Dealing with Deception
Devotions for Growing Christians
Dealing with Deception
Joshua 9:3-6 - “When the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. When they arrived… they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”
Have you ever been talked into a bad decision that had long-lasting implications?
In Joshua 9 the Israeli army made a terrible mistake. They were tricked into signing a peace treaty with the tiny enemy city-state of Gibeon. God had told His people not to make peace-treaties with Canaanite cities (Deuteronomy 7:2), but the powerful, battle-hardened Israelis were deceived by a small, inferior force. The worst aspect of Israel's blunder was that the results were permanent. Israel was “stuck” with the Gibeonites for the rest of her days as a nation.
The deceptive tactics of the Gibeonites illustrate some of the strategies that Satan will use against believers. In fact, the whole book of Joshua is a really a Christian handbook for spiritual warfare. Israel's military invasion of Canaan is part of the spiritual picture of "conquering the Land" that God gave us in the Old Testament. Just as God called on Israel to conquer and occupy the literal land of Canaan, He calls the believer today to conquer evil and occupy the land of spiritual blessings.
The land of Canaan was given to Israel. The Lord guaranteed they would win every battle and enjoy all the material blessings of the Land if they followed Him (Joshua 1:7-8). Committed believers, today, are guaranteed the same success. If we follow the Lord, we’ll have victory in spiritual battles and enjoy the spiritual blessings God offers us. Read Ephesians 1:3-14 for a list of our spiritual blessings, and Ephesians 6:10-19 for armor for spiritual warfare.
The Deceiver
The Lord will give us victory if we follow Him, but Satan will do everything he can to keep us defeated in spiritual warfare. One of his primary tactics is deception. Ephesians 6:11 says that we should "put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." And 2 Corinthians 2:11 warns us to live godly lives "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."
Satan is not a cartoon creature with horns and a pitchfork. He’s not something to joke or laugh about. Until the final judgment, Satan "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan "disguises himself as an angel of light." He’s actively seeking unwary believers, and his deceptive tactics are designed to catch us off guard.
The truth about Satan and his schemes is pictured in Joshua 9. Notice how clever the Gibeonites were. Somehow they found out that Israel could make peace agreements with peoples outside the land of Canaan. God wasn’t against peace (see Deuteronomy 20:10), but He didn’t want the Israelites making peace with enemies inside the land. He didn’t want His people polluted with the pagan immorality of the Canaanites — and He didn’t want any footholds for enemy uprisings in the future.
The lesson is clear. Satan knows exactly what God's Word declares, and his tactics will always be cleverly designed around that Word. Satan will twist God's Word to justify all kinds of things the Bible would never condone… materialism, divorce, sexual sin, situational ethics, racism, abortion, and a host of other sins. Remember, Satan distorted Scripture in the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:6).
The Gibeonites had a very crafty strategy: the worn-out shoes and clothes, the mended wineskins, and the moldy bread. It sure looked like they had traveled a long way! The fact that they didn’t mention Israel's recent victories over Jericho and Ai certainly added to their ruse. As a result, the Israelites foolishly made a treaty with a nearby enemy. They didn’t check out the story or even ask the advice of the Lord (9:14). They reasoned, "How can it be wrong, when it looks so right?"
In the same way, Satan can make situations look very harmless, or exciting, or even beneficial! Some denominations or cults, for example, may look and sound impressive and very biblical. They have uplifting church services, and "spirit-filled" leaders. But have we checked these groups out thoroughly? Have we made sure that there are no enemy connections? We need to be cautious. We know from Scripture that the "angel of light" has deceptive schemes.
The most effective way for growing Christians to avoid the schemes of Satan is to know the Bible. The more we really know God’s Word, the better equipped we’ll be to identify the devious plans of the devil. As we pray for wisdom and discernment, the Holy Spirit can bring pertinent Scriptures to mind, so it’s important to "soak up the Word" every day.
Keeping Our Word
Because the Israelites had made this covenant before the Lord, they had to honor their agreement with the Gibeonites (9:18-19). They had to live with the consequences of their mistake. You can read some of the tragic repercussions in 2 Samuel 21:1-14.
The lesson for us is clear. We may make poor decisions and form agreements that we must keep. Marriage is an obvious example. God expects us to keep our vows! If we make an unwise choice and marry “the wrong person,” we can't just go back and nullify the marriage covenant by getting a divorce. That marriage covenant was made before God. (See 1 Corinthians 7:10-16.)
Bad choices in financial areas may also establish agreements that we can't break. We can't just void signed contracts for a house or car that we bought on a whim. Before God, we must continue to make the payments we agreed to - maybe for many years! We need to be careful not to sign “treaties" today that we'll regret tomorrow.
Israel had to fight for the Gibeonites because of their commitment (10:6-7). It’s hard to believe, but we may end up helping the enemy if we make poor decisions. Time, effort, and resources that could have been devoted to the kingdom of God are lost when we get entangled in worldly commitments. Marriage to an unbeliever, for example, may result in a lifetime of diminished effectiveness for Christ.
God’s Grace
As always, the grace of God is also seen in this story - to both Israel and the Gibeonites. Israel lived with the consequences of their mistake, but God continued to work out His overall plan for the nation. God forgave His people, and saved the day when Joshua and the Israeli army had to go to war to defend the Gibeonites. In one of the great miracles of the Bible, the "the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day… Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" (Joshua 10:13-14).
Furthermore, we read that the Gibeonites became helpers for the Levites with the work of the Tabernacle (9:21, 23, 27). So the pagan Gibeonites were directly exposed to the worship of the true God! God's grace to the Gibeonites is further seen as we trace the history of Israel. A Gibeonite named Ishmaiah was one of King David's honored “mighty men” (1 Chronicles 12:4). And when Israel rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah's leadership, the Gibeonites nobly assisted in this great project for God (Nehemiah 3:7).
Our best life decisions are the ones that most please God. He calls us to be on the alert and to deal with deception. But God’s grace continues in our lives - even when we make mistakes. When we’re deceived by the enemy, the consequences may be far-reaching and even tragic. But God can graciously take our mistakes and work them together for our good. His ultimate goal, of course, is to make us more and more like Jesus.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:28-29
- Dave Reid
(Updated 2022, Ron Reid)