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Stories of the Bible, Volume 1: The People of the Chosen Land

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<h2 class="nobreak">THE GIBEONITES.</h2> The sun stood still, the moon it stayed Till Israel's vengeance was allayed Upon his enemy, Pausing all that awful day And glowing brilliantly. While these cities were being taken, the Gibeonites had heard of the coming of the Israelites and of their great conquests. Now, these Gibeonites were a strong people; and so, when they heard these things, they made preparations for the attack which they feared. First, they sent messengers to Joshua. "We wish to make peace with you," the messenger said. "If you are Canaanites," said Joshua, "we can make no peace with you." "But we are not Canaanites," the messengers[160] said. "Behold we come from a great distance. Do you not see how dry our bread is, and how broken our bottles are? Our shoes, too, see how they are worn! All these were new when we began our journey; but we have been so long on the road, they are worn. We have heard of your coming, as have all the kings round about our country. We know how great is your power; and that is why we have come to beg you to be at peace with our people." Now, this story was in no wise true; but Joshua believed it, and the Gibeonites went away pleased indeed that they had succeeded so well. But a few days after, Joshua learned that these Gibeonites had been untrue to him, and that they dwelt in the very midst of the country of Canaan. [161]"Why have you deceived us?" he asked of their leaders. The leaders could make no reply. They could only say, "But you promised not to slay us." "That is true," Joshua replied. "And we will not break our promise. We will not slay you; but we will take all prisoners, and you shall serve us as slaves all the days of your life." The Gibeonites were heavy hearted indeed. They had fallen into their own pit; for they would rather have died than become slaves. But now there was no hope for them, and they could only bow their proud heads beneath the yoke. Hardly had the Israelites and the Gibeonites made peace with each other in this way, when down came the Amorites upon the Gibeonites to fight them. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_040.jpg" width-obs="349" height-obs="500" alt="JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL." title="" /> JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL. </div> [163] The Gibeonites, frightened at the appearance of the great army, fled to Joshua for help. "We shall protect you as our servants and slaves," was the answer. And so, when the Amorites came, it was the Israelites that marched out against them. A terrible battle followed. For a time no one could have told which army was to be victorious. Many were falling among the Amorites; still their army was pressing forward. If only the day would not come to an end! If only the darkness would not fall! If only they might keep on with the battle till the Amorites, exhausted, should fall back! To give up the battle and begin again in the morning would be to give the Amorites opportunity to regain strength and courage. Then the thought came to Joshua, "Why[164] should night come? Why should not the sun and the moon stand still in the heavens until this battle is finished and the Amorites are driven back?" <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_041.jpg" width-obs="349" height-obs="500" alt="DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMY OF THE AMORITES." title="" /> DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMY OF THE AMORITES. </div> [165] And as he thought, lo! the prayer was answered, and the sun and the moon did stand still. Hour after hour passed; the two armies fought on; the Amorites grew weaker and weaker. Why did not the sun go down? Why did the darkness not come to give them rest? At last the Amorites could hold out no longer. The army turned and fled. The Israelites pursued. The kings hid themselves in a great cave. But Joshua pursued these still. He rolled great stones up before the cave and held them there prisoners. Then, when the Amorites had been scattered, Joshua[166] came back to the cave, brought out the offending kings and slew them all. So the contention for the possession of the land of Canaan went on. One by one the tribes were overcome; and at last Canaan was in the control of the Israelites. But now Joshua had grown to be an old man. He knew that the end of his life was near at hand. So he called the people together and told them, even as Moses had told them, of all the wonderful things that had happened to God's chosen people in all the four hundred years since they had come out of Egypt. Then he appealed to them in the name of God, who had led them safely into the land of Canaan; he begged them never to forget that they were the Children of Israel, and that the religion of the people into whose land they had come, an idolatrous religion, was not for them.[167] Then the people all promised to be true to the religion of their fathers; and Joshua, taking the great book of the law, wrote their promise in it. More than that, he rolled a great stone up beneath an oak tree and said, "Look at the great stone. It has heard your promise that you will serve always the one God. Guard that stone; and let it be a remembrance to you of the promise you have made." The people went away sad at heart; for they knew they should never look again upon their patient leader and teacher, who had been so faithful and true to them in all the years he had been with them. <hr class="scr" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_042.jpg" width-obs="349" height-obs="500" alt="DEBORAH" title="" /> DEBORAH </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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