Day 37 in the Wilderness: Appearances can deceive.

“But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.””

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭9:3-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If you haven’t heard anything about viruses lately, I don’t know where you’re living. In fact, we have been living through a pandemic associated with a virus for over two years now. For our purposes today I want to share something about viruses you may not know.

Viruses can’t reproduce on their own. So, to reproduce, they take over other cells, tricking the cell into making more of the invader, becoming a virus factory!

The takeover of the cell by the virus is possible because the virus “deceives” the cell so that it can enter the cell or just inject its DNA and RNA into the cell. In this process the virus lands on a cell and attaches to a receptor. Now, receptors are proteins on the surface of cells that act like locks. Proteins on the virus’ surface are shaped just like the key to the lock, and fit into a receptor. Now the virus has access to the cell. Then, once a virus enters the cell, it can hijack the cell so that it makes more viruses. Now that’s some scary stuff! Oh that that kind of deception stopped with viruses!

We are often warned in the word of God to look out for spirits who use deception to invade us and workout their evil in us.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭11:13-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Along the same lines, Jesus warned His flock about fleece-wearing wolves.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

John warns us not to accept a spirit without testing it.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

‭‭I John‬ ‭4:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Indeed, you can’t always believe your eyes. And that brings us to today.

In our opening scripture for today we find that the Gibeonites, having heard of the conquests of the children of Israel, decided to deceive them into thinking that they had come from a far off place to seek their protection. Now, the Lord had warned the

children of Israel not to make treaties with the people of the lands they were to conquer. But on this day, the men of Israel chose to believe their eyes rather than asking the Lord what they should do, getting themselves into a pickle.

“Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭9:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So, because Joshua and the men of Israel chose to believe their eyes rather than asking the Lord, they ended up making a treaty with people they would have to deal with for a long time.

There are many things that keep us from being able to see correctly. Therefore, on our own, we certainly can be tricked by appearances. This is why we must seek the Lord concerning EVERYTHING in our lives. He sees and knows what we do not see or know. His Spirit is never deceived. We must allow the Lord to direct us and guide us away from being tricked by our own “Gibeonites.”

You’ve heard that “all that glitters is not gold,” but I’ll add one to that for you: just because their key fits your lock, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should let them in!

For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:

Appearances can deceive.

#40daysinthewilderness