Don’t just check the bread …

Have you ever been deceived?

I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve had a family member or friend think it might be fun to “deceive” or “prank” you for a laugh. Neal Pollard shared on his blog, “Preacher Pollard’s Blog,” a story about such an effort:

A man who was snorkeling in the Colorado River may have been expecting to find plants, aquatic life, and even ruins, but he did not expect to find two skeletons sitting in lawn chairs 40 feet below the surface. The man was frightened, undoubtedly convinced he’d stumbled across a relatively recent tragedy. There was a sign with the date August 16, 2014, alongside the “bodies.”

Dutifully, the man reported the find to the La Paz County sheriff’s office, which investigated the scene. The whole thing turns out to have been a hoax, a set up which law enforcement believes to have been nothing more than an attempt to be funny.

It’s a good thing to be able to walk away from deception with nothing more costly than a laugh at your expense; it’s quite another to be deceived when the deceiver has evil intent, or at least some negative goal toward you. That’s why Pollard followed up his post with this comment:

“Perhaps you have heard the adage, ‘Only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.’ We do not want to go through life as cynical skeptics, but there is truth to the idea that looks can be deceiving.”

I wouldn’t recommend you follow that old adage, but I do recommend (as does the Bible) that we learn to be discerning about the things we observe and hear. Otherwise, you could be deceived and and face long-term consequences from the deception.

That was the experience of Joshua and the people of Israel he led. The great leader Moses, whom Joshua had served as his “executive assistant,” had recently died, and Joshua had been commissioned before God to be Israel’s new leader. It fell to Joshua to lead the people into the “promised land,” which meant ridding the land of the people who were currently occupying it.

Because God was fighting with Israel and bringing victory for Joshua and the army he was directing, the people of the land were terrified.

Especially the Gibeonites.

“But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves …” Joshua 9:3-4a.

Look at the crafty scheme the Gibeonites cooked up to deceive Joshua and the Israelites:

“But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.’ The Israelites replied to these Hivites, ‘How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.’ They replied, ‘We are your servants.’ “But who are you?’ Joshua demanded. ‘Where do you come from?’ They answered, ‘Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the Lord your God and of all he did in Egypt. We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River — King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth). So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.” This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.’ So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath. Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!” Joshua 9:3-16.

What went wrong here?

By a quick reading, it certainly sounds like Joshua and the Israelites were following the old age of “Only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear” and were exercising discernment by questioning the Gibeonite ambassadors and even examined the bread they claim had dried out from such a long trip.

The problem with this simple human discernment is that they only checked the bread.

Look closely at this critically important sentence from the text above, it’s Joshua 9:14: “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.”

Joshua and the Israelites did exercise discernment, but only human discernment; they failed to consult the Lord before arriving at a conclusion.

And that’s why they were deceived.

We cannot see the intent in the minds and hearts of other human beings, but God can. For that reason, a full exercise of discernment must include consulting with the Lord.

For wise discernment, don’t just check the bread.

Scotty