choose. Now the story
is not over. Story's not over. Chapter 10. Now it came to pass when Adonai
Zedek, I think it's interesting his name means Adonai, the Lord,
Zedek, Righteousness, the Lord of Righteousness. Now, he wasn't
a righteous man. We're going to see that. And
this is the first mention we have in the scriptures of Jerusalem.
It came to pass when Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard
how Joshua had taken Ai. Now, it had been called Salem
before this. And you remember how Melchizedek
was the king of Salem? And most think that everyone
who's the king of Salem or Jerusalem was given this name. And that's
why this man was given this name, the king of righteousness, because
Melchizedek is called the king of righteousness. And he was
from Salem, which was going to be Jerusalem, the beloved city,
but it's not yet. This is the first mention we
have of Jerusalem. But here's what he says. Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem,
had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed
it, as he had done to Jericho and her king, and so he had done
to Ai and her king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made
peace with Israel, and were among them, they made this league with
them, that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city,
as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai,
and all the men thereof were mighty. Now these Gibeonites,
They were no pushovers. These were mighty men of valor.
But they knew they couldn't stand before God. They knew that. Why didn't these other fellas
know that? I don't know. But I know the Gideonites knew
that. And you know, if salvation is dependent upon you in any
way, you know you don't have a chance. You know that. Wherefore, verse 3, Adonai Zedek,
king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hotham, king of Hebron, and to
Parham, king of Jeremiah, and unto Japhi, king of Lachish,
and to Devar, king of Eglon, saying, Come up unto me, and
help me that we may smite Gibeon. For it hath made peace with Joshua,
and with the children of Israel." Now, whenever you're in league,
with Christ. The world is not going to want
to have anything to do with you. He said, let's kill them. They're
traitors. They've left us. Let's put them to death. Verse
4, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon,
for it hath made peace with Joshua, and with the children of Israel.
Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem,
the king of Hebron, the king of Jeremiah, the king of Lachish,
the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and
all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against
it." Now, if I was Israel, After these people deceived me, I'd
think, here's my way to get rid of them. Let them get killed. I mean, they deceived me. But
here's the thing about God's covenant. When God enters covenant
with somebody, he becomes completely responsible for their salvation.
So look what happened. Verse 6. And the men of Gibeon
sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slag not thy
hand from thy servants, come up to us quickly, and save us,
and help us, for all the kings of the Adorites that dwell in
the mountain are gathered together against us. They say, come and
help us. Like I said, I would say, here's
our chance to get rid of them, but that's not the way God's
covenant works. You see, in his covenant, everything in salvation
is included, and Joshua was responsible to save this miserable bunch
of people. Isn't that glorious? He was responsible to save them. So Joshua, verse 7, ascended
from Gilgal. He had all the people of war
with him, and all the mighty men of Balor. And the Lord said
unto Joshua, Fear thee not, for I have delivered them into thy
hand. There shall not a man of them stand before thee. Joshua
therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them
with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way
that goeth up to Bethlehem, and smote them to Ezekiah, and to
Macheda. And it came to pass, as they
fled from before Israel, and were going down to Bethlehem,
that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them
unto Azekah. And they did. And they that died,
there were more that died with the hell stones than there were
with the children of Israel, who slew them with the sword."
The Lord is fighting this battle. Verse 12, Then Joshua spake to
the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites
before the children of Israel, and said in the sight of Israel,
Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley Azelon. And the sun stood still, and
the moon stayed, and did the people that avenged themselves
upon their enemies? Is it not written in the book
of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted
not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like
that before or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice
of a man. For the Lord fought for Israel. Now this is one of the great
miracles. He who made the physical laws can easily break them. He
created the universe and he's in control of everything. And
at this time the laws of physics were suspended and the sun stood
still while they smoked all their enemies. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? And when I think of there was
not a day like this when the Lord hearkened to the voice of
a man. What a type Joshua is of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Father always hearkens to
the voice of His Son. Peter, I've prayed for you. Anything else need to be said?
Did He praise for you? You see, the Father always hears
His voice. Verse 15, And Joshua returned,
and all Israel with him into the camp to Gilgal, But these
five kings, you remember them, these five kings fled and hid
themselves in a cave at Markeda. And it was told Joshua, saying,
the five kings are found hid in a cave at Markeda. And Joshua
said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set
men by it for to keep them. And stay out, but pursue after
your enemies, and smite the hide most of them. Suffer them not
to enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath delivered
them into your hand." You know, the Lord's fighting for these
deceitful men. He's taking care of all their
enemies. And it came to pass, verse 20,
And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had
made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till
they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered
in defense cities. And all the people returned to
the camp, to Joshua, at Mechida, in peace. None moved his tongue
against any of the children of Israel. It makes me think of
that scripture in Exodus 11, 7. Against the children of Israel
shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast, so that
you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Nobody's going to say anything
about the Israelites. Verse 21. And all the people returned to
the camp to Joshua to make a deal in peace. None moved his hand
against any of the children of Israel. Then said Joshua, open
the mouth of the cave and bring out those five kings unto me
out of the cave. And they did so and brought forth
those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem,
the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmath, the king of Lachish,
and the king of Egland, the five kings who wanted to get together
and destroy the Gibeonites. And it came to pass, when they
brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for
all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men
of war which went with him, Come near, and put your feet upon
the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their
feet upon the necks of them." Now this is to signify conquest.
They actually literally put their feet on the necks of these kings,
saying, I can squish at you if I want to. You're defeated. These were the enemies of the
Gibeonites. And look what Joshua said. And
Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed. Be strong and
of good courage. For thus shall the Lord do to
all your enemies against whom you fight. And afterwards Joshua
smote them and slew them and hanged them on five trees And
they were hanging upon the trees into the evening, and it came
to pass at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded.
And they took them down off the trees and cast them into the
caves wherein they'd been hid, and laid great stones in the
cave's mouth, which remain until this day." Who are your enemies? I can answer that real easily.
My enemies are my sins. Those are my enemies, my sins. You know what happened to my
sins? They were nailed to a tree. Just like these five enemies
were nailed to a tree, my sins were nailed to a tree. When Christ bore my sins in his
own body on the tree, my sins were nailed to a tree. You know
what that means? That means they're not on me.
They're not on me. When Christ died, after having
me nailed to the tree, He was put in a cave. He was put in
a sepulcher. My sins went with Him. But He was raised from the dead
and my sins. He didn't come out with them.
You know why? Because they were put away. They're gone. They're obliterated.
They're blotted out. All my enemies have been put
away. Verse 28, and that day Joshua took Makeda and smote
it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, he utterly
destroyed them and all the souls that were therein. He let none
remain. And he did to the king of Makeda
as he did unto the king of Jericho. He let none remain. Do you know
how much of my sin remains? None. None. Now, these men of Gibeon, they
were deceitful, they used subtlety. You know anybody else like that? Know anybody else like that?
They knew that the only way they could be accepted is if a covenant
was made with them. And it was totally up to the
one who made the covenant. They couldn't produce this. But
they came trying to look as bad as they can. They didn't try
to come looking good. They came looking as bad as they
can. Now, if you want mercy, don't say, save me, I'm good.
Save me, I've got a good walk. Save me, I've got a good ride.
No. You come like these Gibeonites. We came from a far country. We're
way far away from here. And the only way we can be saved
because of these clouded shoes and this horrible garment and
this food that won't do us any good, we come as sinners asking
for mercy that you will enter into the covenant with us to
let us live. We're in your hands. Let us live. Now, if you come like that, you will be received by God Himself. God will meet you on the ground
that you want to come to Him. If you want to come on the ground
of your works, He'll meet you on that ground. And you're going
to have the same end as all these five kings did. They thought,
let's save ourselves. Let's fight. And you know what
happened to them. But if you come like the Gibeonites
did, on the ground of pure, free grace, unmerited favor, you will
be received. You're somebody that He entered
into covenant with, the glorious covenant of grace. May God give
me and you The wisdom, they walked wildly, yes it was deceitful,
but it's also translated prudence and wisdom. And this is the wise
way of approaching God. Any other way will lead to destruction. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you that you
made a covenant with your Son to save sinful people. And Lord, our only hope is that we might be found in
Him, in His covenant. Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that you would create saving faith in each heart here according
to your will. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen.