Sermon Tone Analysis

Beware Of Pretenders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua 9:1-27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 1999

 

Beware Of Pretenders

The Great Impostor

 

The artic polar bear feeds almost entirely on seal.

To enjoy such a meal, he sometimes resorts to a cunning bit of trickery.

If the hole in the ice through which the seal gets his food is not too far from the edge of open water, the bear will take a deep breath, slip underwater, and swim to the seal's fishing hole.

He will then imitate a fish scratching lightly on the under side of the ice.

When the seal hears this sound, he dives in for a quick supper, only to find himself caught in the huge, hungry embrace of his predator.

The devil entices us in a similar way.

He uses deception to gain a foothold.

Then when we’ve succumbed to the temptation, he catches us in his trap.

Introduction

 

/Have you ever been told, watch out when things are going well?/

There is a lot of truth in this statement.

It is when we are sailing along nicely that we let our guard down.

Since we don’t have any problems to deal with, we are confident and self reliant.

We don’t consult God about everything.

We feel that we are handling things pretty well on our own.

/After all God is blessing us, isn’t He? Surely we are wiser now and can handle smaller decisions on our own, can’t we?/ Wrong!

This is when the enemy strikes his hardest.

Victory leaves us very vulnerable to pride and self sufficiency.

Israel faced this same danger.

They had just won a tremendous victory against Ai and Bethel.

After this Joshua lead them on a spiritual retreat to Mount Ebal.

/Surely they were ready for whatever came their way now, weren’t they?/ Joshua led Israel back to their camp at Gilgal.

The Enemies Response

 

*Joshua 9:1-4 a* /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; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work craftily, /

 

After Israel’s victories at Jericho, Ai, and Bethel, the Canaanites responded in two different ways.

The enemy doesn’t always work the same way.

He can respond differently and launch more than one attack at a time.

1.

Five nations formed an alliance to launch a direct attack on Israel.

- War  

2.

One nation, the Gibeonites used a deceptive approach with Israel.

- Peace

 

Good soldiers keep alert for both forms of attack.

The attack by the large confederation is recorded in chapter 10, whilst chapter 9 deals with the deception of the Gibeonites.

I.

The Deception Of Gibeon.

II.

The Discovery Of Israel.

III.

The Decision Of Israel.

*/Firstly/*  The Deception Of Gibeon.

*Joshua 9:3-4a * /And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work craftily, /

 

We are told that the leaders of Gibeon worked */craftily./*

Since outright conflict had failed for the inhabitants of Jericho, Ai and Bethel, they used stealth.

/If you can’t lick ‘em join ‘em.

/

 

1.

Gibeon’s Request

 

Satan is referred to as being /crafty/ or /subtle/ in Genesis 3:1.

He still uses this approach today.

In fact he tends to be more subtle when attacking mature believers.

/How did the Gibeonites go about doing this?

What was involved in this plan?/

They used three basic steps to secure a league or peace treaty with Israel.

a.

*/They Spoke Falsehood./*

*9:4-6*/ They did work craftily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a *league* with us.

/

 

Firstly they told outright lies.

They claimed to have come from a far away country to make a peace agreement with Israel.

They pretended to be ambassadors on a mission of peace.

They stuck to their story and told it convincingly even after they were questioned.

It has been said that if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it.

b.