Joshua - VS the DeceiverSample

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

The Gibeonites heard that Joshua and Israel served a God who fights for them. While the other Canaanite kings formed an alliance to stand against the God of Israel who destroyed Jericho and Ai - the Gibeonites tried a different strategy.

The strategy of the deceiver is infiltration through deception.

The Gibeonites feared God, they heard what He did in Egypt, and they trembled. They believed God’s word that He would destroy the Canaanites and give the land to Israel. But they did not trust God.

Instead, the Gibeonites trusted in deception. Rather than hiding under the wings of God’s mercy, they chose to hide who they were and where they came from.  

We have a similar enemy - a deceiver who believes, fears, and trembles before God - but he does not trust God. His motive is not self-preservation but self-exaltation at your destruction.

Challenge:

• Memorize Psalm 23:5
• Describe a deception or lie that you think is serving or benefiting you.