SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2013
2:32 PM
For some reason I do not have my Spiritual diaries
that go with Joshua 9:6-15 and so what I have decided to do is to just copy the
commentary from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on these verses, and after that I
will go on with putting my regular SD’s on the blog.
“What the Gieonites said (Josh.
9:6-13) “6 They went to Joshua to the
camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come
from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us." 7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites,
"Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant
with you?" 8 But they said to
Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who
are you and where do you come from?" 9
They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far country
because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the report of Him
and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and all
that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to
Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth. 11 "So our elders and all the inhabitants
of our country spoke to us, saying, ’Take provisions in your hand for the
journey, and go to meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; now
then, make a covenant with us."’ 12
"This our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of
our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry
and has become crumbled. 13 "These
wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our
clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey."
“Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44),
and human nature is such that many people find it easier to tell lies than the
truth. With tongue in cheek, the
American political leader Adlai Stevenson said, ‘A lie is an abomination unto
the Lord—and a very present help in trouble.’
The Gieonites told several lies in their attempt to get out of trouble.
“First, they said they were ‘from a
very far country (Josh. 9:6, 9) when they actually lived twenty-five miles
away. Then they lied about their
clothing and food. ‘This bread of ours
ws warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is.’ (V. 12
NIV). They also lied about themselves
and gave the impression that they were important envoys on an official peace
mission from the elders of their city.
They also called themselves ‘your servants’ (vv. 8, 9, 11), when in
reality they were the enemies of Israel.
“These four lies were bad enough;
but when the visitors said they had come ‘because of the name of the Lord’ (V.
9), it was blasphemous. Like the
citizens of Jericho (2:10), the people in Gibeon had heard about Israel’s march
of conquest ((:9-10); but unlike Rahab and her family, they didn’t put their
faith in the Lord. These men were wise
enough not to mention Israel’s victories at Jericho and Ai; for that news
couldn’t have reached their ‘far country’ that quickly. Satan ambassadors can lie more convincingly
than some Christians can tell the truth!
“Satan knows how to use ‘religious
lies’ to give the impression that people are seeking to know the Lord. In my pastoral ministry I’ve met people who
have introduced themselves as seekers;
but the longer they talked, the more convinced I was they were sneakers; trying to get something out of
me and the church. They would make their
‘profession of faith’ and then start telling me their sad tale of woe, hoping
to reak my heart and then pick my pocket.
Of all liars, ‘religious liars’ are the worst. If you need to be convinced of this, read 2
Peter 2 and the Epistle of Jude.
Why they succeeded (Josh. 9:14-15): “14 So the men of Israel took some of their
provisions, and did not
ask for the counsel of the LORD. 15
Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live;
and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.”
“The reason is simple: Joshua and the princes of Israel were
impetuous and didn’t take time to consult the Lord. They walked by sight and not by faith. After listening to the strangers’ speech and
examining the evidence, Joshua and his leaders concluded that the men were
telling the truth. The leaders of Israel
took the ‘scientific approach’ instead of the ‘spiritual approach.’ They depended on their own senses, examined
the ‘facts,’ discussed the matter, and agreed in their conclusion. IT was all logical and convincing, bu it was
all wrong. They had made the same
mistake at Ai (Chap. 7) and hadn’t yet learned to wait on the Lord and seek His
direction.
“The will of God comes from the
heart of God (Ps. 33:11), and He delights to make it known to His children when He knows they are humble and willing to
obey. We don’t seek God’s will like
customers who look at options but like servants who listen for orders. ‘If any of you really determines to do God’s
will, then you will certainly know (John. 7:17, TLB) is a basic principle for
victorious Christians living. God sees
our hearts and knows whether we are really serious about obeying Him. Certainly we ought to use the mind God has
given us, but we must heed the warning of Proverbs 3:5-6) and not lean on our own understanding.
“If this group of men had been an
authentic official delegation, it would have comprised a much larger company
bearing adequate supplies, including sufficient provisions for the trip
home. Real ambassadors would have thrown
away their ‘dry and moldy’ bread because their servants would have baked fresh
read for them. As officials, they would
have packed the proper attire so that they might make the best impression
possible as they negotiated with the enemy.
Had Joshua and his leaders paused to think and pray about what they saw,
they would have concluded that the whole thing was a trick. ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to
him’ (James 1:5 NKJV)
“True faith involves exercising
patience (Heb. 6:12). ‘Whoever believes
will not act hastily’ (Isa. 28:16 NKJV).
Moses had told the Jews, ‘e careful not to make a treaty with those who
live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you (Ex.
34:12, NIV). But in their haste Joshua
and the Jewish leaders broke God’s law and made a covenant with the enemy. Since their oath was sworn in the name of the
Lord (Josh. 9:18), it could not be broken.
Joshua and the princes of Israel had sworn to their own hurt (Ps. 15:4;
Eccl. 5:1-7), and there was no way to revoke their oath or be released from
their promises.
“Like Joshua and the nation of
Israel, God’s people today are living in enemy territory and must constantly
exercise caution. When you believe the
enemy instead of seeking the mind of the Lord, you can expect to get into
trouble.”
3/18/2013
3:27 PM
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