Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

The Cambridge Dictionary states that “treaty” is “a written agreement between two or more countries, formally approved and signed by their leaders”.

The Collins English Dictionary says, “A treaty is a written agreement between countries in which they agree to do a particular thing or to help each other.”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word “treaty” as “an agreement or arrangement made by negotiation.”  Specifically, the word refers to “a contract in writing between two or more political authorities (such as states or sovereigns) formally signed by representatives duly authorised and usually ratified by the lawmaking authority of the state”.  A secondary meaning is “a document in which such a contract is set down”.

Regardless of which dictionary you consult, the primary usage of the word “treaty” is in the context of international agreements.

“Treaty” in the Bible

The Israelites were forbidden to make treaties, or more accurately, to “make covenant”, with the Canaanites (Exodus 34:12).  This was because of the risk of religious apostasy and moral contamination that would thereby be involved.

However, Israel was situated in the midst of other nations.  Treaty arrangements of some sort with their neighbours were from time to time inevitable.

After the rise of the Israelite monarchy, treaties were common. David and Solomon had friendly relations with Hiram, king of Tyre. King Asa of Judah, to rid himself of the hostile approaches of King Baasha of Israel, entered into a league with Ben-hadad of Syria, which the prophet Hanani denounced (2 Chronicles 16:1-3). Ahab entered into a similar compact with Ben-hadad’s son and successor, and set him at liberty when he was his prisoner of war (1 Kings 20:34).

At a later time, Jehoshaphat joined Ahab in an expedition against Ben-hadad II to Ramoth-gilead in which Ahab lost his life (1 Kings 22). Then, with the rise of the ‘mega-empires’, the kings of Israel and Judah entered into treaties to resist their advances and to preserve their own independence. Sometimes with Syria and neighbouring states against the terrible Assyrian power, and sometimes with Egypt against Assyria or Babylon, Israel and Judah made treaties. The prophets spoke against such alliances (Isaiah 31:1; Jeremiah 27:3).

But take note! These arrangements, whether called “covenants” or “treaties”, were with other nations.  The Kingdom of Israel, and then the later divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, created international alliances formalised as “covenants” or “treaties”.

There is never any use of the word “treaty” to refer to a formal agreement between people groups within the nation.

Modern Distortion

Canada has adopted a distortion of the word “treaty”.

Because Canada recognises its indigenous peoples as “First Nations”, the Canadian Government has made treaties with the descendants of those ‘nations’.

So, in Canada, “treaty” also refers to “any of the formal agreements between Indian bands and the federal government by which the Indians surrender their land rights in return for various forms of aid”.

Of course, this is an example of ‘wanting your cake and eating it too’. If those so-called “First Nations” have not been, and are not, Canadians, then Canada could make treaties with them. But if they have enjoyed the rights and privileges of being Canadian citizens — voted in Canadian elections, served in the Canadian institutions of authority, accessed Canadian welfare benefits, and such like — then they are Canadians.

And no treaties were necessary!

And the treaties did not, of themselves, improve the lives of the descendants of those so-called “First Nations” peoples. Only God-answers can do that!

Blunt Honesty

The same call for “Treaty” is being made in our country. From Yothu Yindi’s 1991 Tribal Voice album to a screaming Senator Lidia Thorpe, the demand is for “Treaty Now”.

And the 2017 “Uluru Statement from the Heart” says, in part:

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle.  It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

The Voice to Parliament is not the end-game. It’s one step. Then there’s “a process of agreement-making” — in other words, a treaty — and “truth-telling”.

And notice the implicit assumption … the “First Nations” peoples and “the people of Australia” are two separate groups.

If the Aboriginal people are not Australians, why are Australian taxpayers putting billions of dollars each year into welfare and development projects in Aboriginal communities? Why are we allowing Aboriginal people to vote in Australian elections (and thereby giving them a voice to our parliaments)?

On the other hand, if the Aboriginal people are Australians, why is there an illogical demand for “Treaty Now”?  We should simply acknowledge that we are already ONE nation!

And we should be putting the God-answers in place to solve our problems!

___

Photo by Tara Winstead.