SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND

BIBLE STUDY LESSON 09

HASTY TREATY

WOODCUTTERS AND WATER CARRIERS
From Joshua 9
“There was much concern among the kings west of the Jordan River when they learned what had happened to Jericho and Ai. The territory of these kings stretched from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and northward to the mountains of Lebanon. Fearing for their own safety, they joined their forces to fight against Joshua. This force included the troops of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
When the people of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai, they decided to survive by tricking him. They sent to Joshua some men with worn-out sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins with patches, patched shoes and clothing and dry, crumbled bread.
When these men reached Gilgal, they told Joshua and his people, ‘we have come from a land far away. Make a covenant with us.’ ‘But you may live near here,’ Joshua answered the men. ‘If that were true, we couldn’t make a covenant with you.’

‘We are your servants,’ the men answered. ‘Who are you?’ Joshua kept asking. ‘Where are you from?’ ‘From a land far away,’ the men repeated. ‘News has come to our land of all that your Lord did for you in Egypt and all that He did to Sihon, king of Heshbon and Og, king of Bashan who lived at Ashtaroth, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River.’ ‘Our elders and people have sent us here. ‘Take provisions for a long trip,’ they told us. ‘Meet with the people of Israel. Tell them we are their servants and make a peace treaty with them.’ When we left, this bread was hot, fresh from our homes, but now it is dry and crumbled. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are torn. Our clothing and shoes are worn out because we have been on our trip so long.’ The men of Israel handled their provisions and believed them. They did not ask for God’s counsel concerning these men. Joshua made a peace treaty with the strangers, a covenant to let them live, with the leaders of Israel confirming the covenant with an oath. The truth, that these men were Hivites who lived nearby at Gibeon, was learned three days later.

The army of Israel set out immediately to confirm this fact and in three days reached the cluster of cities that the strangers represented; Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth and Kirjath-jearim. But the army did not harm these cities because of the peace treaty which the leaders of Israel had made. The people of Israel grumbled about this peace treaty, for now they were angry that their leaders had made it. But the leaders of Israel told the people, ‘we have made this treaty in the name of our Lord and we cannot harm the people now. We must let them live, for if we do not, God’s anger will be upon us because we broke our oath.’ Joshua spoke sternly to their leaders about their trick. ‘Why did you lie to us, telling us that you lived far away when you live nearby?’ he demanded. ‘For this you will have a curse upon you. You must always provide servants to cut our wood and carry our water for the house of the Lord.’ ‘We learned how the Lord had told Moses to conquer all the land and destroy the people,’ they answered. ‘Because we were so afraid that you would destroy us, we did this to save ourselves. Now we place ourselves at your mercy, to do what you believe is right.’ So Joshua refused to let his people kill them and made them woodcutters and water carriers for the altar of the Lord, wherever the Lord would choose to build it.”

COMMENTARY

OTHER CONQUESTS FROM EGYPT: MERNEPTAH
God had commanded Israel to destroy completely the peoples who lived in the Promised Land. Archaeology has shown the depraved practices of these people, whom God’s army would judge. With the Canaanites destroyed, Israel would be protected from contamination. But a people called the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty. This one time Joshua and the other leaders neglected to first seek God’s guidance.
No one knows exactly when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. But an Egyptian pharaoh, boasting about his victories in Canaan, left one of the greatest clues in history; and did not know it. It was Pharaoh Merneptah, son of Ramses II who came to power in Egypt after he was sixty years old. Merneptah was involved in wars to defend his empire throughout his reign. Even before he came to power, the Sea People had been attacking Egypt and Canaan all along the Mediterranean Sea coast.

They were particularly hard to get rid of, because they moved in with their families and all their possessions after they conquered an area. In addition to this threat, a revolt against Egypt broke out in Canaan only three years after Merneptah came to the throne. He moved quickly to stop it and invaded several cities in Canaan. The country was brought back into line. No sooner had he returned from this campaign than Merneptah was faced with problems from the west. Several countries had joined together and invaded Egypt. A huge battle with this powerful alliance resulted in the slaughter of over nine thousand enemy soldiers. To commemorate all these victories, Merneptah had a ten-foot stone column; called a “stele” (pronounced STEE-lee); inscribed with his victories. In it, he mentions the “tribe of Israel.” From this it is believed that by Merneptah’s time, the Israelites were already in the Promised Land. Little did this Egyptian pharaoh know that his “Israel stele” would become one of the most important historical records of the Israelites in Canaan.

TEST YOURSELF

1.) Joshua and the leaders of Israel were tricked into a peace treaty by?
            A.) The people of Gibeon
            B.) The people of Jericho

2.) How did the leaders of this country tricked the Israelites?
            A.) With some mouldy bread
            B.) By setting up an ambush

3.) For their deceit, these people were forced to become
            A.) Stone masons
            B.) Woodcutters and water carriers