Tuesday July 23
Conflict Between the Tribes
Joshua 22:10-18
10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan--a great, impressive altar.
11 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, "Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan--on the children of Israel's side."
12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.
13 Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead,
14 and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel.
15 Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
16 "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: 'What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?
17 Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
18 but that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
Now in Joshua 22, we come to a very interesting incident and conflict that almost caused a war between the tribes before they hardly get settled into their inheritance because of the “great impressive altar” that the two and half tribes built on the border at the Jordan River.
The word traveled quickly that the tribes east of the Jordan had erected an altar. While these two and a half tribes had been very sincere in what they did, their action was misunderstood; and the other tribes prepared for possible war. But wisely, they waited while an official delegation investigated what was going on. "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him" (Prov. 18:13).
The delegation of ten princes, one from each tribe, was led by Phinehas, the son of the high priest, a man who had already proved himself courageous in defending the Law of the Lord (Num. 25; Ps. 106:30-31). It was the responsibility of the tribal leaders and the priests to investigate every situation in Israel that appeared to be a breach of the Law (Deut. 13). God had instructed the Jews to destroy the altars of the heathen nations in Canaan and not to build altars of their own. There was to be one altar of sacrifice at the one sanctuary that God had appointed (Deut. 12; Lev. 17:8-9).
In Joshua 22:15-20, it's likely that Phinehas made this speech, but note that his address represented the agreement of all the tribes. Phinehas called what they had done "an act of treachery”, which means Joshua had commended these two and a half tribes for their loyalty, and now it appeared that they had proved faithless. They had “turned away” (vv. 16, 18, 23, 29), which meant they were no longer following the Lord (see v. 5). This word carries the idea of "backsliding," gradually moving away from the Lord. The strongest word used was “rebel” (vv. 16, 18-19, 22, 29), which means deliberately resisting God's will and disobeying His Law. In building an unauthorized altar, these two and a half tribes were guilty of apostasy. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Sam. 15:23).
From the nation's recent history Phinehas cited two serious cases of rebellion as warning to these tribes. The first was the participation of Israel in the heathen rites of the Moabites, when the men committed harlotry with the Moabite women (Josh. 22:17; Num. 25). As a result, 24,000 people died. The second was the sin of Achan after the victory at Jericho, when he deliberately took the spoils that belonged to the Lord (Josh. 22:20; see Josh. 7). His sin led to defeat at Ai and the deaths of thirty-six Jewish soldiers. It also led to his own death and that of the members of his family.
This conflict between the tribes should remind us as believers that we are all apart of the “household of God”, His Church, the body of Jesus Christ, and what we do affects the whole body. Also, we shouldn’t even give the appearance that we are worshipping the altars and gods of this world in our attempt to worship the One and Only True God, through Jesus Christ! Being a borderline believer can cause all kinds of conflict and mislead other believers.
Think about it!
God bless!
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