The Treaty

With The Gibeonites

By

Holy Caleb De Warrior

The Treaty

And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon — the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite — heard about it, that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.

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 the elders of Israel, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."

Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?"

But they said to the elders, “We are your servants."

And the elders said to them, "Who are you, and where do you come from?"

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, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan — to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 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, and 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 were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey."

Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So the elders made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. Joshua 9:1-15

Why The Gibeonites Came To Meet The Elders Of The Israelites

The Gibeonites came to meet Joshua because of the following reasons:

Number 1, fear. They were utterly afraid.

Number 2, they have examined the star of Joshua.

Number 3, because of the prophecies already given in the past about the Israelites, about the nation of Israel and about the works that they shall do. Yahweh, the Lord of the Hosts, the creator of the heavens and the earth is with the Israelites.

Number 4, the Gibeonites have heard about the many glorious and mighty works of God.

Number 5, they heard about the prophetic messages concerning the Israelites, and about the prophets of Israel.

Number 6, they have heard about Holy Moses, and about the many great and wonderful works which God used Holy Moses to accomplish in the land of the Egypt.

Number 7, they have also heard about what God was using Joshua to do work, and about various nations, which God used Holy Joshua De Conqueror to pull down, in His anger and wrath.

Meeting And Decision

Therefore, the Gibeonites decided that if they shall have long life, and live in peace and in trust, the only solution was to come and make peace with Israel. Therefore, they asked, “How shall we make the peace?”

They called for meeting and made suggestions. They discovered that Joshua was not somebody you can easily deceive, and he is not somebody that you can easily confuse. The God of Israel is not somebody you treat anyhow.

Double Strategies

Son of man, what did the Gibeonites do?

They pretended. They thought that their pretense will save them. All that happened were not completely and accurately recorded in the bible.

Number 1, they were prepared and ready for battle, before they sent delegates. They were prepared for battle, in case the Israelites did not accept the offer of peace. They were prepared for war, because they had faith that their god will save them, and that if this plan did not work, another plan will work.

The Gibeonite Delegates Deceived The Elders of Israel

As God receives glory, when they came, it was not Joshua that they met the first day they came to Israel. They inquired about the leaders of Israel from the Israelites. They went to the Israelites, and the Israelites took them to the elders. It was the elders that welcomed them, because of their sweet tongue – diplomacy. They deceived the elders, and the elders did not inquire from God. The elders did not even tell Joshua what happened, about the visit of the Gibeonites and their request for peace making.

Revelations And Directives From God

It was after three days that God revealed to Joshua about the Gibeonite visitors, and God told Joshua what to tell them and what to do to them.

Son of man, number 1, God sent message and said, “The Gibeonites are not faraway people. They are neighbouring city.”

Number 2, God told Joshua the reason why the Gibeonites came, what they wanted and how they made a simple plan to join the Israelites.

Number 3, God told Joshua not to drive them away. Driving them away is not the solution. Killing them is not the solution. And fighting against them and the people of that nation is not the solution. The simple solution given by God was to welcome them, because their faith had saved them.

Number 4, to make them join in doing God’s work, because God will pull down many various nations. All the people, all the nations that believe in God and do His will shall be part of the covenant people of God.

Number 5, God the Father specified where their works should start and end. As God divided the Israelites into twelve tribes, and specified where their works start and end – specified their duties, even so all the Israelites and Gibeonites have where their respective works start and end. That is division of labour, which is both good and necessary. Even in the divisions of the land, there were different demarcations, boundaries, set as God made it.

And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours who dwelt near them. Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 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 complained 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." Joshua 9:16-21

Why God Was Merciful To The Gibeonites

The Head: God was merciful to the Gibeonites, because they gave glory to the name of God Almighty, by submitting and because they chose to serve the God of Israel. By humbling themselves and by choosing to be servants, they became sons of God, just like the Israelites. God welcomed them into the midst of His covenant people.

Joshua Interrogates The Gibeonites

Then Joshua called for 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 are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves — woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God."

So they answered Joshua and said, "Because your servants were clearly told 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 as it seems good and right to do to us." Joshua 9:22-25

Why God Gave Land To The Gibeonites

So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, in the place which He would choose, even to this day. Joshua 9:26,27

God allotted land to the Gibeonites, because of the following reasons:

Number 1, the anointing with which the Gibeonites came was different.

Number 2, it was the right and necessary thing to do, the right action to take, because the Promised Land was a land promised to Abraham, which became manifest with Isaac and remained steadfast with Jacob.

Number 3, the reason why God set boundaries was because of the various Angels who shall stay with the Gibeonites. Son of man, the Levites have an angel that is ruling them. The tribe of Reuben have their own angel. Even the tribes of Joseph, Benjamin, and others have their respective Angels leading them.

Number 4, the works which the Gibeonites have come to do are different, so that rites of holiness shall be perfect. It is not the rites of holiness observed by the Levites that are observed by the tribe of Judah.

That was why the Gibeonites came and God approved it. The problem was that they came and started struggling for land. But God had first, already, told Joshua the land portion for the Gibeonites and also gave the Gibeonites works to do, and specified where their works start and end.

Son of man, somebody who is working for God, is the person cursed?

Chukwudi: No, my Lord.

Remove it, because the Gibeonites had great joy when Joshua delivered God’s messages to them. They supposed to become slaves, but they were called to join the Israelites.

Son of man, is that a thing of joy or mourning?

Chukwudi: It is a thing of joy. There was a prophecy given many years ago.