They said to him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the name of Yahweh your God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
We must not try to excuse Israel's failure here.  "They were guilty of excessive credulity and culpable negligence in not asking the will of God through the High Priest and the Urim and Thummin, before making any such agreement.[22]  God's children are instructed to be "wise as serpents ... harmless as doves."  "The child of God is no less in danger today, and needs to be aware of our arch-deceiver who is Satan."[23]  "This may have been a full vassal treaty of the pattern of those times, because it certainly included, as events showed, the protection of the vassals against their enemies."[24]