SERIES: Joshua: Victory through Faith
It’s Never Right to Do Wrong to Do Right
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: We live in a crazy, mixed-up world, in case you hadn’t checked lately. Radical Muslims think nothing of blowing up a barracks and killing and maiming hundreds in order to send a message to the United States to get out of Saudi Arabia. Radical militiamen in Montana and elsewhere feel justified in plotting against federal institutions because their taxes are too high and they don’t like Supreme Court decisions. Politicians constantly lie and distort their own positions, as well as their opponent’s positions, and constantly pander to the cravings of the masses for free lunches and pork barrel handouts—all in order to get elected or re-elected. Illegal aliens crash our borders at an astonishing rate because they don’t think they get a fair shake in their own country. Everywhere the end is being used to justify the means. The goals of power or wealth or satisfaction or convenience is taken as paramount, and the methods used to achieve those goals are considered largely irrelevant.
Life is made up largely of actions and reactions. Strangely, we sometimes justify reactions that we would never think of condoning as actions. People who would not normally steal will cheat on their taxes because the government pushes them into it with its waste and exorbitant rates. People who would not normally lie will falsify a resume because jobs are so scarce and the playing field is not level. People who would not normally take another human life, or even an animal’s, abort their own children at the rate of one every two seconds in the United States because a problem pregnancy drives them to it.
I would like to suggest to you today a theme that just jumps out at me from Joshua chapter 9, our Scripture text, namely that “It’s never right to do wrong to do right.” A righteous goal must not be pursued by unrighteous means. And I’ll go a bit further: “It’s never right to do wrong in reaction to another wrong.” One person’s sin is never justified by another person’s sin. Our reactions must be as controlled by the Spirit of God as are our actions.
As we read Joshua 9 together, think about these principles and see if you can spot illustrations of them.
Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)—they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”
“We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”
They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’ This bread of ours was 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. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.
Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”
So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day.
The opening paragraphs of Joshua 9, through verse 13, tell the story of the Gibeonite Deception, and I would like to summarize this story before examining our first proposition. As you well know if you have been with us during the past several months, Joshua and the Israelites have finally begun to occupy the Promised Land that God promised to their forefather Abraham over 600 years earlier.
A miraculous crossing of the Jordan River was soon followed by the miraculous destruction of the armed fortress of Jericho. A temporary setback at Ai resulted from sin in the camp of Israel, but repentance and judgment led to eventual victory. Then followed the remarkable renewal of the Covenant with God, as all Israel gathered between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim to recite the words of the Law.
As we come to chapter 9, we find Israel’s victories over Jericho and Ai arousing the surrounding city states to concerted action. There is an old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. These city states have been constantly at war with one another, but as a new enemy comes across their collective horizon, they suddenly join together in a powerful confederation. This is not unlike what we see in the Mideast today. The Shiite Muslims hate the Sunni Muslims; the Iraqis hate the Iranians; and the Saudis hate the Jordanians. But the hatred of each for Jews allows them to overlook their mutual hatreds and unites them against Israel. That much has not changed for about 3,500 years.
The kings of these territories west of the Jordan declare Jihad, or holy war, on Joshua and the people of God. However, not all of Israel’s enemies want to fight. The Gibeonites are convinced they can never defeat Israel in battle, so they sue for peace instead. Located in the hill country only six miles from Jerusalem and about the same distance from Ai, Gibeon is known as “an important city like one of the royal cities” (see 10:2), and it is itself the head of a small confederation that includes three other towns, as noted in 9:17.
The Gibeonites adopt an ingenious plan of survival. They send a delegation to Joshua, disguised as weary and worn travelers who have been on a long and arduous journey. Their wineskins are old and cracked, their sandals are worn and patched; they have on old clothes; and their food is dry and moldy. They claim to have come from a distant country and ask Joshua to make a treaty with them.
What is their point? Why the elaborate ruse? Well, apparently the Gibeonites are aware of a provision in the Mosaic Law which permitted Israel to make peace with cities that are at a considerable distance, but the same provision required them to wipe out completely the cities of the seven nearby Canaanite nations. In Deut. 20:10, for example, God says, “When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.” But then in verse 16 it says,
“However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.”
The knowledge of this part of Israel’s Law leads the Gibeonites to conclude that their only hope for survival is to seduce the Israelites into thinking they are from a far country. I understand their position. Their goal is to avoid extermination. The Gibeonites are pagans, so we can’t expect a high standard of ethics from them. They have seen what happened to their neighbors at Jericho and Ai, and they are at least wise enough to know that a God who flattens the walls of a fortress by the mere blowing of a few trumpets is not a God to be messed with.
Still Proverbs 12:19 tells us that “a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” Sooner or later trickery and deceit are almost always exposed, and the truth gets out. In fact, it takes just three days for the Gibeonite ruse to be revealed. But in that short time Israel makes a major mistake that comes back to haunt them. I have expressed it in terms of our first proposition:
It is wrong to make a foolish or hasty promise.
At first Joshua and his leaders are hesitant about this rag-tag group of travelers. They express their skepticism in verse 7: “But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?” But the Gibeonite actors have a ready response. They lay it on thick with reports of Israel’s fame and how the Lord God has consistently defeated Israel’s enemies. You can just see Joshua and his cohorts swelling with pride that their fame has spread to far countries.
Still the Israelites balk. They decide they need some empirical evidence, so verse 14 tells us that “the men of Israel sampled the provisions” of the Gibeonites. They wanted to see if the bread was really dry and moldy. Sure enough, it was. What better proof could you ask for? Well, the last half of verse 14 tells us what they should have asked for: “they did not inquire of the Lord.” The embers of Ai are still smoking, and Israel has already forgotten the lesson that they can’t conquer this land on their own.
Yes, they are a bit more careful this time than they were when they first went up against Ai. At least they ask some of the right questions this time. They investigate the evidence. But friends, the CIA, the FBI, the ATF, and the Secret Service together are no substitute for a Word from the Lord. James 1:5 tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Allan Redpath writes, “It seems to take us a long time to learn the lesson that neglect of prayer always leads to trouble and destroys the spirit of discernment. Neglect of prayer always suggests pride in our own judgment, which is fatal.”
What is the result? Look at verse 15: “Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.” It is wrong to make foolish and hasty decisions. The reason we make decisions independent of God is generally human pride. We are proud of our intellect, we are proud of our reasoning, we are proud of our decision-making ability. If we get stuck, then we’ll ask God to help us out. If we make an obviously bad decision, then, of course, we’ll ask Him to extricate us from the pit we have dug. But doesn’t it make sense to consult Him first? Shouldn’t we seek His face and ask His opinion before we make a major purchase, beforewe get engaged or married, before we make a major career change?
More particularly, this passage teaches us that it is wrong to make foolish or hasty promises. There is a lot in Scripture about oaths or promises. There are a few warnings against making them at all, and many others against making them hastily. Consider Proverbs 20:25: “It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.” Or consider Eccl. 5:4-6:
“When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?”
This brings to our attention a second, even more profound truth that is prominent in Joshua 9.
It is wrong to break a promise, even if it was made foolishly or hastily.
As our story unfolds, we find that the Israelites are pretty ticked that the Gibeonites have pulled the wool over their eyes. They surround the four Gibeonite cities with troops, but they cannot attack because, (verse 18), the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And since they cannot attack the Gibeonites, they begin to attack their own leaders. It says at the end of verse 18, “The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders.” But the leaders answer, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.”
Joshua understands something very well here. Reacting to the Gibeonite treachery by going back on the treaty he had made is unconscionable. Two wrongs don’t make a right. The Israelites erred by not consulting God; they must not err again by going back on their promise. But, you say, the treaty was based completely on deception. Yes, but a man’s word is his word. Better to be defrauded than to violate a covenant.
Perhaps the most stunning illustration of the fact that it is wrong to break a promise, even when it is entered into hastily or foolishly, is found in Judges 11, the next book of the Old Testament. This is the story of Jephthah, a mighty warrior whom the Israelites called upon to save them when the Ammonites made war on them. I want to begin reading in verse 29:
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.
When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.”
“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”
“You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
Now godly interpreters differ on what actually happened in this story. I do not think Jephthah literally sacrificed his daughter’s life. The phrase, “to sacrifice as a burnt offering,” might also mean “to dedicate her to the service of the Lord at the temple for the rest of her life.” Thus, she would never marry, with the result that Jephthah’s line would become extinct, since she was his only child. This explains both his anguish and her two-month mourning period over never being able to marry. In fact, it is the only interpretation that I think explains why the story ends as it does: “After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.” The latter would have been a pointless and inane remark if, in fact, she was put to death.
Nevertheless, the foolishness of Jephthah’s vow is obvious. He did not expect his daughter to be the first one out of his house and his own soul was tormented greatly over the result. God doesn’t ask us to bargain with him by making blind promises that affect other people’s lives. Yet I would remind you that the primary purpose for this story, and I suggest the primary reason Jephthah is mentioned as one of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11, is that he acted as a man of honor in keeping his promise.
Now I want to share with you some modern-day examples of how we are often faced with the question of whether we will break a vow or pay the cost of integrity, as Joshua and Jephthah did. Not too long ago a man I know sued his wife for divorce. Moving beyond all the rationalizations and excuses he offered, his fundamental argument for divorce was that he should never have married her in the first place. They weren’t right for one another; his parents had exercised undue influence; it was not a match made in Heaven. What does Joshua 9 say to such a situation? I think it says that even when a promise is entered into foolishly or hastily, the promise should be kept. The wrong of a hasty decision is not righted by the wrong of an unbiblical divorce.
Perhaps you are living with the painful consequences of not consulting the Lord about your marriage. Who should you do? You go to the God who is in the business of helping us honor our vows. He promises that He will work in us to be a sanctifying influence on the one with whom we’ve entered into marriage, as well as on the children of that marriage (1 Cor. 7:12-14).
Let me share a more positive example. There is a man in our church who had a thriving business. He was making lots of money and, by his own admission, got too big for his britches. He bid a certain large job and was chosen as the contractor. After getting into the job, he discovered a serious mistake in his bid, and he realized he would lose a quarter of a million dollars on the project. Some friends, even Christian friends, suggested he walk when he discovered what had happened—just cut his losses and leave the job undone. Others told him he should declare bankruptcy. But he didn’t think either of those approaches was right, so he borrowed the money and finished the job. Today, nine years later, he’s still paying off those loans. His business has pretty much closed down, his net worth has taken a serious nosedive, and retirement is just around the corner. But he has his integrity. He kept his word. His profession of faith still has teeth in it.
Let me apply the importance of keeping promises to one other area. This Fall we are going to have a capital stewardship campaign here at First Free, and each one of us will be asked to make a three-year faith promise so that we can add desperately needed space to our facilities. There are times when I have heard faith promises explained as “an amount of money you will give if God provides it.” I may even have explained them that way myself in the past. People are encouraged to stretch their faith, to set an ambitious target, and if they don’t reach it, well, at least they tried.
Frankly, I’m not sure that’s a biblical definition of a faith promise. It seems to me much more biblical to ask people to carefully examine the cost, to exercise great faith, to purpose in their hearts what they intend to do, and then do it. 2 Cor. 9:7 says, “each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give.”
I remember an interesting thing that happened sometime during my second or third year as pastor in Wichita. I was opening the mail one day when the church secretary was gone, and I came across a rather large check for the building fund from a banker who didn’t even attend our church. I talked to the financial secretary and asked him if he knew why this banker was giving to our building fund. “Oh yes,” he said, “he attended here before you became pastor but for some reason left before you arrived” (maybe because I arrived, I don’t know). “But he had made a large faith promise for our building. And even though he left the church, he has faithfully given that amount every year.” Only one human being would ever have known if that man had decided to renege on his faith promise—the church’s financial secretary. But God also knew.
It is wrong to break a promise, even if it was made foolishly or hastily. Now let me soften this just a bit, hopefully without destroying the point I am trying to make. If a vow is made which violates the revealed will of God, then it should not be kept. It’s never right to do wrong to do right. In other words, “it’s never right to violate a known commandment of God in order to keep a silly vow.” If Jephthah really did vow to physically sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering, then I believe he was wrong to keep that vow. But except where one’s vow violates the revealed will of God, promises must be kept. It’s never right to break a promise just to get out of a tight spot.
Now the third and final proposition I want us to consider this morning is this:
God is able to turn a mistake into a blessing.
I see this happening on two fronts in our story.
God turned Joshua’s mistake into a blessing. In the early paragraphs of chapter 10 we read that the surrounding Canaanite kings, led by Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, become extremely alarmed at the treaty Israel made with Gibeon. So, they decide to punish Gibeon for making peace with their common enemy, Israel. Gibeon, in turn, calls upon their new ally to offer them protection against the Canaanite alliance. Let’s begin reading at 10:6:
The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.” So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.
As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
Frankly, I don’t think Joshua was obligated to offer help to the Gibeonites. His peace treaty was to let them live, not to protect them from outside enemies. But Joshua sees a strategic military advantage in going to Gibeon’s aid. Up to this time Israel’s army was attacking one fortified city at a time, at best a long and drawn-out offensive procedure for conquering the entire land of Canaan. But now Joshua faces the combined Amorite armies of southern Canaan camped together in an open field outside Gibeon. An Israelite victory could break the backs of the entire Canaanite alliance. Besides, God has assured Joshua that he need not be afraid of them, for God would give him victory.
So, Joshua and his forces march the 25 miles under cover of darkness, climbing 4,000 feet up steep and difficult terrain. Motivated by God’s promise of victory, Joshua leads a surprise attack despite the fatigue of his men. Panic seizes Israel’s enemies, and soon they flee in wild confusion. They are unable to escape, however, for the Lord unleashes the powers of nature against them, and large hailstones fall on them so that more are killed by hailstones than by the sword. The Lord’s hailstones hit only the Amorite soldiers, never Israelite soldiers. You talk about “smart” bombs!
This entire passage provides a beautiful balance between the human and divine factors as God’s will is unfolding. God gives the victory, but the soldiers have to fight. So intense is the battle, in fact, that Joshua eventually commands the sun to stand still so that the army can finish its work. The record of this miracle has been called the most striking example of conflict between Scripture and science, because, as is well known, the sun does not move around the earth to cause day and night, so if it “stood still,” that wouldn’t affect the length of the daylight. Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Joshua is using phenomenological language, i.e., the language of appearance. Even in our super-scientific age, we still record the hours of “sunrise” and “sunset,” yet no one accuses us of scientific error.
What did actually happen to cause Joshua’s long day? I have no idea. But then I don’t know how Jesus turned water to wine either. I do know that God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) The question is rhetorical and demands a negative answer. The important thing here is that God gave his people a great victory, bringing blessing out of a serious mistake. I, for one, am glad that God doesn’t just write us off when we make mistakes of judgment.
But I also see that God not only turns Joshua’s mistake into a blessing.
He also turns Gibeon’s mistake into a blessing. The Gibeonites lied and deceived in order to save their own necks. As a result, they were cursed and condemned to be woodcutters and water carriers for the tabernacle. But there’s even a positive side to that. By working in the tabernacle, many Gibeonites are exposed to the worship of the one true God and many of them become true believers. Later in the time of King David the tabernacle itself is pitched at Gibeon, and at least one of David’s military advisors was a Gibeonite; much later, after the Babylonian captivity, Ezra tells us the Gibeonites were totally committed to the Lord and his house. Still later some of them help Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. God blessed this people with life in the nation of Israel, and the nation was blessed by their presence and their contribution.
Such is the grace of God that He is still able to turn a curse into a blessing. Though it is usually true that the natural consequences of sin must run their course, the grace of God can not only forgive, but also overrule mistakes, and often bring blessings out of sin and failure.
Conclusion: I would like to return to where I started, namely with the fact that our reactions must be as controlled by the Spirit of God as our actions. It’s never right to do wrong because someone else did wrong, nor is it right to do wrong even to do right. We need to consult the Lord so we don’t get into a mess in the first place; but if we fail to consult Him and find ourselves in a mess, we should not try to get out of it by violating His commandments; we get out of it by responding to the mess with integrity and allowing God the opportunity to turn a mistake into a blessing, if He so chooses.
DATE: July 7, 1996
Tags:
Vows
Promises
Integrity