JosHuA: tHe AbCs oF dEaLiN' wiTh dEcePtiOn...

JosHuA: tHe AbCs oF dEaLiN' wiTh dEcePtiOn...

The devil is smart to know how the Kingdom of God is advancing, and since it knows that it cannot win this battle,
he'd at least delay and disrupt the advancement with deception.

Joshua 9:1-15

1    Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things--those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)--
2    they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.
3    However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4    they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
5    The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.
6    Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."
7    The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"
8    "We are your servants," they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
9    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,
10    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.
11    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."'
12    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.
13    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."
14    The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.
15    Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

The passage tells us how the Gibeonites lied to the Israelites and Joshua so as to insure their own survival. So let us examine how they have used deception, and learn how to look out for deceptions.

1. Avoid Judging By Appearance <v1 to v5>

The Gibeonites used very good props, like worn-out donkeys, old wineskins, worn sandals, moldy bread, and so as to deceive Joshua and the Israelites. They managed to convince them that they were indeed men from a distant land, by looking at their appearances and their goods.

We often do the same: look at how one dress, look at how one behaves, look at how rich a person is. What a person wears may not be what a person actually is. This is where materialism comes in. Materialism is not what one possess, but more of trusting only in what one can see, or what have already happened. Example, a person may dress in riches, yet not be materialistic. In fact, only 1% of everything in this universe is tangible, that is, can be seen by the human eye. well, we can't see the galaxy, the electricity, and even sound waves, thus, being materialistic in a sense is like having a narrow view of life. Materialism also leads to either partial or total incomplete faith in God, so we cannot afford to be materialistic.

We are often deceived by illusions. Well, let's go into magic shows. Do you really believe things like David Copperfield walking through the Great Wall? Do you really believe that a person can be cut into half, and yet unhurt? Go into something nearer, advertisements are often misleading illusions too. They show succulent, big, fresh, juicy food, but when the real thing comes... you know what is it.

In Genesis, Eve was deceived by the serpent and was tempted by the big juicy forbidden fruit. Well, she had been duped by the appearance too, and thus disobeying God.

2 Corinthians 11:14 -- And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Don't be duped by the devil in disguise!

Thinkspot: Do we look at our cell members around us in a negative light? Do we always judge them by how they behave and they dress? If we are, time to look beyond appearances. Are we extremely vain, in order to gain approval from your peers and friends? Maybe we have to drop this mask and really be ourselves.

2. Beware of lies <v6 to v13>

The Gibeonites lied to Joshua that they were from a distant land (when they are close neighbour), and they were his servants (when they are actually supposed to be conquered by him.)

What are lies? something that's untrue. So, if somebody don't tell you the truth, someone else will say a lie! In this case, it seems to be a 'white lie', so as to save their skins. Well, a lie is a lie, and Joshua believed them, thus signing the treaty and weren't allowed to kill them.

If we had a shortcoming, the root of the shortcoming, more often than not, is that we have believed in a lie that was conveyed to us, either consciously or subconsciously. For example: Why do people not give to God? Because they don't believe that God will bless them back! Why do people don't come church during examinations period? Because they do not believe that God will honour them and bless them for putting Him at top priority, even through difficult times.

The devil, in the same way deceived Eve that the forbidden fruit was good, and it would bring her wisdom. So she fell into the trap, and sinned.

Devil makes use of these lies to discourage us from serving God. Devil lies that we are always like that and we will never change, but it's a lie. The devil tells us that we are hopeless, but it's a lie. The devil tells us that no one in church loves us, but it is also a lie. Through man, yes, these things might be true, but with God, everything is possible.

3.Check with God <v14 to v15>

In verse 14, the Israelites checked everything, but did not inquire with the Lord! They tasted the provisions, seen the sandals, touched the wineskins, but just did not check with God. They trusted only their eyes, and judged with it.

We are really deceived when we deceive ourselves by trusting in ourselves then in God. So in this way, the Israelites are really deceived by the Gibeonites, making a huge mistake. Even when we do the above 2 points and yet forget to check with God, things will still go wrong.

How to check with God?

3.1 Check with God in prayer

John 16:12-13 -- 'I have much more to say to you, more than you can bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will only speak only when he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

We have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and so as to hear the truth of God, to differentiate between truth and lies.

3.2 Check with God in Bible

When we read the bible, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

John 17:17 -- Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Sanctify means to set apart for sacred use, for God's purpose. So in order to be sanctified, we need to know the truth, and His word is truth.

Thinkspot: why do we believe more in printed publications (the media) more than the Bible? Is the media any more reliable than from the word of mouth? This is mostly due to the fact that either we are materialistic (we see it happened) or we spend more time reading the publications. If we had spend more time reading the Bible, it would be a lot easier to digest it and grow by it.

Acknowledgements:

Lesson: Joshua: The ABCs of Dealing with Deception
Speaker of lesson: Ps Jeff
Venue and date: Y-Hope Saturday Service, Nexus Auditorium, 6th October.

Scriptures are taken from the NIV version of the Holy Bible.

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