Deceptive Ambassadors

So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, Joshua 9:9

The fame of what the Lord had done for Israel and to Egypt had spread, but perhaps not quite so far yet as the deceptive ambassadors would have the Israelite rulers believe. This verse comes from a story of deception.

Some people in the path of Israel decided to try deception in place of attempting a military defense or moving their people out of the way. And these men made a successful deception. They dressed up in costumes and took some false provision, and then played to the heart feelings of the Israelite rulers. The key to the entire deception though was not their costumes, their lying words or their moldy bread. The key comes in verse 14, and the action that made the deception possible was done by the Israelite rulers, including Joshua: "...but they did not ask counsel of the LORD." And that was all it took to make possible a real dilemma for Israel.

The very same action, or perhaps lack of action, on their part made it possible for the Serpent to deceive Adam and Eve too. It is a strong lesson for us in this age these many centuries later. Pride says that we may decide for ourselves the rightness or wrongness of a thing. Pride states, "I don't need the counsel of the Lord because I am so smart." Pride allows deception to prosper. Humility before the Lord causes us to ask of Him. The Lord knows the thoughts of every heart and the Lord cannot be deceived. Why not ask of Him when we need counsel?

We do that often, but every once in while it seems that pride may get in our way too. May God grant us humility in our dealings with the deceptive ambassadors of this world.

Bucky