Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh and said to them, "You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. Now that the Lord your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, saying, "Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies."
So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.
When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.
So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. With him they sent ten of the chief men, one for each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.
When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: "The whole assembly of the Lord says: 'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! And are you now turning away from the Lord?
" 'If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord's land, where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.' "
Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel:
"The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.
"No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.
"That is why we said, 'Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.' On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the Lord.'
"And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.'
"Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle."
When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, "Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord's hand."
Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.
And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.
Joshua 22
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The fighting was over and Israel had claimed all the land God had promised them after crossing the Jordan…land that had been divided up amongst all the tribes except for the tribes of Reuben, Gad and a half of the tribe of Manasseh. You’ll recall that God had given them the land on the east side of the Jordan when Moses was leading Israel and before they crossed into Canaan.
You’ll also remember that there was a stipulation attached to them being granted land on the east side of the Jordan. Their men had to join forces with the fighting men of the other tribes to cross the Jordan and battle to gain control of the land God promised, only allowed to return back across the Jordan to their families after victory had been won for all of Israel. That time had come now.
For we see in Joshua, Chapter 22, where “…Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh” saying to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. Now that the Lord your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” And with that, Joshua “blessed them” saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies." And with that, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh began to return home.
All seemed like it was going to be fine. All the people of Israel were at rest in Canaan and the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh were on their way to the same rest in their lands. But something happened that disrupted the calm and created a disturbing stir amongst the Israelites in Canaan.
For on the way home, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh decided to build an “imposing altar…by the Jordan” at Geliloth. World traveled quickly back to the Israelites who “heard that (the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh) had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side”. They were so upset about this that they assembled at “Shiloh to go to war against them”. Why? Because Israel had made a common mistake…one that people all too often make. They assumed they knew something that wasn’t even close to the truth.
Have you ever done that? Heard about something and automatically assumed something had happened or somebody had done something before you really knew all the facts? There has been a long standing saying about what happens when you assume things but I won’t share it here. The main point is that when we assume before we know all the facts, we too often end up looking extremely foolish and can end up taking actions that are not only unnecessary but often embarrassing and/or damaging.
Israel assumed that the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had constructed the altar for themselves, ready to perform some improper worship or sacrifice on it and thus angering God to the point where He would exert His wrath on all of Israel. Their paranoia was fueled by the prior actions of Achan who you’ll remember decided to keep a few items from the conquest of Jericho when all things were to be given to God. His sin resulted in thirty-six Israelites dying as they attempted to attack Ai for the first time. Israel wasn’t spared until Achan was executed for his actions.
So Israel left Shiloh and went to Gilead where they asked the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, “The whole assembly of the Lord says: 'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! And are you now turning away from the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord's land, where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.' "
There accusations must have taken “Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh” by surprise and they responded with the following defense “to the heads of the clans of Israel”:
"The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account. No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord. That is why we said, 'Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.' On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the Lord.' And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.' Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle."
The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with confidence because they knew they had done nothing wrong. In fact, they had given the altar the name, “A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.” They further validated their actions by affirming the real reason why they built the altar…to glorify God and let it serve as a reminder that Israel was one nation under God, regardless which side of the Jordan you lived on. They asserted to Israel that God knew the motives of their hearts and, with that, they had nothing to fear.
Well, imaging how Israel must have felt after they heard this. Relieved? Yes. But they had marched so far with warring thoughts every step of the way only to find out that the altar wasn’t intended to be used anywhere near in the way they were thinking it would be. That had to be just a bit embarrassing. Why didn’t Israel ask God if the altar was meant to be used in an adverse way against Him? God surely would have told Israel to not waste their time marching so far because there was nothing to go to war about. But Israel didn’t do that…they decided to take matters into their own hands.
We read where “Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites” were pleased after they “heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say”, saying to them, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord's hand." The truth of the matter was that Israel was never in danger in the first place.
So “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting…and reported to the Israelites” who were “glad to hear the report and praised God”, taking “no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived”.
Friends, we see in Israel’s case that we error when we make assumptions void of all the facts. We should never operate off of gossip, innuendo, or guess work but instead truth…always. And the only way we can be assured we have the truth, is to seek it through the One who is THE Way and THE Truth and THE Life…THE only One who will always ensure we understand completely what is going on and, best of all, guide us to either act or not act depending on His will for the situation. Thanks be to the Lord for being our ever present help…our precious Redeemer, Counselor and Friend. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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