 Chapter 9 of the book of Joshua. When you when you look at Joshua and you start seeing how that Joshua has entered into the promised land, you will see that if you use the the model of looking for types, for patterns in scripture, you're going to find that there's an interesting thing that's going on. Let me read verses one and two and I'll develop what I just began by saying, and it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan in the hills and in the low land and in all the coasts of the great sea towards Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Parasite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, you know the rest, heard of it, that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord. So Joshua and Israel have entered into the promised land. They've already taken Jericho, they've already taken AI. They're now about to find themselves in a situation with people called the Gibeonites. Now when you look in typologies, it's interesting that there are some actual typologies or patterns that you find in scripture and they're actually mentioned in such a way. For example, when you look in Galatians in the New Testament, and I'll develop this as an introduction, when you look at Galatians in chapter 4 in the New Testament, you see that there are two individuals who are mentioned there. One's name is Isaac, the other is Ishmael, and when Paul is speaking there in Galatians chapter 4 concerning Isaac and Ishmael, he speaks of one being the Son of promise and the other being the Son of the flesh. And what they turn out to be are types, a type of promise and a type of the flesh. And so you see these kinds of things in scripture where there are certain things that are spoken of, but they also represent something beyond just what you see on face value. You'll see that the Passover lamb that is found in the book of Exodus and is the lamb that is normally associated with Passover, you see that that's really a type of Christ because Paul makes that clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7. Or you'll see that the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking concerning manna and he speaks how that the children of Israel ate manna and survived, but we're told in John's Gospel chapter 6 verse 58 that the manna from heaven is really a type of Christ. You see that Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 is speaking concerning the children of Israel as they are in the wilderness. And he's reminding the Corinthians concerning Jewish history and how that there was a rock that was there that was to be spoken to instead of being struck twice. And then Paul makes it very clear there in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 that the rock he said is Christ. And so what you have is you have what are called types. In Romans chapter 5 verse 14, Adam is spoken of in Romans 5 14 as a type of Christ. So you can see that in your study of Scripture that there are times when certain things may have a double meaning. There may be another meaning associated with it. Jericho could be a type. AI could be a type and gibbonites can be types. And there are some very well known teachers of the Word of God who would make the case that indeed they are. So when the children of Israel enter into the Promised Land and go to battle against Jericho, that is being presented as being a type of the world. When they go against AI, there are those who speak concerning AI as being a type of the flesh. Now Jericho could be a type of the world because it had all those goods and and it had such a promise of life there. AI, well the children of Israel didn't even take the time to consider what kind of strategies they should have. They were just going to enter in and they were going to take AI and they only needed a few thousand soldiers to do it. So you can actually develop these things. And so one of the one of the commentators I was using speaks concerning the gibbonites and says, and these undoubtedly if you were to look at them as a type would be a type of the devil. Now we have three enemies that scripture speaks concerning the world, the flesh and the devil. And so here we have a type, we'll say of the devil because you're going to see this in a spiritual way in just a moment how that this can have an obvious appearance of that. Now as we begin and I'll show you that in a moment, as we begin we need to remember that the Israelites have begun the conquest of Canaan. They have experienced great victories and they first entered in to the center of the land. They took the city called Jericho. They defeated Jericho and then they were defeated by AI at first but after they dealt with their sin they conquered that city. Now the Bible makes it clear that both of the cities were destroyed and according to chapter 8 verse 26 here in Joshua, Joshua demolished the city of AI. And so the news of the children of Israel traveling throughout the land and beginning to take these cities as this news has reached the ears of some of the inhabitants there and what they've done as it says here in verse one is they formed an alliance. Their mutual fear of Israel initially caused them to agree to unite in opposition against them and so that's what you see. The Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Parasite, Hivite and Jebusite they hear of it and according to verse two they gather together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord and so they're uniting in opposition at least initially they're going to do that and they're going to attempt to or they want to keep Israel from taking the land. Now that reminds me of Psalm two. In Psalm two verses one through three it says why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against as anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us and so they're uniting but they have really no chance. God is giving the land to the nation of Israel. Now as this is taking place verse three it says when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and AI they were 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 so they strategize they have a they have a plan and what they're going to do is they're going to attempt to deceive and they're going to be successful at doing this the the the Jews. Now though the kings had united to oppose Israel it appears that the Gibeonites here have chosen another path. Now when you look at a map there are around seven miles outside of AI there are a short distance about five miles to the southwest of Jerusalem and this particular city that's being represented here this is a city of Gibeon this this city is actually a very powerful city. If you look into chapter ten for just a moment it says it in verse two Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities and because it was greater than AI and all its men were mighty and so you're not looking at a pushover city you're looking at a at a powerful city but this these people of the city are afraid because they've heard what is taking place they're certain they're going to be destroyed and because they're certain they're going to be destroyed because they know that Israel has going in and taking these cities and all they come up with a plan so they make it appear that they've traveled a great distance from a very far country everything from their saddlebags on the donkeys to the moldy bread is designed to deceive the Jews and so in they go verse six they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal said to him and to the men of Israel we've come from a far country now therefore make a covenant with us but the men of Israel said to the high vites perhaps you dwell among us so how can we make a covenant with you how do we know that you're from a far country how do we know this you see at first the the people of Israel the men of Israel hesitate they're aware that these people may be deceiving them remember with me that Israel had been commanded not to make any covenants with the inhabitants of the land God had specifically said to them you are to make no agreements with them you're not to do that in the Old Testament book of Numbers chapter 33 verses 51 through 56 it says speak to the children of Israel say to them when you've crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you destroy all their engraved stones destroy all their molded images and demolish all their high places you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it for I have given you the land to possess you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance therefore everyone's inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by a lot you shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides they shall harass you in the land where you dwell moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them so they had received marching orders make no covenant with these people have nothing to do with them you're to destroy them why because these people were extremely evil and so at first Israel is hesitant they say we don't know where you're from maybe you dwell from around here how can we make a covenant with you and they're keeping in mind what God's word had said to them well in verse eight they said to Joshua we are your servants Joshua said to them who are you where do you come from we are your servants now that's not them saying we voluntarily will become your slave labor that's a polite thing you know it's it's a it's a way to express just a politeness you know there is a time where you would you would say your name and you'd say at your service and it's just a phrase that you use just to say that you're harmless that you don't intend any harm to that person at all so they're they're going about making it seem as if they're they're friendly towards them and courteous towards them but they're not volunteering to become their slaves whatsoever verse nine says so they said to him when Joshua says who are you where you from they said 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 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who are beyond the Jordan to see on King of Heshban and King of Bashan who is at Ashtarot so notice how they go about deceiving Joshua they say to him we came from a very distant land so that's given the impression that that we're not part of this area that that you are conquering but we're distant from here but it also is a way to to provoke in in Joshua a sense of honor for his God because they're basically saying we're from a far distance but we've heard a view and we've heard of how powerful your God is and so it's a form of flattery and they're saying we've heard that that he delivered Israel out of Egypt and we have heard how that he has given you victory over two very famous kings but I want you to notice something notice that they don't say and we've heard how that you crossed the Jordan and they're not saying to him and we heard of how you have taken Jericho because those were recent events and and they're given the the impression that they're from a distance away and therefore they wouldn't have heard of all of this recent news and all so they're very deceptive the way the enemy is they're very deceptive and they're bringing in the strategy to cause them to to feel that they are harmless well verse 11 therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us saying take provisions with you for the journey and go to meet them say to them we are your servants now therefore make a covenant with us this bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you but now look it is dry and moldy and these wineskins which we filled we're new and see they're torn these these are garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey and so they draw the attention to all and this is where we're going to start looking at some things a little deeper they draw attention to the outside evidences they're drawing their attention to that what you can see moldy bread tattered wineskins worn out garments and worn out shoes are all outer evidences of a great distance that they've traveled and the time it would have taken for them to go that distance and so they're setting them up right now in verse 14 the men of Israel took some of their provisions but they did not ask counsel of the Lord so Joshua made peace with them made a covenant with them to let them live and the rulers of the congregation swore to them let's look at this and try and become practical about this lesson that we're learning here they made a decision based on outer appearance they failed to seek God's direction over the years I've had people approach me who have said to me this has happened more than once pastor I have an opportunity to get a good job in another city I'm going to move to another state and I was just wondering if you could pray for me because we're planning on taking the job but just wondering if you have any advice I've heard that more than once and so the very first thing I have asked and I will always ask this the very first question I have always asked is this where are you going to go to church what church are you going to go to and the response normally is and it's normally almost the same almost by word for word to be honest with you it's normally oh there are a lot of churches in the city and I'll say well great that's good to hear which one are you going to go to oh we're going to decide when we get there really you're going to decide what church you're going to go to once you've made your move then what's the prayer what do you want me to pray for that you make a good choice because the bottom line is just because you have an opportunity to get a good job I'm not saying it's not a good thing and it's not of the Lord at all I'm not saying that at all but just because you have an opportunity to move to a better place and by the way there are a lot of places that are better than this doesn't mean you're supposed to all of you who've been in this church know that before this church began I was an assistant pastor in another Calvary Chapel and when I resigned my position from being the assistant pastor I came home and I told my wife Marie that I am no longer going to be assisting in this particular church and I said the Lord has allowed me to be set free and so I have a chance I could possibly be delivering bread as a bread delivery man in San Luis Obispo because I have a friend of mine who was as a manager over a bread distributorship there and I told Marie I could go and deliver bread you know I've been delivering the bread of life I can deliver some Parisian bread I mean bread's bread right I'd like to go to San Luis Obispo because I liked it I've been going to San Luis Obispo since 1968 I go to San Luis Obispo on vacation every year sometimes twice I'll I'll go for weekends you know I like San Luis Obispo friend of mine is a pastor of Calvary San Luis Obispo his name is Brian Brian calls me up just before he leaves to plant the church he used to work for word for today and he calls me up and says David we've never met but I edit the tapes for the radio program he said and he says I work on the radio program and I've listened to you for a long time now you have mentioned San Luis Obispo and so many of your studies I want you to know that I'm going to go and plant a church there and I said great lay a great foundation Brian because I'm going to come and steal that church from you because I want to go and live in San Luis Obispo I mean this is going on for years so I come home and I tell Marie you know I'm no longer going to be here in the church I we have an opportunity we can put the house up for for sale and we can move to San Luis Obispo it's a great place to you know it's by the beach it's just it's real quaint you know and and Marie just smiles at me and she says you know that God hasn't called you there you know that I said he didn't call me to be married to you either so that's it stop it stop speaking truth see what appears to be your heart's desire what appears on the outside to work doesn't always really measure up to what you think it is you have to pray you have to seek the Lord you cannot make judgment based on just outer appearances I cannot tell you and I and I and forgive me perhaps I have some visitors today who are listening or maybe somebody will hear this on the radio in the future I am not saying that I'm the greatest pastor in the world though I am what I'm saying what I'm saying is and I'm not saying that this church is the best church in the world and and all of that that could be misunderstood and I'm trying to be careful just to say that's not what I'm saying there are great churches no doubt wonderful churches great teaching super worship God is there that's not what I'm saying what I am saying is you have to pray and seek the Lord before you root yourself and go somewhere else because there have been too many people that I have spoken to over the years who have written or called me or come to visit who say I made a mistake I should have sought the house of the Lord a place to serve and place to to go to church because on the outside it looked like it was great but when I got there there's no place to fellowship there's no church you know it's kind of like the Wizard of Oz there's no place like home you know there's just it's just different and and I and I am drawing I'm dried up now I get those reports still to this day I still do and so you have you have to pray you have to seek the Lord you have to ask God what do you have what what is it that you see that I don't see what is it that that I I'm looking on the outside and in this particular case I'm looking at the saddlebags I'm looking at the clothing I'm looking at the food I'm looking at the sandals and as every appearance that they've come from a distant land and have been on the road for some time it all has the appearance but they're making a big mistake because as it says in verse 14 they did not ask counsel of the Lord they didn't seek the Lord in this they made a decision based on outer appearance they failed to seek God's direction and this failure to pray gave place for them to be completely deceived now Joshua did not intend to disobey God he was deceived his mistake was he did not seek the counsel of the Lord he didn't seek God's direction Joshua looked at the outer appearance but he did not seek God's direction he failed to be what the New Testament would exhort us to he failed to be what is called vigilant in prayer vigilant in prayer in the book of Colossians chapter four verse two Paul says it like this continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with thanksgiving continue earnestly in prayer being vigilant in it with thanksgiving continue remain steadfast and strong in prayer apply steady effort be vigilant be awake and do not grow weary so when he speaks of this it means to to remain watchful and be alert and be aware in the event that there's some trouble you need to be watchful and you need to be alert and when you see something you need to go in the Lord beyond the surface and the way to do that is through prayer Joshua knew God's word Joshua knew he was not to make a covenant with these people he knew God's word but he didn't seek the Lord in prayer and that was his big mistake he didn't seek the Lord's direction all he could see again is the outside but God sees beyond the outside in Jeremiah 23 24 we read can anyone hide himself in secret places so I shall not see him says the Lord do I not fill heaven and earth says the Lord can you play cosmic hide and seek with God and him say you know I give up I can't find you is there anything that's hidden from his sight here's something for you if you think you can hide from God your God's too small your God's too small if you think you can hide from God your God's too small because God can see all there's nothing hidden from his sight he sees it all and so for me the wisest thing that I can do is is pray God it's this seems to be right it seems to be so right but you see there have been many times when I have moved because it seems right and I made some big mistakes and so I don't want to do that again I don't want to I don't want to make a decision without seeking you first I need the peace that comes from you I need to know I need confirmation and I don't want to move without that sense that you're directing me in this I just don't want to do that Hebrews 4 13 says there's no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account so God sees all and because he sees all it's always wise to seek his direction first in prayer again Joshua knew the word he was not to make a treaty with these people so it was not a failure of knowing God's word on the subject it was a failure to pray for direction there's a writer who's real well known for his prayer life in the things he writes concerning prayers name is em bounds em bounds and em bounds wrote he cannot be stated too frequently that the life of a Christian is a life of warfare an intense conflict a lifelong contest it's a battle moreover waged against invisible foes who are ever alert and ever seeking to entrap deceive and ruin the souls of men the life to which holy scripture calls men is no picnic it is no past time no pleasure jaunt it entails effort wrestling struggling it demands the putting forth of the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come off at the last more than conqueror it is no prim rose path no rose scented dalliance from start to finish it is a war from the hour in which he first draws sword to that in which he doffs his harness the christian warrior is compelled to endure hardness like a good soldier and so the christian life is a life of warfare satan desires to destroy there are so many people who seem to think that satan is kind of like not that much of a problem and he doesn't really have that much of a problem with you if you walk out today know this god loves you and satan hates you know that he wants to destroy you and one of the things he loves to do is make you mad at god when it's him all along who's been bringing the pain to your life and then you get mad at god how could a god do this to me how could god we blame god for so many things we blame god for things that god should never be blamed for and yet we do it's all your fault if you really loved me you wouldn't have let this happen in my life you wouldn't have taken this from me or hurt me in this way if you really loved me and the enemy just smiles within over that because he's causing you to turn on the one who loves you the most in this universe and that's what he wants you're in a war and never forget it never forget it you are in a war 24 7 he never takes a break he never takes a vacation he never takes r and r of any sort he is after you constantly and there are times when you feel like you've gone under a wave and you're about to drown and you pop your head back up and take a deep breath and you say i finally can breathe and here comes another set and you go down again and you think i can't take this anymore and all along you begin to say this is god if god loved me if god cared about me if i've discovered something through those long processes the lord has a way of using him for my good he refines my faith and strengthens me and makes me more courageous and more bold it also has a way of developing within me a stronger faith than i've ever had before and the losses that i've experienced like you we've all gone through losses i've actually come out of those losses stronger trusting god more because my god has proved himself to be faithful every time and the enemy cannot win there's no way he can win he's already lost he's already he's already the loser the greatest loser in the universe is is satan because god has already proven himself victorious but what he wants to do is he wants to cause you to think that that you're losing you haven't lost you're more than victorious in jesus christ hold fast to him hold fast to him don't let go and seek the lord in prayer ask god god show me your glory show me your strength show me your power reveal to me that which is necessary at this moment for me to be able not only to make it through but to make it through victorious in you and watch what the lord will do he refines you and strengthens you the enemy wants you to look only on the outer appearance only on the outside and he doesn't want you to see his deceitfulness and so you seek the lord and you pray and you ask god for direction and that is what we need to do seeking god in prayer is of utmost importance because we want to live lives that please him and when we pray we're simply admitting our need for his help and we're just admitting that we need his direction and when we pray and then seek him we're also adopting the the heart of humility because we're abandoning our pride and we're revealing our dependence on him trust in the lord with all your heart lean not on their own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him he will direct your path that's a promise from god trust in him why am i to trust in the lord with all my heart well because you're my tells me that well if you trust in your heart your heart is deceitful it is wicked it's desperately wicked who could know it so i don't want to trust just my own heart i am not to lean on to my own understanding i'm to acknowledge him and i do so through prayer and his word that's what god has called us to do well joshua failed to do this and what happens verse 15 tells us joshua made peace with them made a covenant with them to let them live and the rulers of the congregation swore to them he didn't sin willfully but he did not value the privilege of actually asking god for direction either there's this old song and and you'll recognize the lyrics in just a moment i'll read them to you don't worry i will not sing them but we used to sing this song when i first got saved and uh we actually had two songs we combined and and this was one of those songs but it's what a friend we have in jesus and and it goes what a friend we have in jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything to god in prayer but it goes on to say oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to god in prayer and that's true sometimes we carry things we need not carry and sometimes we suffer things we need not suffer because we didn't seek god so by not seeking god joshua is deceived into making this covenant ecclesiasties five two says do not be rash with your mouth let not your heart utter anything hastily before god god is in heaven and you on earth therefore let your words be few but they made this covenant in verse 16 it happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them then the children of israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day now their cities were gibbian cheffa rah mont claire pomona birath and kiryat yareem but the children of israel did not attack them because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the lord god of israel and all the congregation murmured against the rulers then all the rulers said to all the congregation we have sworn to them by the lord god of israel now therefore we may not touch them this we will do to them we will let them live lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them and the rulers said to them let them live but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation as the rulers had promised them so they had made a val before god and when you make a val before god you don't break it you know we have our new year's resolutions and people make the resolutions those are not vows to god those are simply resolutions they make the resolution every year anybody here ever make resolutions i don't you know do you anybody here make really i'm interested anybody make reviews yeah you're very few of you do you break them don't you because we do well i'm going to lose 20 pounds then i'll gain 25 you know i mean that i'm not going to do this i'm not going to do that i'm going to stop this i'm going to stop that i'm you know we we make resolutions well resolutions one thing promises and oaths to god's another another thing in the old testament it makes it very clear that if you make a promise to god you're to keep it in numbers 30 verse 2 if a man makes a vow to the lord or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement he shall not break his word he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth and so when you made an oath you were to keep that oath so they made an agreement and they were to keep their oath their word was made to god and their word was what bound them there was a time in the history of the united states by the way that all you needed to do is give your your word and and stick your hand out and shake somebody's hand and that's all you really needed that you didn't need to have a lot of contracts you didn't need 50 pages of contracts you just took your hand out and you said i'm going to make that i'm going to make good on that debt and you made good on the debt there was a lot of integrity a lot of people had integrity some people would default yes that's true of course human nature being what it is but overwhelmingly your name meant something your integrity meant something you were trustworthy and that mattered even in my day when i was growing up my dad was the kind of man that if he had ten dollars and he owed money or he could feed the family my dad was kind of at first make his payment and anything that was left over we would get that was just the way it was there was no complaining in my house about that my dad's name meant something to him his word was his bond and if you wanted to insult my dad refuse him credit because my dad would pay his bills on time and we learned that that some meals are fine three days in a row we learned those things we learned that my mom could make mashed potatoes one day and then something she called potato pancakes the next and that was fine we learned that you could get some tomato soup you could actually get tomato sauce put it in water get a potato cut it up get some frankfurters cut those things up boil them and that's dinner we learned that that was our soup we learned all of that because you want to know something my dad taught us pay your bills on time be a man of your word have integrity that was poured into my life and though there was a period in my life that i can confess to you that i really didn't value that for the last 42 years as a believer i have valued it tremendously because my name means a lot to me integrity means a lot to me that's how i run this church we make sure that we pay our bills on time we take care of those things because that gives honor to god you see that's how that works right so your name ought to mean something your your your word ought to mean something and so when they made their their oath they said we're going to let you live there's no way that they're going to back off and secondly because that oath was made as a promise and it's something that they had vowed they would not break it well it says in verse 21 the rulers said well let them live but they're going to be wood cutters and water carriers no those were the lowest tasks so they made them do the most menial work in society in verse 22 joshua called to them and he spoke to them saying why have you deceived us saying we are very far from you when you dwell near us now therefore you're cursed none of you shall be freed from being slaves wood cutters and water carriers for the house of my god they they had used deception to secure an oath but israel was still bound to honor that they had been careless when they made such an oath and therefore they had to respect their word and so joshua makes it clear we will respect our word but you're going to be our slaves basically in verse 24 so they answered joshua and said because it was certainly told your servants that the lord your god commanded his servant moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you and have done this thing and now here we are in your hands do with us that seems good and right to do to us so he did to them and he delivered them out of the hand of the children of israel so that they did not kill them that day joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation for the altar of the lord and the place where he would choose even to this day well they believe that the god of israel was giving the land to the israelites so they basically lied to live the result a life of slavery but for them it was better than dying do not make decisions lightly one of the things that my staff who works most closely with me those who work most closely with me on staff will tell you about the way i do things and i'll share this with you in conclusion is i do not make decisions quickly i wait anytime somebody tries to hurry me to make a decision the decision will be made it'll be no because if you pressure me to make a decision now that's not the lord i'm not going to do it it's like when i've gone into a car lot i've looked at a car and my friendly salesman says to me well i can't guarantee this price you know more than an hour so i say well i hope somebody comes in within 59 minutes to buy it because i'm not going to buy it just because you're trying to pressure me to make a decision i do the opposite when somebody tries to pressure me i dig my heels in and i say i'm not moving i'm not moving because this pressure is not the spirit this is the flesh so when if you try to pressure me to decide something on your behalf right now that will not happen i'm not going to allow that to take place because if it's important enough to decide it's important enough to pray about we're going to pray before we do anything and when i do whatever it is i'm supposed to do it will be in full peace with the lord and if i make a decision i will repent if it's a bad one because i seek the lord that's just a habit i have i encourage you to i encourage you to the habit too take time to pray seek the lord before you make any decisions don't go without her appearance because often appearances are deceiving that's what you learned here with joshua they looked like they came from a great distance but in reality it was just a great deceit that's how the enemy works he works on the appearance he doesn't work on the substance he wants you to follow what appears to be the right thing or god by his holy spirit will give you direction if you just wait on him learn to wait on the lord learn not to make snap decisions and i guarantee you if you learn that lesson you'll have less pain in your life over time because you'll be making the proper decision because you waited on the lord to direct you so wise thing to do let me encourage you in that