Have you ever been conned?  Someone promised you something and then it never happened.  And it cost you some money?  Then you found out later that the lie was intentional, the other party had never planned on fulfilling their promise, or delivering the product.  You got scammed … and you probably felt angry and frustrated and wanted to get back at the other party?

Well, welcome to Joshua 9, our text for this week.  The Israelites are conned by the Gibeonites.  The Gibeonites make a false claim in order to extract an oath (like a promise) from Joshua and the Israelites.  When it’s discovered that the Gibeonites lied, then the Israelites were freed from their promise, right?  Not exactly.  The Israelites said that making an oath was so sacred in God’s eyes that they had to keep their word, even though it was given under false pretenses.

So, what happens to these people?  Can God make something good out of something bad?  And what does all this have to do with Easter?  Well, like much of the Book of Joshua so far, we’re going to have to dig deep … but when we do, we find God making these people into trophies of His grace.  And that’s a great message of redemption!  I’ll see you Easter Morning! Dr. Dave