MOULDY BREAD AND BROKEN WINESKINS - LIES OF FALSE PROFESSION

The Bible therefore calls them both Gibeonites and Hivites.

And upon hearing of Israel's victories over Jericho and Ai, they acted wilily, or craftily.

They gathered old clothes and shoes, and mouldy bread and wine bottles made out of skins that were old and broken and "taped up", so to speak.

And they came to Joshua and Israel when the Lord's people were three days away from their city.

And they pretended to be ambassadors from a far country who've come to make a league with Israel and HELP THEM.

They appealed to their mouldy bread and broken wine bottles to prove they really had traveled a loooong journey, so long that their victuals, or provisions for the journey, went bad and even their clothes were old and tattered.

The ruse worked!

Israel's princes were convinced the men told the truth when they took the victuals and examined them to see if they really were old.

Israel knew that God's command was to destroy the inhabitants and the cities.

So they checked to make sure these were true ambassadors who weren't from the land of Canaan.

But their assessment proved to be incorrect.

These men lied to them.

They were not ambassadors.

They were not committed as they appeared to be with an alleged journey they traveled so long that their clothes were worn out, their bread mouldy and their wine bottles broken with age.

And Israel made a league with them, without making one more sure step to determine the validity of the people's claims.

They did not seek counsel from the mouth of the Lord.

After three days of journeying forward, they came to Gibeon, and there realized that these men were of the city and were not foreigners at all.

But it was too late, they had already made a league with them and swore to God about it.

They put themselves in such a situation that they could not destroy what God originally wanted destroyed.

Israel was only three days away from Gibeon when this happened.

Is your faith trained to recognize that a biblical reference to THREE DAYS will speak a message about the work of the cross of Jesus?

It took three days for Christ to be crucified and then resurrect from the dead.

The three days represents the work of the cross.

And we need to be "up on" the truths of the work of the cross.

Its a type of thing that requires us to always be spiritually sensitive.

When we live in the Spirit, we must continue to live disciplined lives.

This requires us to be continually disciplined to always appeal to the Lord when in question concerning the things He wants us to perform and do.

Seeking God in all things is something that does not come naturally to us.

Letting go of discipline is like stopping all the care and work required to keep a garden growing.

Jesus said our lives as Christians are like soil with the seed sown.

If we do not weed the garden of our lives from the thorns or cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches (materialism), then those thorns will overrun our lives and those concerns will take over and we will have little concern for the things of God, and how this plant of the Christian life grows.

A garden need continual attendance.

Same with our lives.

Discipline is going against the current.

Our flesh has a current, like a river, that naturally goes a certain way.

Our flesh naturally likes to enjoy sins, and things like prayer go against the grain of the flesh.

There is always that push against what our flesh wants to do when we serve God faithfully.

People who let themselves go, are people who did not feel to pray, so they didn't.

They are people who gave in to their fleshly desires instead of their spiritual desires.

Its sort of a lazy way of living.

Go with the flow.

Any old fish can float downstream, but it takes effort and discipline to go against the current.

And the fact is that if you want to go to glory one day, you are going to have to go against the current of the flesh.

Serving God faithfully and obeying His will is the only way to glory.

So much has to be done in life to keep things.

Must spend money on refrigerators to keep your food from spoiling.

Maintain your vehicle so it does not seize up or deteriorate.

Wash your face everyday, and brush your teeth so you do not experience sores on your face and toothaches in your teeth.

And its the same way in the things of the spirit.

You've got to take care of your soul and spirit.

And it does not matter if we were prayed up last month and could hear from God so easily.

We need to be in contact with God today, as well.

The moment we slack off and think we've won enough battles, is the we start to float downstream with the rest of the dead fish, and the flesh rises up and things go wild in our lives again.

Joshua was only three days from conquering Gibeon.

And Israel never sought God about the so-called ambassadors.

They determined the picture by their own wits.

At best, our own wits are still not often dependable and accurate means of assessing situations.

If three days speaks of the work of the cross,

...then being three days away from conquering an enemy is spiritually saying we are as far away from victory as it is to discipline our lives again to be ever aware that we are in Christ and are in a place of power because of it.

But what happens when we lose sight of that truth, is that we run on our own steam and become intimidated by the enemy.

We forget who we are in Christ.

We lose spiritual sensitivity.

We don't even think of seeking God's counsel on life's issues.

Walking in the Spirit is a disciplined life that stays "prayed up", remains sensitive to who we are in Christ, and instinctively seeks God's will about things.

The funny thing about letting things go in our lives, slackening off our prayer lives, is that the instinct to call on God about situations disappears.

The confidence in who we are as Christians able to defeat the enemy because of the work of the cross vanishes.

We instinctively look at ourselves and our weak abilities and feel intimidated against the enemy.

You need to get your heart targeted upon the truths of the Bible and how you are more than conquerors because of your participation in the work of the cross.

You participated in the work of the cross if you were baptized into Jesus' death.

You are seated with Christ over all the enemy if you obeyed Acts 2:38.

You are sharp and keen on being aware of these things when you stay disciplined in the matter s of responsibilities of prayer and keeping your mind on the things of God.

Go over the work of the three days from the cross to the resurrection.

Cover those three days in your spirit and your thoughts, because you are always three days from victory if you are a Christian who has let your flesh run away with itself.

When you are dull in the Spirit due to not keeping up your part, then these truths that give you faith and confidence are not in your heart.

Its uncanny how these things of faith disappear when the flesh starts having its way and moving other thoughts into your hearts.

Joshua saw these men and they said they were ambassadors.

Paul said that true preachers of God are like Ambassadors.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

And they even talked like Rahab talked about how she heard of israel's glorious victories.

And Rahab turned out to be a true believer in God, and God turned that old harlot's life right around, and she even got in the genealogy of Jesus!

Joshua 9:9-11 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, (10) And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.

Look what Rahab said:

Joshua 2:9-11 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. (10) For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. (11) And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

"These men must be true believers as well!"

"Wow! God is really moving here!"

And they had BREAD and WINE BOTTLES, although the bread was mouldy and the wine bottles were broken.

But the men said the following:

Joshua 9:12-13 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: (13) And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.

The bread WAS hot from the oven!

The wine bottles were so new when they started their journey that they filled the bottles themselves.

But the journey was so long the bread went mouldy and the animals skin bottles became brittle with age and cracked.

(Recall that Jesus said new wine is never put into old bottles, because the bottles are made from skins and become brittle with age so as not to allow the wine to expand and still contain it.)

Bread and wine speaks of the body of Jesus and the blood of Jesus!

These "ambassadors"/preachers even have bread and wine -- truths of the cross!

So they made league with them.

If they were spiritually sensitive, they would have consulted God.

And bringing the pictures into New Testament language, where bread speaks of Jesus' flesh and wine His blood...

When we are sensitive in the Spirit, we realize that mouldy bread and broken wine bottles are offkey.

These men brought bread and wine that was USELESS!

Who could eat mouldy bread?

Who could drink wine from bottles that burst and emptied the wine out of themselves?

These men are FAKES!

When we are spiritually dull, we accept things that we'd never accept if we were keen in the Spirit and could discern the bad.

Not only is the above all true, but these men were actually HIVITES.

I researched the Hebrew term for Hivites and found an amazing thing.

It is CHIVVY (khiv-ee)

It means VILLAGER.

And CHIVVY comes from a hebrew word CHAVVAH (khav-vaw) which means LIVING PLACE, or LIFE-GIVING.

Chavvah comes from "Chavvah", a NAME, which means LIFE-GIVER, or EVE.

Even the name HIVITES has the root word EVE in there if you can notice it.

So HIVITES is similar to saying EVE-ITES.

These Hivites (Eve-ites) were apparent LIFE-GIVERS, from a LIVING PLACE, who had food in their hands that looked like bread and bottles of wine, but were actually mouldy bread and broken, emptied wine bottles, with no wine at all.

Sort of like the SERPENT IN THE GARDEN who took Eve's mind away from the TRUE FRUIT OF LIFE, and offered her OTHER FRUIT.

...counterfeit, alternative fruit.

The serpent lied and said it would not make her die.

So he feigned to give her LIFE.

He said he was a life-giver, but he was lying.

God gave Adam and Eve power over the creeping things, like the serpent.

And God told them to subdue the earth.

Satan knew Adam was going to destroy him.

So, like the Hivites, he disguised himself by possessing the serpent, and lied to Eve so he could be preserved and remain in the world, and not be destroyed.

The name HIVITES is so fitting because HIVITES or EVE-ITES gives us the thought of the Eve who was "deceived" by the false FOOD.

And when she took the fruit and ate it, she gave it to Adam to eat.

She offered that false food to Adam.

And here these EVE-ITES did the same thing with Israel.

They showed FALSE FOOD OF MOULDY BREAD AND EMPTY WINE BOTTLES.

However, church, the true fruit is fruit of LIFE, AND BREAD Of LIFE is NOT mouldy bread, BUT FRESH BREAD!

And real preachers of the Gospel are not like old wine bottles, because God does not put NEW WINE into OLD BOTTLES.

Let them lie about why the bottles are old all they want to, because it does not change the fact that the bottles are OLD.

They can say what they want about why the bread is mouldy, but the fact remains it is not HOT BREAD FRESH FROM THE FIRE!

Don't enter into League with some deceiver who says they are not on fire now, but they still have bread of life!

If they were true people of God, they'd have HOT BREAD!

They'd be NEW BOTTLES!

Don't enter into league with some doctrine or lie that EXCUSES MOULDY BREAD and OLD BOTTLES, either!

When you're sensitive in the Spirit and "prayed up" and seeking God like you should be all the time, you won't fall for that sort of thing for one second!

You want fresh BREAD straight from heaven, still hot from the fires of the Holy Ghost anointing.

You want a preacher who is a NEW BOTTLE holding NEW WINE, for you know Jesus never puts new wine into old bottles.

You want an Ambassador who is genuine!

God does not send Ambassadors with mouldy bread and broken old wine bottles.

These men said they were from a far country.

Jesus spoke of a far country in a parable when He was paralleling the thought of Himself having gone from the world to heaven, to come back as the Son of God.

Matthew 21:33-37 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: (34) And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. (35) And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. (36) Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. (37) But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

Matthew 25:14-15 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

HEAVEN is the far country.

These men were like preachers today who say they are sent from God.

But they were not.

What kind of bread are they giving?

What kind of wine bottles do they have?

The Bible is trying to warn us of HIVITES, or EVE-ITES.

Givers of false fruit.

Pretending to be life-givers.

But the real bread and wine speaks of the work of the CROSS.

And the reason its called bread and wine, fresh food and drink, is because YOU DEVOUR IT AND INGEST IT TO MAKE IT PART OF YOURSELF.

You make Christ's death your death.

You make His burial your own through water baptism in Jesus' name.

You make His resurrection your own.

THESE truths are about experiences and they give you FAITH.

That faith keeps you sensitive to the Spirit.

But the false fruit is preaching that gives you no life.

Its preaching what the bible says without ANOINTING of God's Spirit, which actually distorts God's true intended meaning of those Words.

Its mouldy bread.

Its broken wineskins.

It actually gives you dead religion instead of living faith.

And that makes you as sick spiritually as would mouldy bread.

Being spiritually dull is one thing, but becoming spiritually ill is something worse!

Dead lifeless preaching and word takes from bad to worse.

In time, Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem (Joshua 10), heard of how the city of Gibeon made peace with Israel, and Gibeon was a royal city with strong men.

This terrified the king because they were already worried about Israel's might in successfully destroying Ai and Jericho.

However, Gibeon was greater than them!

Joshua 10:1-2 Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.

So he gathered four other kings and their armies to fight Gibeon.

The Gibeonites cried to Joshua saying they had a league, and demanded Israel come and fight for them.

Israel fought and God won the battle.

But it was all an unnecessary battle that never would have occurred had not Joshua been fooled by the Hivites to come into a league with them, and defend them when necessary.

God forgives our failures of messing around with falsehoods.

And he will help fight with us.

But it all was originally unnecessary.

Had we been spiritually sensitive to begin with, we would have circumvented all this deception and battle with five kings.

God helps you, but it just gives you more battles to fight when you could have enjoyed rest long before, when you are spiritually dull and experience a loss of awareness to always seek God's counsel and walk in His Spirit.

Joshua 11:19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.

These liars would have been taken in battle as well.

But they proved to be a burden to Israel.

Let's be particular about our bread and wine, and ensure we do not get a counterfeit!

Let's remain spiritually alert and sensitive!