Well, reading from Joshua chapter 9, we've been slowly making our way through this book, and we're up to 9 verse 16. And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Shephira, Beiroth, and Kirjath-Jerum. But the children of Israel did not attack them because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, and all the congregation complained against the rulers. Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, we've sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. Now, therefore, we may not touch them. This we will do to them. We will let them live lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them. And the ruler said to them, let them live but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation as the rulers had promised them. Then Joshua called for them and he spoke to them saying, "'Why have you deceived us, saying, "'We are very far from you when you dwell near us? "'Now therefore you are cursed, "'and none of you shall be freed from being slaves, "'woodcutters, and water carriers for the house of my God.' "'So they answered Joshua and said, "'Because your servants were clearly told "'that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses "'to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore, we were very much afraid for our lives because of you and have done this thing. And now here we are in your hands, do with us as it seems good and right to do to us." So he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel so that they did not kill them. And that day, Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord in the place which he would choose even to this day. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word, and I pray that as we dig into it, that you would help us to grow, quicken the word to our hearts by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Some of you have said that you could really identify with last week's message about having the wool pulled over your eyes and shared some of your own stories with me. I think all of us could share some stories of this happening. Perhaps in the past we've made a huge financial investment blunder and we lost a lot of money and we feel sick over it, but there's not a whole lot that we can do. Or maybe there's some other stupid decision that we made that's negatively impacted us, and it's appropriate, it's good to repent of our past failures, but this passage here indicates that God, along with the pain, and there frequently is going to be pain, But God, along with the pain, can still bring good out of our past failures. This is the amazing thing about God's gracious sovereignty, and I think it's one of the most encouraging aspects of this whole story. Now, just to review, the Gibeonites used a number of techniques to pressure the Israelite leaders into making a covenant with them. They had no idea that these Gibeonites were not Canaanites, that they were nearby neighbors. And once they discovered who they really were, the leaders felt like they were now in a no-win situation. They felt like they were bound by this covenant to let them live, whereas the people were upset with them, wanted them to treat the covenant as not existing because they said, in effect, it's null and void. It was entered into through deceitful false pretenses. And you could see how both sides could really feel that they were in the right. And so it was a tough conundrum for the leaders to navigate. Christians today have disobeyed the Lord by marrying an unbeliever, and after two or three years, they discover bad things about each other, and they want to get a divorce, and they justify in their heads, hey, we shouldn't have been married in the first place, surely we can get a divorce, and the Apostle Paul said, no, no, you need to honor the covenant that you have made, and you need to make the best out of a bad situation. Trust God's power to overcome. and God can overcome. There have been times where a God, through the prayers of the believer, has led their spouse to a saving knowledge of the Lord and turned it into a beautiful marriage. But even where that has not happened, there are times where the onlookers have been attracted to the grace of God that they see in this believer. You know, integrity, people who live by integrity are so rare that others are blown away when they see a person, a Christian, who does the right thing, even when it costs them dearly. But even when others don't notice, you can still grow. There's no reason why we cannot be drawn closer to the Lord as a result of our past mistakes. So this whole sermon is on how to profit from our mistakes, how to maintain integrity, even after we have blown it big time. Verse 16. And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. They suddenly realized that they have unwittingly violated God's word and have made a mess, an absolutely unfixable mess. Now we'll see in verse 18 that the Israelite citizens get very, very upset with them, and rightfully so. Our own session experienced that at the beginning of COVID-19. We believed the lies that the government was putting out, that there would be a huge death rate if we did not quarantine. And so since the Bible calls for quarantine, we reluctantly closed the church doors and we streamed. It was a bad decision and we realized fairly quickly that it was, and people were rightly upset with us. Okay, biblical quarantine is for sick people. In the Bible, it's for sick people. It's not for well people, right? So we repented, and we opened things up again. I think we handled things the way that this chapter would call us to do, but it was painful. We lost some families over that. And I think we learned, and I think the church as a whole has learned, and we've moved forward as a result. But though we took responsibility for our bad decision, We did confront the propaganda machine that was spreading false information, just as Joshua did. We were not just upset with ourselves, we were also upset with the propaganda machine. And so what we tried to do, we tried to expose it so that others would not be taken in. Verse 17 says, then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Shepherah, Beeroth, and Kirjoth-jerim. Now this subsection of the Hivites was called Gibeonites because Gibeon was the royal city. It was the chief of the four cities that had gone into covenant with them. And just because they had been buffaloed did not mean that they could not rebuke the Gibeonites and hold them accountable. So they marched to the city in a show of force to confront them. And we'll see in verses 24 through 25 that the Gibeonites humbly admitted to what they had done. Now later in the sermon, I'll show how God brings huge, huge blessings out of this disaster, but none of that would have happened without this confrontation, without holding them accountable, without letting everyone know what the truth of the matter really was. And, brothers and sisters, when people deceive you or in other ways they sin against you, it is perfectly appropriate to confront them over their actions. Now, assuming, of course, they've engaged in a clear-cut sin, not just something you don't like. With fellow believers, the hope is that they will repent. Matthew 18, 15 says, moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. I love that. If he hears you, you've gained your brother. What could be better than that? Galatians 6.1 says, Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. In other words, examine your own heart, because you might be in sin, or maybe the both of you are at fault, but it's very easy for us, even in the process of trying to restore someone else, to fall into sin ourselves. You only repent when there's sin, so some people, you know, they're confronting people who, and they want them to repent when there's no sin involved. Well, that would be a falsehood, to repent when there's no sin involved. But it's also a falsehood to take the blame. Some people are so quick, they want peace so badly, they take the blame, even though they're not at fault. That's a kind of falsehood. So we're not talking about that. We're talking about confronting something that is clearly a sin. Now, I'm not big into sports, but a pastor shared a basketball story with me that I think illustrates what's going on in this story quite well, especially on the good outcome. In January of 2018, the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team had been struggling and struggling, and then suddenly everything turned around into a 13-game winning streak, and people were puzzled as to what happened to make things turn around. Let me quote from the Oregon newspaper at length. It says, Joe Freeman, a reporter for the Oregonian newspaper, did some investigation and discovered that their winning streak coincided with a confession, an apology, and subsequent forgiveness. That January, starting forward Maurice Moe Harkless lost his spot in the playing rotation. Subsequently, when the team rebounded with a win against an inferior opponent, Harkless's box score line bore the dreaded DNPCD designation, which means did not play coach's decision. When Moe looked at the video footage of himself from that night, he didn't like what he saw, a listless demeanor amidst teammates who were cheering and applauding from the bench. After getting the coach's permission, he interrupted the next day's practice session to apologize to his teammates for his behavior. After the apology, he stated, no matter what's going on, I can't be a bad teammate. Those are still my guys. That expression of vulnerability was met with almost instant forgiveness and respect. The bond of the team was strengthened, and Harkless experienced a resurgence in his play that earned him his starting spot again. Eventually, that team chemistry resulted in a 13-game win streak. Well, that's the kind of thing that can happen when sin is confronted, it's confessed, it's forgiven. And I know some people, because of pride, they feel like they can't live with themselves if they admit to failure. You know, what would I do? How could I live with myself? No, that's backward thinking. It's precisely those who humble themselves that are the most respected in God's kingdom. God opposes the proud and lifts up the humble. And all you have to do is just consider God's plan of salvation, right? You had to be humbled first, didn't you? He came into this world to expose our sin and then to provide a way to be restored through Christ's death on the cross. So Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. He brings growing restoration into our lives, but he only does it for those who repent of their sins. And we'll see that's exactly what happens with the Gibeonites who at some point get saved and become some of the most selfless citizens in God's kingdom. That's getting a little bit ahead of our story. Key point here is they were confronted. Verses 18 through 21 then go on to show how the leaders kept their word, even knowing full well that there would be a falling out with the people for doing so. Verse 18 shows some of that falling out. But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, and all the congregation complained against the rulers. And so there was a division of opinion, but the leaders stood strong for what they believed God was calling them to do. Now, I doubt very much that absolutely everybody in Israel just automatically agreed with their decision after the decision had been made. I mean, there's no group of believers that always 100% agrees on every issue, as at least it's rare that that happens. But in this case, the Israelites rightly recognized that the leaders had made the best decision that they could before the Lord, and even though they disagreed, they submitted. That's appropriate. Some people won't submit unless they agree. Well, that's not a very good test of submission, isn't it? Is it? I happen to believe that the leaders made the right decision, even though I've got friends, Reformed friends, who think that they did not. They think the covenant was null and void because it was based on deception. But here is one of several reasons why I think they made the right decision. I believe these leaders recognize that if they had paid attention to all of the lessons that we looked at last week, they would not have been fooled. They would not have been taken in. And so they felt like they had responsibility. It was partly their fault. And so they decided they were obligated before God to honor the covenant. And you fathers will sometimes have to make a hard decision, the best decision that you can. And there are times that you'll take heat for doing the right thing on controversial issues. But it's better to take heat from others than to take heat from God on an issue that you believe. I mean, we can cave in on issues that aren't sin issues, but on an issue that you believe you'd be in sin on. God calls us to integrity no matter what the cost. And again, I happen to believe that the leaders did do the right thing here. But I want to just briefly examine this whole issue of the people being super, super ticked off with the elders, with the leaders there. At this point, the easiest thing to do would be for the leaders to just cave in and go along with what the people wanted and to go ahead and attack the Gibeonites. After all, both sides had some scripture that they could lean on. Now, they did. I mean, the people could point to Scriptures that say it's always a sin to covenant with the Canaanites. We were absolutely commanded not to do this, so we just—we'd broken God's Word. We need to repent of it and go back and attack the Gibeonites. And the leaders could point to Scriptures that say that even if you entered into a covenant with bad information, you were still obligated to follow through on that covenant. If you're not going to be involved in sin, that is. There are some covenants have to be broken because they involve you in sin. But it would have been sinful to keep the covenant if the Gibeonites had brought all of their idolatry into Israel, for example. But they did not. If the Gibeonites were willing to abandon their gods and serve the God of Israel, which they were, is it really any different than what the strangers did who covenanted with God in chapter eight? And then the people would say, well, yes, it is different. This is a deception thing. And you could go back and forth in your arguments. And I think it's doubtful that the people would have all been totally satisfied with the leader's final decision. But the leaders had to make the best decision that they could before the Lord and stick with it. They feared God more than they feared man, and so they gave an unpopular no. And you, too, may need to give an unpopular no or an unpopular yes in order to maintain your integrity before God. Now, you're not claiming to be infallible. All you're saying is, look, I think I would be in sin if I did what you're asking me to do. And if you can convince me from the Scripture I'm not in sin, fine, I'll change my mind. But if you think you're gonna be in sin, you have to make the right decision before the Lord. And sometimes the unpopular decision will be crystal clear. It might be saying no to a divorce, or saying no to a marriage, or it might be saying no to a bankruptcy, you know, that would be the easy way out of this financial dilemma that we're involved in. Or it might be saying yes to submission to your husband. And what makes all of these yeses and nos of integrity hard is that you can come up with all kinds of reasons in your head as to why you should do the exact opposite of what you're doing. This is where last week's sermon is so important. You need to have the inward integrity to want to do God's will no matter how much discomfort that brings to you. Now in verse 19, the leaders stand firm. Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, we have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, now therefore we may not touch them. So they made a final decision. It was unpopular, yes, but this was exactly what God was calling them to do, to lead with integrity and to keep their word. When Leon L. Bean first started his mail order business, probably heard of L. L. Bean back in 1912. He sold a hunting boot with a money back guarantee. Now sadly, the design of that hunting boot was really bad and it resulted in their money back guarantee resulted 90% of those boots being returned. And it was a brand new startup company and this could have absolutely ruined them. But Leon Bean insisted on keeping his word, even if it meant losing everything, losing his house. And God blessed that decision. L.L. Bean grew into one of the largest mail order businesses in the next couple of decades, in large part because it treated its customers with integrity. Integrity's a hard thing to keep, but it's a characteristic that God loves to bless. We must be men and women of integrity. Well, moving on, verse 20 says that they let them live because they feared the Lord. This we will do to them. We will let them live, and I get this next phrase, we will let them live lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them. So obviously, uppermost in their minds when they made this decision was the fear of God. And the more we have a constant awareness of God's presence in our lives, of his power in our lives, the easier it'll be to make these decisions of integrity. And this is where developing intimacy with God is so important. But this also illustrates how serious oath-taking is. Some liars are very quick to use oaths to try to convince people they're telling the truth. I swear I'm telling the truth. And the scripture would indicate God's wrath rests upon people like that who misuse the concept of oaths to try to gain some believability. That's not the purpose of those oaths. God's wrath is upon them. He takes those things seriously. Now, he does take all of our promises seriously, but especially vows and oaths. Have you reviewed your marriage vows recently? Okay, that's not just some kind of a pretty decoration on a ceremony, you know, that's just relevant to the marriage time. No, God expects us and holds us accountable for fulfilling those vows. And so God calls husbands to nurture and care for their wives and for wives to submit to and to care for their husbands. What about your membership vows in the church? There have been people who have left our church very badly and have violated their vows, and I believe that God will hold them accountable. Now, it's not as if people can't leave our church. They can. We hold people with open arms. They can come, they can leave, but we do expect people to keep their promises, their membership promises. What about your baptismal vows that you parents took to raise your children in a certain way? You know, when you hear these baptism vows, just remember You know, I made those vows for my children. Am I letting my children get away with murder, you know, so to speak? Am I really fulfilling my vows? Am I trying to raise them as God expects me to raise them? So don't just treat those things as cute ceremonies. They're vows, and God's covenant wrath looms over those who break them. A lot of people are skeptical about that. You know, we live in an age when breaking promises seems like no big deal, no big deal. No, it's a huge deal to God. It's a huge deal. Now, moving on, verse 21 shows that Joshua inflicted a cost on the Gibeonites. They didn't get off scot-free. Both sides sinned, both sides suffered. It says, and the ruler said to them, let them live. but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation as the rulers had promised them. Now some have thought that this is breaking of the covenant. It was not. Two sub points that need to be kept in mind. First, think about what the leaders were referring to when they said let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation as the rulers had promised them. Where had the rulers of Israel promised the Gibeonites that they were going to be water carriers and wood carriers? It's not exactly in those words, but hadn't the Gibeonites said in the covenant that they wanted to be Israel's servants, or as the Hebrew can be rendered, bond slaves? Yes, they had. Look at verse eight. But they said to Joshua, we are your servants. So he was holding them to it. Now, I think the Gibeonites intended something different by saying, we're your servants. They were intending, we want to be in a vassal state, subservient to you, yes, but we want to maintain our independent status as a nation. But the covenant didn't say that. It just said, we're your servants. And they say it a second time in verse 11. Therefore, our elders and all of the inhabitants of our country spoke to us saying, take provisions with you for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, we are your servants. Now, therefore, make a covenant with us. So based on that, the Israelite leaders are really carrying out the letter of the law in the covenant. And because of the Gibeonite deception, The Gibeonites, they can't expect more than the bare letter of the law in the covenant language. Since they had promised, we're your servants, Joshua brilliantly uses it to turn them into literal servants. Now, obviously, as the next sub point says, it wasn't the way the Gibeonites had intended things to be. But I think I've already mentioned, he's trying to make the best out of a bad situation without in any way going against his word. He kind of had read the fine print of the contract, so to speak, and he found a loophole, and so he's trying to move things as far as he can toward a biblical solution. He had been suckered into signing the covenant, and so he's gonna keep it, he's gonna keep the exact wording of the covenant, but the Gibeonites were caught in the act of lying, so their lying was taken seriously as well. Now let's apply this. Do you keep the letter of the law in your promises to your children? Let's make this real. If you don't keep your word to your children, then stop complaining about other people's broken promises. Okay? In his book, Men of Integrity, Mark Moring shared a story about his son, Peter, He said this, it was late, and my young sons, Peter and Paul, had been in bed for at least an hour. My wife and I had just returned from our Bible study group, and I snuck into the boys' room to say goodnight. Dad, can I have some ice cream? No, Peter, it's late, way past bedtime. But Dad, you promised. He was right. Peter had asked for ice cream earlier in the day, but we didn't have any, and I'd said, I'll get some for you later, I promise. Dinner came and went, we cleaned up the kitchen, the boys picked up their toys, the sitter arrived, and my wife and I left for the Bible study. I'd forgotten all about the ice cream, but Peter hadn't. So even though it was after 10 o'clock, I hopped in the car, drove to the convenience store, got a half gallon, and hurried home. Peter and I enjoyed that chocolate vanilla swirl together. After all, I had a promise to keep. Once you consider and say yes, you need to commit, even when it costs you. And I agree. We have got to keep our promises. Now, let me apply this to you employees. Burke Marketing Research asked the executives of 100 of the largest American companies What qualities in the employees irritated them the most? And the answer is boiled down to seven characteristics, each of which really involves integrity. Let me read you the seven most irritating characteristics, and hopefully this does not describe you. First, irresponsibility, goofing off, and doing personal business on company time. Second, arrogance, ego problems, and excessive aggressiveness. Bosses dislike those who spend more time talking about their achievements than in getting the job done. Third, absenteeism and lateness. Fourth, not following company policy. Fifth, failure to follow the rules makes management feel an employee can't be trusted. Sixth, whining and complaining. Seventh, laziness and lack of commitment and dedication and failure to care about the firm's best interests. I mean, those all speak loudly about a lack of integrity. How can employees complain about their company's lack of integrity when the employees themselves lack integrity? Now, back to our text. And verses 22 through 25, we see that the leaders who are following God's call to integrity, they're holding themselves to that, but then they're demanding integrity of the Gibeonites, and that's as it should be. Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you when you dwell near us? Now therefore you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." So he's holding them to their word. And interestingly, over time, the Gibeonites will learn to be a people of integrity big time. But without some repercussions, they may never have learned that lesson. So let's look at the two subpoints. First, it is crystal clear that God did not approve of their deception. And since it was God that they had ultimately lied to, the restitution was to God. They were going to serve at the house of the Lord. Now, several commentators have pointed out that serving the congregation and serving the house of the Lord is the same thing. The English is a little bit unclear, but the Hebrew grammar is clear. They served the congregation by serving exclusively at the altar. And later history demonstrates this as well. From this time on they are going to be called the servants of the tabernacle and the servants of Yehovah. He is the one who gets the restitution in this case. They lied to him in the covenant, they're swearing before the Lord, so he's the one that gets the restitution. Now second, They accepted God's gracious terms in verses 24 through 25, and let me read that. So they answered Joshua and said, because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you and have done this thing, and now here we are in your hands. do with us as it seems good and right to do to us." So they realize they've been in the wrong. They accept whatever retribution or whatever grace that Israel might extend, and that made it much easier for Israel to extend grace to them. The integrity of Joshua prompted humility in the Gibeonites, and that was the beginning of God and the Gibeonites being bound together. Now, it's only hinted at in these verses But of the 143 commentaries that I own on this, I looked up on this verse, and most of them agree that what later becomes reality is hinted at in these verses. So let's look at the hints first. I'm going to read verses 26 through 27, and then I'll comment. So he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord in the place which he would choose even to this day. Now, of course, at this point, the Israelites have no way of knowing if this humble response is sincere or whether this is just their realization, this is the best that they can hope for. We know from later history that God used this transition to save them and to turn them into a people who had a passion for God, had servants' hearts, and were super loyal to God and to His temple. In fact, because of their faith, Gibeon actually became the place of choice for the location of the tabernacle for most of the history, all the way up to the time of Solomon. Okay, and we'll get to that in a bit. But let's just look at some of the hints in these verses alone. First, we've already seen that Joshua is a type of Jesus, and when Joshua is referred to in the book of Hebrews, it uses, in the Greek, the spelling for Jesus. Joshua, Jesus, just the Greek form of the same name, right? And so we've seen in the past that all that Joshua does foreshadows the work of Christ. It's the first hint that there may be some redemptive work, at least symbolized by this passage. Second, it says, Joshua delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel. Now, obviously, it's referring to their physical lives being delivered, but is that all that is intended by that word? Maybe not, especially with the particular Hebrew word that is used. The word for delivered, not sell, when it's in the hyphal, which it is here, means to be saved. And so you could translate it, Joshua saved them. Now, once we look at later history. will begin to realize that maybe the hyphal form of Nazel was used by God here to give a hint that there was a fuller salvation than simply physical salvation. Now, it wouldn't be enough by itself, but it is a small hint. And I think it's strengthened by the fact that they didn't fight. You know, Gibeon is called one of the royal cities. All the other cities fought. They could have just said, uh, they're coming up here. We're going to fight against them. They didn't. They submitted to whatever Israel's decision. They made it easy for Israel. Third, Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers, it says, for the tabernacle of the congregation, and specifically had them provide for the holiest place of the tabernacle, the altar of the Lord, which is astounding to me because prior to this time, very few people approached the altar. The priests did and the deacons did, not very many other people, okay. In later scripture they are called the Nethenim or the servants of the Lord. Now could it be just a reference to their physical servanthood? Yes, on the surface it could, but it could well be a hint of their later status as being very beloved Nethenim or servants of Yehovah. Fourth, it says that they were called to serve in the place that God would choose, which we later discover is two spots, Shiloh and Gibeon. implying that God had already planned for the place of his presence to be in the heart of the territory of the Gibeonites. Now again, by itself, that doesn't prove anything, but this explicit statement that God had already planned to use a place to have his presence dwell, and then later to discover, hey, the place that God had planned to have his presence dwell is in Gibeon, is a pretty big hint, and there are several commentaries actually that say it's much more than a hint, but I'm just gonna take it as a hint. Fifth, they persevered in serving over time. And that's hinted at in the phrase, even to this day, which is likely toward the end of Joshua's life. They didn't run away, they faithfully served. But where verses 26 through 27 simply give hints, later history reveals that this constant exposure to God's word word and work, both, did a powerful work in their lives, and God began to richly transform them and bless them. Now, in chapter 10, God will work an incredibly great miracle on their behalf. Later, God will call Gibeon Mishkan Yehovah, or the dwelling place of Yehovah, 1 Chronicles 16, 39. That's pretty remarkable, to be known as the dwelling place of Yehovah. 2 Chronicles 1.3 says, Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had made in the wilderness. Later a Gibeonite would become one of David's chief mighty men in 1 Chronicles 12.4. And a Gibeonite would much later in history help Nehemiah rebuild Jerusalem's walls in Nehemiah 3.7. A.W. Pink and many other authors point out the Gibeonites are later called the Nethenim, or the temple servants devoted to the temple of God, and they sacrificed a lot to come back with Ezra and Nehemiah. In Babylon, they're free. They didn't have to come back into the land. They voluntarily came back into the land to help establish a new dwelling place for God. And so, to me, this all speaks of a remarkable history I've got a list of verses in your outline if you look them all up. It's a remarkable history of faithfulness to God that the Gibeonites had for 400 years up to the time of David and for another 470 years up to the time of Nehemiah. That's 870 years of covenant succession. Okay, they're a remarkable example of people's lives being so turned upside down by god's grace They put many israelites to shame and I think we can pray lord do the same in my family Make many generations of covenant faithfulness in our our descendants and so be encouraged be challenged By this passage on covenant faithfulness. This is god's grace turning a curse into blessing Turning a people doomed to disaster into productive and godly citizenry And the only way that could happen, because Joshua had cursed them, right? The only way that could happen is if Jesus bore the curse for them. Well, let me end by encouraging you not to moon and moan over your past sins and mistakes, but to look for ways in which those very failures can be a means of growing in grace. So there might be a story that you can use to warn the next generation, hey, don't repeat the same mistakes I've made. Learn from my past mistakes. You should be transparent enough to share that story. Don't be embarrassed by your past. God's grace covers it. Likewise, the very trouble you got yourself into may have introduced you to people who are now a blessing in your life. or the blessing may simply be God changed you. Have you ever seen mosaics made out of broken pieces of glass and other shattered items? Some of those mosaics, like the two on the bottom of your outlines there, some of the mosaics are actually rather beautiful. Well, the same is true when God turns our broken lives into his mosaic. Let me tell you the story of Jamie Guerrero. He was a Mexican con man and a bank robber who got caught and he was serving 70 years in prison in Mexico, which is 70 years, give me a break, that's basically a life sentence, right? And Christians would come to the prison to distribute food and toiletries and clothing and to talk about Jesus. And as a very experienced manipulator, he knew how to talk with them and continue getting all of these items from them. He was sort of like those Gibeonites. But one day, a pastor cornered him and pressured him to make a decision for Christ and got him to pray a prayer after him. And in his testimony, he says, I didn't really mean anything I prayed when the pastor had me repeat the prayer after him. But he said, I could not get that prayer out of my head. It kept circulating and circulating. And God brought conviction and eventually led him to put a genuine faith. So his fake faith eventually led to a real faith in Christ. And it turned his life upside down. He began witnessing and then preaching in prison. And eventually he developed a prison ministry all over Mexico from within the prison system. God overruled his manipulations and turned a Gibeonite into a Nephilim, a servant of God who experienced the reality of God's power within him. Well, God can do the same for you and for your family and for your friends. Don't waste time cringing over your past times that you have blown it. Let those events drive you closer and closer to the heart of God. By the way, your security only rests in not how good you are, it rests in Christ, right? In Jesus, in fact, your very brokenness can be the most powerful testimony of His grace. God can make beautiful mosaics out of broken pieces. May we see more and more mosaics of beauty within this church. Amen. Father, we thank you for the times of testing that you bring into our lives. And even when we have blown it, you still bring good out of those testing times. And Father, by faith, we want to grow. We want to get past the cringing and realize that our security rests in you. And it is a good thing for our pride to be humbled. We know that you resist the proud and you give grace to the humble, and I pray that each one of us here would have humble hearts that delight to see you exalted rather than ourselves being exalted. May this scripture be a scripture that powerfully motivates us to come to the cross of Christ. We love you, and we pray that you would bless this, your people, with your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.