Joshua 22

Two tribes and a half tribe return to the east, building an altar of witness chapter

Then Joshua called the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brethren these many days until today, but have been careful to fulfil the responsibility of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as he promised them. Therefore return now and go to your homes and to the land of your possession, which the LORD’s servant Moses gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to keep the command and the law, which the LORD’s servant Moses commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul”.

6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away. And they went to their homes. 7 Now to one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given territory in Bashan; but to the other half of it Joshua gave territory among their brethren on the western side of the Jordan. And so when Joshua sent them away to their homes, he blessed them, 8 and he spoke to them, saying, “Return to your homes with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver and with gold and with bronze and with iron and with a great quantity of clothing. Share the plunder from your enemies with your brethren”.

9 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned home, leaving the children of Israel from Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the region of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had taken in accordance with the word of the LORD through Moses.

10 And when they came to the vicinity of the Jordan, in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar near the Jordan, in appearance a great altar.

11 And the children of Israel heard it said, “See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, in the vicinity of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the children of Israel”.

12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go out to war against them.

22:11-12 God commanded the people not to give offerings on any altar except the one He chose – Lev 17:8-9; Deut 12:5-13. The nine and one half tribes in Canaan thought that the two and one half tribes east of the Jordan River were planning to break this command and set up a rival altar. The unity of the nation was in danger.⚜

13 And the children of Israel sent men to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead. They were Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and ten leaders with him, a leader from each chief household throughout all the tribes of Israel. Each one was the head of the household of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

22:13-14 Fortunately they were not as hasty in going to war as they were in misunderstanding and condemning. Cooler heads prevailed and the matter was thoroughly investigated.⚜

15 And they came to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says, What is this unfaithful deed that you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for yourselves to rebel this day against the LORD? 17 Was the sin at Peor too little for us? We are not cleansed from that until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD. 18 And must you turn away this day from following the LORD? And since you are rebelling today against the LORD, it will come about that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

19 “If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle is staying, and take possession of land among us. But do not rebel against the LORD, or against us, by building an altar for yourselves in addition to the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit an unfaithful deed in regard to the accursed thing? And anger fell on all the congregation of Israel. And that man did not perish alone in his sin”.

22:15-20 These ambassadors expressed the reason for the concern Israel felt. Rebellion would bring God’s anger on the whole nation (v 18).⚜

22:20 They well remembered the lesson God taught through Achan’s sin. See Josh 7:1-26.⚜

21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel, 22 “The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knows, and Israel should know. Do not save us this day if it is in rebellion or in unfaithfulness against the LORD

22:22 The repetition of these names of God suggests strong emphasis.⚜

23 that we have built an altar for ourselves to turn from following the LORD, or if we built it to offer burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer peace offerings on it. May the LORD himself demand an account, 24 if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In the future your children might speak to our children, saying, ‘What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the LORD.’ So your children may cause our children to stop fearing the LORD.

26 “Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build an altar for ourselves, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, that we will serve the LORD before him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that in the future your children may not say to our children, ‘You have no part in the LORD.’ 28 “Therefore we said that it shall come about, if they say this to us or to our future generations, that we may say in response, See this copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.

29 “God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, in addition to the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle”.

22:23-29 Here is an emphatic denial of wrong motives and a clear explanation of their actions. The tribes of Israel were independent to some extent but were united by their worship of Jehovah which was carried on at one central place (at that time this place was Shiloh). The two and one half tribes were building an altar, not for sacrifice (v 26), but as a witness to the unity of God’s people (v 27). What they were accused of was the exact opposite of the truth. So easily the inner thoughts and motives of fellow believers can be misunderstood because of some unexplained action. Believers now should have no less burden than the Israelites to maintain their unity in the Lord in the bonds of peace (Eph 4:3-6, 13; Phil 4:2; Col 3:11).⚜

30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the leaders of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the children of Manasseh, “Today we see that the LORD is among us, because you have not acted unfaithfully against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD”.

32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders left the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the land of Gilead, and returned to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel praised God and spoke no more of going up against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad lived.

22:33 The result of reconciliation and unity. Compare Ps 133.⚜

34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar “Witness”. “For”, they said, “it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God”.

22:10-34 This records a misunderstanding that almost had disastrous consequences (v 12). The misunderstanding was the result of a hasty conclusion about an ambiguous action. Fortunately the Israelites sent delegates to learn the facts, and trouble was averted. We should always be careful not to leap to conclusions about things we hear about others, and not to form opinions without real evidence.⚜

22:34 The witness was that the LORD (Jehovah), the God who chose Israel and made a covenant with them, was the only God in existence. See Josh 20:1-6; Deut 4:35; Isa 43:10-12; 44:6; 45:21-22.⚜