Deuteronomy 20:

10 As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace.

11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor.

12 But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.

13 When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town.

14 But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.

15 But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter.

16 In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing.

17 You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

18 This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.

—Deuteronomy 20:10-17 NLT.

Joshua Chapter 9:

3 But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,


4 they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins.


5 They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy.


6 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.”


7 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.”


8 They replied, “We are your servants.”
”But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”


9 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.


10 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).


11 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.”‘


12 “This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy.


13 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.”


14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.


15 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.


16 Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!


17 The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.


18 But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty.


19 But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them.


20 This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath.


21 Let them live.” So, they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.


22 Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us?


23 May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”


24 They replied, “We did it because we—your servants—were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So, we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this.


25 Now we are at your mercy—do to us whatever you think is right.”


26 So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them.


27 But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the Lord—wherever the Lord would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day.

Setting:

God gave Canaan to us. He told us to fight nearby nations, and to make treaties only with distant nations.

Text:

Deuteronomy 34:9

“Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So, the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

The Man Joshua:

Granted wisdom by God himself.
Divinely ordained to his office.
Has the confidence of the people.

Our Questions:

Is Joshua an infallible leader?
Should Joshua think critically?
Should Joshua inquire of the Lord?

The Basic Question:

Are these visitors truly ambassadors from a distant land?

Emotional Factors:

These are such agreeable men.
They are so polite and humble.

Sympathy:

They want to join in worshipping our God.

Pity:

Consider what hardships they have endured.

Flattery:

They admit that our God is stronger than the gods of Egypt.

Personal Vanity:

It feels good to be recognized as a wise man.
My people expect their leader to be decisive.

How much time shall we take to decide?

Must we investigate the evidence?
Must we consult the Lord?

The Specific Claims:

1. We have made a long journey, from a distant country.
2. This bread was hot from the ovens when we left. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy.
3. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and cracked.
4. Our clothing and sandals are worn out from our long, hard trip.

The Physical Evidence:

1. Yes, the bread is dry and moldy.
2. Yes, the saddlebags are weathered.
3. Yes, the wineskins are old, cracked and patched.
4. Yes, their clothes are ragged.
5. Yes, their sandals are worn-out and patched.

What does this all mean?

Does the claim that the ambassadors are from a distant country follow directly from the evidence?


Or is this a non sequitur?


Could we reasonably interpret the physical evidence in more than one way?

Background Knowledge:

How long does it take wineskins to become so old and cracked that they require patching?
(months to years?)


How long does it take sandals to wear out and need to be patched?
(weeks to months?)


How long does it take saddlebags to weather?
(weeks to months?)


How long does it take clothes to become ragged?
(weeks to months?)


How long does it take for fresh bread to become dry and moldy?
(days to weeks?)


How closely should these time periods match?

How to Ask Questions?

Interrogate the ambassadors singly.
Compare their testimonies.
Look for consistency, but
Beware of conspiracy.


You are impressed with the might of the Lord our God and all that He did in Egypt. Shortly after that, God gave us a body of law, which he summarized with his own writing on stone. What do know about our law, and what is your attitude toward it?


You have told us of your very long journey. Please be more specific.
How long did this travel take, in months, weeks and days?


You’ve explained that you come from a distant land.

What is the name of your distant land?
By what route have you come?
What did you see along the way?
Is there any reason that we should doubt your word?
Why are you offering physical evidence in support of your story?


With what nations do you already have treaties?

What is the nature of those treaties?


Tell us how your nation relates to the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.


Of course, our leaders will wish to meet with your leaders to discuss the specifics of the treaty. When and where shall we plan a summit conference?


Do you own more than one set of clothes?

What kinds of clothes do you customarily wear, when you represent your country on important occasions of state?

Stipulations:

When we make a treaty, we solemnly promise that we will be faithful to our agreements. But we realize that our knowledge and wisdom are limited.


Thus, we always include a clause stating that if a treaty we made in good faith is later discovered to have been based upon fraud or deceit, that treaty will become null and void.


Do you have any objection to this clause?

Language:

We are conversing in our Hebrew language, which is similar to that of nearby peoples, such as the Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. Yet it is very different from the languages of more distant peoples, such as the Hittites.

Are you speaking in your native language?

If so:

How do our languages happen to be so similar?

If not:

How and where did you learn Hebrew?

Wine and wineskins:

You have mentioned that your wineskins were new when you filled them, but that they have since worn out and required patching.


Of course, if the skins cracked, you would lose your wine. And of course, the skins had to be empty while you were patching them.

Did you buy more wine along the way?

If so:

Why didn’t you also buy new wineskins?

If not:

Why do you c ontinue to carry dry and patched, but empty wineskins?

You have mentioned that your bread was hot out of the oven when you started your journey, but as we see, your bread is now dry and moldy.

How long did you travel before your bread became dry or moldy?

If it was a long time:

Please explain how you preserved your bread so well.

If it was a short time:

Why are you carrying moldy bread, and for how long have you been carrying it?

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” —James 1:6.

So, if we ask God for wisdom, will He grant it?

Yes, God has promised, and God is faithful.

Suppose that God grants us wisdom, just as surely as he gave wisdom to Joshua:

Now, do we still need to do our homework?