Reading Joshua 7 – 9 today…

“…And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.” Joshua 9:25 (KJB)

Please be sure you read all of chapter nine.

Part of the responsibility of the deception lay in the hands of the leaders of Israel.  A deception from a people of the land of Canaan, Hivites from Gibeon, plotted this deception to be at peace with Israel.

God’s word was for Israel to destroy all the inhabitants of the land.  So far doing this had been no problem for them.  Now, however, some Hivites from no too far away in the land had come with deception of living far away – out of Canaan – and sought peace with God’s people for fear of destruction.

What could these people of Israel, Joshua and the leaders of Israel, have done?  The first thing, maybe the only thing they could have done was to pray and seek God’s counsel in the matter.  Verse 14 of this chapter 9 states, “…But they did not seek counsel of the LORD.”  How are we so easily deceived today?

The enemy was fearful of what the LORD had done, and was doing, and was going to do.  The theme verse today is testimony of their fear.

What can we do, as Christians today to live without being deceived?  Here is the counsel of the LORD – do not leave God out of the decisions you make; seek Him first, not afterward.  Listen to His word/commandments and trust Him.

Believe His word concerning His Son Jesus first and foremost.