Sneaky thing about deception

The sneaky thing about being deceived is, you can easily not know you are being deceived until you’re already deceived. Joshua was called to lead the nation of Israel into the long awaited promise land. He was charged by God 5 times in the first chapter to be strong and courageous, or to not be afraid. The last of the “be strong’s” came through the leadership that surrounded him in verse 18. The narrative is, “we are with you, we believe in you, and we recognize the mantle of leadership upon you that was on Moses.” They also mentioned as the chapter closes “whoever rebels against you or disobeys your commandment shall be put to death.”

 Rebellion and disobedience are main ingredients in deception. Let’s grasp the enormity of the situation, Joshua had never led the people before. He had been the right hand of Moses and was more than capable, but the roll God was calling him to in leadership was different than that of Moses. The land was massive, the warriors were giant, your people have very little weaponry or experience and the land was inundated with “anti God culture.” The last charge he was given was to be careful not to be deceived and he built a platform for success through the “be strong’s” in verses 6,7, twice in verse 9 and now in verse 18. “Don’t be afraid of what I’m about to do, don’t be afraid to follow God, don’t be afraid to step where you’ve never stepped before and in verse 18, be careful not to be deceived.”

I think the message for us today is that it’s easier than we think to be deceived. Jesus gave us clear warning in Matthew 24 concerning these days that we live in when he said “watch out that you are not deceived.”

Joshua would have to lead God’s people to kill everything with a face in Jericho. God was letting him know not to be deceived into thinking you can spare some that you think are innocent or young. He would also have to remove one of their very own named Achan when he infected the campaign by taking shinny things from Jericho.

God isn’t telling us today to kill someone, but maybe he is clear that we should guard ourselves against being deceived by those around us. Maybe we have people we need to cut out of our lives. Maybe their influence and deception over us need to be killed. Give it some thought and I’ll see you at christpoint church this Sunday at 8:30-10:00-11:30. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real good. Welcome home.