Josh 9:13    And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey."

 

We have a phrase, “everything that glitters is not gold” meaning everything is not what it seems. But that phrase speaks about being deceived by a flashy appearance. Today's verse is exactly the opposite, it is about being deceived by a bad appearance. Joshua and the army of Israel are clearing the Promised Land of all the idol worshippers who lived there. The men of Gibeon, who liveed there, realise that they are doomed and so resolve to join Israel but aren't sure that they would be accepted if they were seen to come from the land and so pretend to have come from afar. Thus they make it look like they have been travelling a long time to get here. What was new when they started out is now old, they say. It's a wise deception and Israel are taken in.

 

Do we go on what we see? Do we make our judgments on what we see? The disciples of Jesus got carried away by the greatness of Herod's temple (Mt 24:1) and missed the fact that God was just walking away from it. John warned us to beware “the lust of the eyes” (1 Jn 2:16) which is what modern advertising plays upon. Don't look on the outward. Let the Lord teach you in this new year to be discerning: “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7). Let this be a year when we learn to truly assess the value of what is going on around us, and truly know the truth of what is happening.