January 22- Joshua 22:10-34
January 22- Joshua 22:10-34
10 And when
they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people
of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an
altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And
the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the
people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the
frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side
that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 And
when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of
Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
13 Then the
people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the
half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar
the priest, 14 and with him ten
chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them
the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 And
they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of
Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of
the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the
God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion
against the Lord? 17 Have we not
had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed
ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you
too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole
congregation of Israel. 19 But
now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land where the Lord's
tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do
not rebel against the Lord or
make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of
the Lord our God. 20 Did
not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things,
and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish
alone for his iniquity.’”
21 Then the
people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in
answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The
Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty
One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel
itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today 23 for
building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or
peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take
vengeance. 24 No, but we
did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our
children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of
Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people
of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship
the Lord. 26 Therefore
we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and
you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service
of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and
peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come,
“You have no portion in the Lord.”’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to
us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of
the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for
burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and
you.”’ 29 Far be it from us
that we should rebel against the Lord and
turn away this day from following the Lord by
building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than
the altar of the Lord our God that stands before
his tabernacle!”
30 When Phinehas
the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of
Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the
people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. 31 And
Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the
people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of
faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people
of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”
32 Then
Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the
people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land
of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And
the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of
Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy
the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad
called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us
that the Lord is God.”
What a beautiful passage this is. What Phinehas and the chiefs
thought was meant as a breach of faith was instead a reminder to the people of
Gad and the people of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh to never forget God
and what he had done for them. It is easy to misinterpret an action and cause
hurt feelings. Be careful as you walk this road with God to allow Him to lead
you and show you His ways. Ask of Him clarity before you speak. Be careful of
assumptions that are so easy to make.
Heavenly Father, this story reminds me of
the fact that You are the only truth.
Everything but You is made up of half-truth, lies, hate and fear. The enemy uses these things to trick us into
believing these things to be truth. You
are the only good thing and when I find something good, I know You are part of
it. When I see truth, I know You are the
author of it. Misunderstandings, hurt
feelings, fear, hate, and pride are all from the enemy. He wants to destroy anything good and replace
it with counterfeit love. How often I am
tricked, but not for long, because You bring me back to see Your truth….the
truth. Thank You for always bringing me
back to You.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen!
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