There came a time in the life of Joshua when he had to trust God for the truth or suffer the consequences of his own human error. We all have to learn that lesson at some point. Hopefully it happens to most of us at a time when we aren't commanding an army and defending a whole nation of people.
After the great victory the Israelites experienced at Ai, the fearful Kings of the land of Canaan gathered together to discuss what to do next about Israel. Those Israelites and their God were taking over! They decided to ban together and fight for possession of the land. Everyone agreed except for one party – the Gibeonites.
WELCOME
Welcome to the COME AS A CHILD weekly bible study. We post this on-going study here in the blog every Thursday. Hopefully you enjoyed the Thanksgiving break we took last week. I pray your Thanksgiving celebration was as abundant and joyful as the one we enjoyed at our home this year.
Also; I hope the spiritual meals of these bible study lessons are opening your eyes and making you think a little harder about the meanings of the Holy Scriptures that our Father has so graciously gifted to us.
For those just joining in with us; we welcome you! If you wish to receive these lessons every week; just click on the "submit" button above and let us know. We are slowly walking through the bible together, word-by- word and page-by-page with the eyes of a child who is just learning the wonders of their Father's plan. Today we are looking at The Book of Joshua; Chapter Nine. It is our pleasure to have your company. Your comments and questions are always warmly welcomed.
THE FALSE PLAN OF THE GIBEONITES
From the point of view of the Gibeonites; the battle with Israel would only result in a slaughter. They had heard how God helped Israel in defeating the Amorites. Also; they knew the stories of the previous defeats of King Sihon and King Og. They had been watching closely during the victorious battles of Jericho and Ai. Though they were not closely associated with Israel's God; they feared Him enough to not want to fight against Him. The Gibeonites realized that The God of Israel was REAL.
The elders of the Gibeonites discussed the matter. Finally, they came up with a workable plan which they hoped would save their lives. It was a clever plan; but it involved lies and deception. People used to practicing paganism are not usually too concerned about lies and deceptions. Winning (at any cost) is usually their focus. The Gibeonites all agreed to pretend to be foreigners on a long deliberate journey toward Israel. It was plain to them that the conquests of Israel were always against anyone from Canaan. The false front they would present would be to appear as ambassadors of goodwill from a different and foreign land.
For the sake of appearing to be "real" ambassadors they disguised their appearance. They used old sacks for saddles on their donkeys. Their clothes and their sandals were old and worn. Even the bread they carried with them to use in the peace treaty was old and crusty. Some of it was molded.
They entered the camp at Gilgal looking as if they were tired and worn from a very long journey. No one realized at first that they had actually traveled only a few miles.
JOSHUA IS DECEIVED
When he looked up and saw them entering the camp Joshua had only one question: "Who are you?"
Quickly they claimed to be foreigners who had heard of the Great God of Israel. They proclaimed their admiration for such a Great God and confessed their willingness to become servants to the causes of this God which had delivered Israel from Egypt.
When Joshua questioned them further, they explained to him that their elders had heard of Israel's God and how mighty He was in battle. They said their elders had sent them to Israel on mission to become servants in order to follow this God. A covenant of peace was their request. This was offered in exchange for their lives in service to The God of Israel.
WELL-CRAFTED LIES OF THE ENEMY
Perhaps Joshua was impressed. They had caught him off-guard with this great deception and all of their well-crafted lies. He might have considered that they were leaving all they had to follow God and to participate in a brave and noble cause.
Have you ever met a modern-day Gibeonite as you have traveled down the dusty road of destiny toward your divine purpose from God?
Deception is always in the air.
It happens.
If it happened to Joshua; it could probably happen to you.
Look around the world of today and see how many similar cases of such well-crafted lies a person in our culture and times could encounter and experience on a daily basis. I do not need to call them out. You know many such things that are currently happening.
Jesus warned us that such deceptions would come before the end of time as we now know it.
DECEPTION
The end-time deceptions will probably come to us in the same well-disguised forms that they came to those old Israelites.
Things will APPEAR to be true.
People will SEEM to be sincere and truthful.
They will come to us to offer help during times of distress. Perhaps it will be in a way that would seem capable of making our day-to-day lives easier and more abundant or better or healthier. We may feel inclined to agree with them and conform to their ideas. It will seem so logical to us at the time.
In the perceptions of our human flesh the deceivers will look and seem like good people whom we can trust.
Everything will seem right and all of the proper evidence will appear to be in place.
WILL YOU FALL FOR THE NARRATIVE?
Joshua certainly fell for the narrative of his day. These politically-correct Gibeonites appeared to be sincerely interested in serving God. That fact seemed to be their only reason for traveling to meet with Israel. In his human judgement Joshua must have been thinking; "this is great; what could be better?"
They came in the name of peace and goodwill. What could go wrong?
Also; they were willing to document their desire for peace in a good and proper legal and traditional way with a covenant of peace.
From a human perspective; all will be well.
Joshua thought this proposal would work out to the good of all concerned. He was all about living peacefully in the land. After all; isn't that a more godly way to act? He also knew his people could use a few more hands in the day-to-day work of the community.
Why not?
JUST ONE LITTLE THING
Just one little thing was forgotten though. God was fine with Israel making peace treaties with any other nation; except for the people of Canaan. In their case, judgement had already been given. For years and years the Canaanites had their opportunities to change. They were not capable of doing so. Nor did they want to do so.
Finally; God had specifically told Israel that the people of Canaan were to be slayed and extinguished from the land forever. It was the only way to drive out pagan worship from the land.
Joshua totally forgot to ask God what to do.
Instead; he acted in his own human intuitions.
The great leader and commander of Israel's army simply forgot that God had already firmlly made this decision for them. He didn't pray. No one fasted to get an answer. Not one person waited on God before making a move in the direction of obtaining that treaty and making it legal and binding with these people forever. All they could see was that they would be relieved of some of their chores and they would not have to fight again; at least this time and for the moment.
Sometimes when we are tired; we forget to think correctly. It is a human weakness that must be overcome. Realizing that God always sees further and better than our human eyes is also a way that we could overcome constant trouble and distress.
Joshua forgot.
Often; we are too confident from our current victories and any great experiences of the moment. We become so full of ourselves that we forget who actually wins the battles for us.
Joshua was in that place. It was an important moment in history and Joshua was not consulting The God of the Universe. He was leaning on his own human judgement.
Such a move is always a dangerous thing.
A SIMILAR TIME WITH A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE
It is interesting to note another time in history when someone did just the opposite of Joshua. The "someone" I am speaking of is Daniel. He was living as a captive of Babylon after the defeat of Israel in another time and place.
Daniel found the prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah that we read about in Jeremiah 29:11. This prophesy foretells of a 70-year period that would end Israel's captivity by Babylon.
Immediately after reading this Daniel went to his knees in prayer. He sought confirmation from God. Daniel began those prayers by confessing his own sins and then confessing the sins of Israel. He continued in prayer and fasting; asking God for clear answers for his nation.
God sent The Angel named Gabriel with a message.
Gabriel told Daniel of a time period that would come to pass in which all sin would end and righteousness would be established. "Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place." (Daniel 9:24)
Can you imagine receiving such a message from God by way of Gabriel?
What would you have done with it if that had happened to you?
Daniel did not forget to consult God.
ANOTHER FALSE COVENANT OF PEACE
There was more to the message. The rest of the message speaks about a ruler confirming a covenant of peace with many for seven years. In the middle of that seven years, this world ruler will put an end to sacrifice and offering. He will set up an abomination that causes desolation inside God's temple.
Many of today's prophets are looking for a time when the third temple is restored and this prophesy will come to pass. I believe that God's Temple has now been established inside the bodies of each of the true believers of Messiah. Christians are actually walking around as the third Temple. Our hearts are the place of The Holy of Holies.
With this thought in mind; it is possible that "the abomination that causes desolation" could be something that a ruler of the earth declares to happen inside the bodies of the followers of Christ. Just my own personal opinion. Jesus cautioned us strongly not to be deceived. Just in case my opinion is correct; please do not allow any harmful thing inside your body where The Holy Spirit lives. Satan will do anything to separate God's people from Him.
My point here is that end times are going to start with a false seven-year peace treaty. This is the same pattern that we see happening with Joshua and the people of Israel with the Gibeonites. They are making a treaty of peace with the deceptive enemies of God in the land of promise based on false and human assumptions.
We too, like Daniel in his day, should be paying attention to the times and discerning how God wants us to live them out. We should not be neglectful as Joshua was in today's story. There is an urgent need for prayer, fasting, turning from sin and seeking God's face during these times in which we are currently living. So many evil plots have already manifested.
BE FAITHFUL AND WAIT ON GOD
Will our times follow the same patterns that we see presented in the books of Joshua and Daniel? We will simply have to be faithful and wait and see.
It is all interesting to consider as we go along and watch things develop. We must hold on to and remember that God is ALWAYS in control and He ALWAYS keeps His promises.
A GODLY REVERSAL
Also; our God has a way of reversing evil plots, turning them around and making them work for good.
It seems that the pagan Gibeonites came to believe in The God of Israel. They were not just afraid of His power anymore; they actually believed in His goodness.
Three days passed and the truth was revealed. The deceivers became the new believers.
After their deception was discovered and confessed, Joshua decided that the covenant must be kept and honored because it had been provided in God's name. After this the people of Gibeon decided to put their pagan ways aside. They realized they had been saved by the mercy of God. (I hope all of this sounds like another familiar pattern to you.)
The Gibeonites actually kept their covenant promise and began to be servants for Israel's congregational worship. They carried the wood and the water for the sacrifices at the altar. In offering up their lives in service to God and others; they actually received and realized their own salvation.
The Gibeonites were actually a lot like Rahab. Their eyes had been opened to the truth. In the long-haul they began to correct their paths and walked with God.
In the end, much good came from all of these terrible plots of the Gibeonites as well as the neglectful mistakes of Joshua. God is so merciful and forgiving. He will often provide a way when we humans can't even see a way.
Both parties learned that God is ALWAYS in control. This surely increased their faith. Both parties repented of their sins and adjusted their ways.
In the end; ALL were blessed.
I wonder if we could ever learn to do the same with all of our human mistakes in today's world? The first step is to admit any guilt and turn. All lies and falsehoods must be confessed and corrected.
What a different world that could be!
Only God could bring us to a place where truth prevails and lies no longer exist.
One day He will.
God always keeps His promises.
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