Joshua 22
-Joshua now summoned the tribes of the sons of Reuben, Gad,
and the half-tribe of Manasseh to Shiloh in order to bless them and send them back
to their possessions on the eastern side of the Jordan. Joshua noted that they
indeed had not forsaken their brothers in all the many battles. They had
followed the command of the LORD and their earthly leader. They had kept the
charge. Now they were given their proper rest and allowed to return to their
families and livestock in good order. Joshua’ only request was that they “be
very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of
the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in His ways and keep
His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and
with all your soul.” His blessing was sincere, right on point, and then he sent
them away. They had been blessed with many spoils of war, and now it was their
responsibility to be good stewards with the things they were entrusted (Joshua
22:1-9).
-When the tribes of the eastern side came to the region of
the Jordan still in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh
(the half-tribe) decided to build an altar by the Jordan River. The altar was
described as being “large” in appearance. As the sons of Israel to the western
side heard of it, they were suspicious and gathered themselves at Shiloh to go
up against them in war. Intelligently, a delegation was sent to inquire about
this altar before bloodshed began. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest,
along with ten chiefs from the tribes of Israel on the western side, went to
Gilead and spoke with their brothers on this matter of the large altar. They
had been offended and assumed that their brothers had done an unfaithful act
against the LORD God in building this altar. They worried that they were
rebelliously turning away from the God who had given them victory for some
reason. They compared it to the sins of Peor (Numbers 25:1-9) and the plague
that came upon them as an entire congregation. They knew all too well the wrath
of the Almighty and recounted Achan’s debauchery that ended up causing the unnecessary
deaths of many of their brothers (Joshua 7:1-26; 22:10-20). Ticking off God was
serious business to them.
-The sons of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Mannaseh
assured them that there was no misconduct in their erection of this altar. They
called down the wrath of God if they had any evil intent with their actions.
They truly desired the LORD, and wanted to make sure that their posterity would
follow Him too with the border that could one day possibly divide them. It was
for unification and consecration and a future concern regarding their children’s
fear of the LORD that inspired them to construct this altar. They had been
totally misunderstood. The altar was not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but
for a witness between their western brothers and them for the generations that
would inevitably come after them. They wanted to make sure that their families
completely understood that they had a “portion in the LORD.” They maintained
that it would be far from them to do anything illegal before the LORD in this
matter. They were not being rebellious at all. This indeed pleased the
delegation that had come from the west. They returned home with the news and it
also pleased the sons of Israel; therefore, war not even discussed anymore. The
altar was thereafter known as “Witness,” aptly named by the sons of Reuben and
Gad “for” they said, “it is a witness between us (the entire nation of Israel)
that the LORD is God (Joshua 22:21-34).”
-*Application* How many times do we make wrong assumptions
about people and situations? Do we, like the 10 western tribes, sometimes
operate out of fear and suspicion rather than good will? Think about this for a
second, Joshua had just sent these guys out with blessing and shortly afterward
they were considering going to war with these dudes and killing them. Crazy,
right? Yet we do some of the exact same things with our Christian brothers and
sisters in the fellowship realm. Thankfully, there is a prescription here in
the text for us to follow in these times and situations. Go to the people we
may have fears about or suspicions towards. See what the real story is. Then we
can address whatever it is in the proper manner without freaking out. Often, we
will find, as in this case, it was just a huge misunderstanding, and greater
joy and camaraderie will be the result as the matter is cleared up. Let us make
sure that we are building altars of witness between us establishing the LORD as
our God in love and Christian brotherhood.
Verses to Memorize:
Joshua 22:3-5, 22
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