Let’s Make a Deal: Joshua 9 Part 2

Deception has always been around. Satan has been deceiving humanity from the very beginning of time. JESUS said this, concerning the devil, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) The Gibeonites, along with men from three other cities, lied to Joshua. They backed up their lie about coming from a Far Country, with an elaborate ‘Show and Tell’. Joshua and his people fell for the ruse and made a covenant with them. Rather than destroy the Gibeonites, they made them slaves, allowing them to live. What would you do to save your town from destruction and death? I, personally, don’t really blame them. I do not condone deception, of course, but it worked for the Gibeonites. Joshua fell for it and made a covenant with them. And the leaders swore an oath. It was a covenant for life. We know that we are surrounded by deception. If we are not aware and, on our guard, we too could fall into a ‘Web of Lies’. We are faced with false doctrines, false ideologies, false religions, false philosophies, false histories, false science, false politics, and the list goes on. Some deceptions are easy to see through, but many are not. They are elaborate. Lies are presented to us with passion, in authoritative ways with well-planned deceptive words, visual aids, and demeaning ridicule if we do not accept them. It is easier to fall when the deception comes from loved ones, people we trust or depend on, especially when they themselves do not know they’ve been deceived. Once we have fallen into the web, it is very easy to get so entangled that it is very hard to get out again. Some get so intwined they refuse to recognize that they have even been trapped. Even the vibrations of the devouring predator cannot be felt, realized, or is ignored. How can we avoid being tricked? Well, stay tuned for more of “Let’s Make a Deal.”