In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites successfully deceived Israel by making Israel believe that they (the Gibeonites) were from a faraway Kingdom.

The Gibeonites were strategic unlike the Kings west of Jordan that went to war against Israel. The Gibeonites had heard reports of how the God is Israel had delivered every Kingdom into the hands of the Israelites including Jericho. Therefore, they knew that they stood no chance against Israel on the battlefield.

Consequently. the Gibeonites went into their arsenal to pick up weapons of deception - old wineskins, worn-out clothes, sandals, and dry and moldy pieces of bread. These were false pieces of evidence they presented to Israel and unfortunately, Israel sampled the provisions of the Gibeonites, fell for the deception without asking God, and made an oath with the Gibeonites.

We'll always end up in deception each time we rely on sampling provisions provided by the devil or people.

Israel chose to believe what they saw in the physical instead of inquiring from God to reveal the true state in the spiritual realm.

What have you been sampling?
What goods have you been tasting lately?

Deception is always inevitable when God is out of the picture. We must rely solely on God to reveal the true state of things instead of looking at the physical pieces of evidence that could have been altered by the devil or people.

We must allow God to reveal the motives, and hidden thoughts of the hearts of people to us.

The old serpent was defeated in the war in the heavenly through the power and authority given to Michael and his angels.
However, the serpent's weapon against man in Genesis 3 was not brute force, it was deception.

The enemy always fights using brute force or deception. This is why Christ is both the POWER and WISDOM of GOD.

Disclaimer: I do not own the right to the song.
If we have POWER but lack WISDOM, the devil will defeat us through deception.
If we have WISDOM but lack POWER, the devil will defeat us through brute force.

May we grow in discernment and always seek the heart of the Father over every decisions of our lives.

#standard #faith #discernment #joshua9 #christianity

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