Joshua 22:1-34

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Joshua 22:1-34

“Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: 3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day [about 7 years], but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan. 5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away unto their tents. 7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them. 8 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. 9 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to. 11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. 12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. 13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest. 14 And with him ten princes, throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. 15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, 16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD? 17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little 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 ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity. 21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, 22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,) 23 that we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it; 24 and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel? 25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children to cease from fearing the LORD. 26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, 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 might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD. 28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold, the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you. 29 God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle. 30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD. 32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again. 33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel;. and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. 34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed [That is, A witness]: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED626

and

https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED627]

“Chapter 22 takes us into an interesting circumstance. The seven years of the wars of Canaan have ended, Joshua now is gathering all of the army together to give them all an honourable discharge. They have been victorious in battle, and he is to send them away, and there’s no doubt a great emotion here, like V.E. Day at the end of World War II, or V.J. Day when the war was ended and the troops were coming home from the South Pacific or from Europe, and there were tickertape parades in the streets, and there’s freed emotion here in this chapter. And Satan has not been able to stop them in regards to the conquest of the land, and his next strategy here seems immediately to be to incite a civil war. More people will die in civil war than in international wars, sadly, here on one piece of land when a civil war takes place. But there’s an interesting lesson here for you and I. [Comment: In our Civil War we lost, combined on both sides, the North and the South, over 600,000 fatalities, more than any other war we’ve ever fought outside our shores. Satan now has been trying to divide the United States as well as the greater Body of Christ within the United States through political tribalism over the past five years, from 2016-2021 so far, which if this political tribalism continues and intensifies, could lead to a civil war in the United States. The evidence of that can be seen right inside our churches in Christians who’ve been friends for years, now at each other’s throats over which political affiliation they have. The greater Body of Christ in the U.S. has been very slow to wake up to this attack and recognize where it’s really coming from, nor do they recognize the solution, and that is to eschew all political affiliations and come to recognize that in these end times, “the last days,” our sole political affiliation has to be with and in the Kingdom of Heaven alone, soon to come to earth at Jesus’ return. Our sole political affiliation has to be with Jesus, our soon-coming King and Saviour, and we have to come to recognize him spiritually now as our only King and Saviour. We must come to recognize that to replace him with any other political affiliation is a form of idolatry. That’s the only protection we in the greater Body of Christ have from this Satanic attack leveled at the Body of Christ within the United States. We’ve been slow to wake up to the reality of this Satanic attack, leveled at Christians, Messianic Jews, and the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God alike, as well as being leveled at our nation.]

Joshua Gives An Honourable Discharge To The Armies Of Reuben, Gad & Manasseh And Sends Them Home Across Jordan

“Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,” (verse 1) now if you’re, forgive me, because I take for granted you’re all hanging with me here, I know some of you may have walked in here for the first time, thinking ‘What in the world is a Gadite? Do they hang down from the ceiling of a cave or something?’ No, as we’ve followed along, there are the 12 tribes of Israel, and as they came to the edge of the Promised Land, two and a half of the tribes, Reuben, Gad, there was a tribe named Reuben, a tribe named Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh said ‘We love the land here, we have cattle, this is good for grazing,’ and they kind of settled for less [I don’t believe that, and in reality, when the Kingdom of God is established on earth at Jesus’ 2^nd coming, the Promised Land will have borders that extend to the Euphrates River, from one end to the other, and to the eastern side of the Nile River, maybe from one end of it to the other, so in reality, the land Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh were in the Promised Land as originally promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18, where God promised Abraham “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates…”] Because they were supposed to go into the land, and Moses was angry, and Moses finally said ‘Alright, you can have this land here on the other side of Jordan, but you’re going to go in with us first, and when all of the battles of the land are over, and your brethren then are ready to receive their inheritance, then you can come back to this side of Jordan and receive your inheritance.’ So, we’re looking at those two and a half tribes that had in some ways, I think, had settled for less. It says “Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: ye have not left your brethren these many days [seven years, the wars of Canaan lasted] unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.” (verses 1-3) These soldiers would be dismissed with an honourable discharge here. “And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.” (verse 4) And there has to be some pathos here, you know, I’ve talked to parents that every year send their kids away to college for the first time, ‘We didn’t think it was going to be so emotional,’ this is great emotion now, they’ve come to this point, you know, you see veterans at the Vietnam War Memorial together, weeping, looking at names, there’s great emotion. My dad had some World War II friends, there’s something there they didn’t talk about that ran very, very deep. And this is the end of seven years of war, it’s not planes, it’s not submarines, not ships, these are shields and swords, these guys were side by side, seven years. And Joshua says, verse 5, “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you,” take note of the order here, “to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Now he says ‘Look, your military obligations have been fulfilled, but your spiritual commitments abide, they’re never lessoned.’ And isn’t it interesting, first, always and most important to the Lord himself is to love the Lord with all your heart. If he has your heart he’s got the rest of you, the rest of you can’t get away. The problem is, when he has our body and our heart is somewhere else, he doesn’t have our heart. If he has our heart he has everything. Isn’t it interesting, the picture. He says to them, Joshua an old man now, looking at these men that had served under him, ready to go back to the other side of the Jordan River. And no doubt Joshua remembering Deuteronomy 31 where God had given this incredible charge, Moses came and said ‘God wants to talk to you at the Tabernacle,’ and he got down there, and God basically gives it to Moses, reads him the riot act, up and down, one side and the other, ‘You did this, you did that, you got mad at me, you’re not gonna go into the land, and the children of Israel, when they get into the land, they’re going to turn away, they’re gonna serve other gods, and they’re going to turn from me, and then I’m gonna judge them and I’m gonna drive them out into all the nations of the world,’ [which ended up happening, first in 721BC when the Assyrians deported the ten northern tribes of Israel away to the shores of the Caspian Sea, where they then became lost historically, and then the Romans ultimately drove the Jews out of the Promised Land in two Roman-Jewish wars, one in 70AD and then the other in 135AD, driving them all from their ancient Promised lands.] and then God says to Joshua ‘Hey Josh, be strong and of good courage, because I’m with ya.’ You know, ‘you’re near 100, the last seven or twelve years of your life are going to be a complete failure, but be encouraged, because I’m with you. Not because you see everything the way you want it, not because everything…the remaining strength of an old man, giving the rest of your years to these wars, beyond those wars, beyond those wars, beyond those wars they’re going to turn away and serve other gods, and I’m going to drive them out of the land, you’re going to fight for them for the rest of your life, well pushing all that aside, Josh, be strong, be happy, be encouraged, for I am with you.’ [I’d be saying ‘Ya right Lord, got anything else for me to do?’] ‘Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me,’ Jesus said ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.’ We always hear, ‘fear not,’ the reason, ‘for I am with you.’ Joshua must be thinking ‘How long now before these generations turn away?’ I think with great pathos he remembers, and he exhorts them, ‘ok, you’re going to go now, you’re going to go into this land you said you wanted to have, it’s your own, but take heed to yourselves, to love the LORD, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, to cling to him, to serve him.’ This is great advice for us in our pilgrimage and our journey. “So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.” (verse 6) Great emotion, imagine if, you know, we’ve worshipped together for many years, many of us here, imagine if all of a sudden a section of the church were to be sectioned off and just sent away to another country somewhere, and we had a day, last meal together and a last worship service, communion service together, we looked in their faces, people you loved and served with and worshipped with for years, this is an emotional, emotional scene. [Comment: a group of true Christians went through this around 1620, when the Separatists who were to leave Holland, going back to England to board the Mayflower, had a last farewell meal and church service, those who were leaving for England and the Mayflower bid farewell for the last time with those who were staying in Holland, never to see each other again in this life. For that story, see https://unityinchrist.com/history/saga5a.htm] Verse 7 says “Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, and he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.” (verses 7-8) isn’t it interesting? Those who had remained with the stuff, the support people now, they’re also rewarded. In 1^st Samuel chapter 30, verse 24 you hear David talking, that as the armies Israel under David, this new nation forming under the king they had waited for, as they went and had victory, when David came back to the camp, for the rest of nation had waited, those who remained with the stuff were given equal share of the spoils of war, because they maintained a different responsibility. Some of you stay at home and support a missionary somewhere, some of you stay here and pray for those who go into a mission field and do something, some of you are those who are quietly serving behind the scenes and stay with the stuff. Isn’t it interesting here, ‘take now the spoil, divide it among your brethren,’ what an interesting picture is given to us.

Find Out The Story First Before You Judge & Strap On Your Sword

“And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses. And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.” (verses 9-10) Now, they come to the border of the land, and this has to be a very emotional scene for them, because the last time they were crossing that Jordan, the priests had gone and stood in the middle of the river, and the Jordan was piled up high, and they crossed on dry ground. And as they get there to Gilgal, to the Jordan, they see the 12 stones piled up, they see the walls of Jericho fallen to the ground, they remember the sun and the moon standing still in the Valley of Ajalon, they think of the great victories they had experienced, the remarkable things they had seen. And no doubt a great sense of isolation begins to enter in, many of them probably wishing, as they get ready to cross over, they hadn’t settled in some sense for less [again I don’t think they did settle for less, just my opinion]. For seven years they had seen the miracles of the LORD inside the land of Canaan. And they come there, and it tells us something now, it says that they built an altar, a great altar to look to, King James “to see to.” Now, “And the children of Israel heard say,” now you know what that is today, it’s hearsay. You familiar with that, hearsay? This is going to be the children of Israel, finally getting everything God promised, they’ve destroyed all of their enemies, they’re ready to lay down their swords, war’s over, and then on the basis of hearsay, they’re going to kill Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, ready to go kill each other now. No enemy left to defeat, the enemy has got them as it were, looking at each other. On the basis of hearsay, ok, and there’s a lesson in that for us, because what the children of Israel hear, look what it tells us here, “Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.” (verse 11) Now listen, what they heard was true, what they heard was correct, what they heard was accurate, but what was communicated was wrong. It was true, they had built an altar, that was accurate, it was correct. But what was communicated was wrong, because what’s communicated to them ‘Is they’ve built an altar to offer sacrifices on, and they’re not gonna honour the One Altar in the land that God honours, and that is at Shiloh, that’s the only place that blood is supposed to be shed, and now they’ve set up some competition with a different altar in competition with the altar of God.’ That’s not right. They had built an altar, that was accurate, that was true, but what was communicated was wrong. Listen to me, because so many times in our lives, somebody will communicate something to us about one of our brethren, and what we hear is accurate, but what’s communicated is wrong. And it’s on the basis of hearsay, and we’re already sharpening our swords. We’re ready to take somebody down on the basis of hearsay. And I know it, because it happened to me once, in 1973 [and it happened to me once in 2018], no, no, it happens to me too. And I find this, ‘This person said this about you, or this person did that,’ and right away I’m sharpening my sword, ‘I’m gonna give ‘em this verse, I’m gonna give ‘em that verse,’ and sometimes I’m so thankful that I kept my mouth shut, because when I find out what’s really going on, I didn’t have the whole story, I was ready to make mincemeat of somebody. But not really, I’m saying this for your benefit so that you can learn something here. “And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.” (verses 11-12) Now their zeal is commendable, but their reasoning certainly is not. It was on the basis of hearsay. Listen, that’s why James will to us this, and I think it’s so important, he says “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things, behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” You know, we have Smokey the Bear telling us “Only you can prevent forest fires,” and the commercial is always with a match you can burn the whole forest down. And that’s what he’s saying about the tongue. “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and it setteth on fire the course of nature,” ‘the round of existence’ is the idea, “and it is set on fire of Gehenna.” Listen, abortion is promoted through the tongue, hatred is promoted through the tongue, bigotry is promoted through the tongue, Marxism is promoted through the tongue, immorality is promoted through the tongue. The Bible tells us that the tongue is a world of iniquity, it is set on fire of hell. For you and I, we know we just need to remember, that it comes in a cage, and if you keep the cage closed, it comes in it’s own cage. And each of us have a round of existence, we only have two or three good friends, and we have a bigger group than that [of acquaintances], 12 or 13, but we start brushfires and forest fires in that round of existence by the tongue. And we need to learn to keep it under control, look, and we need to learn to keep it under control. Look, this is given to us in great detail. They hear, the hearsay was, these people had fought side by side against the enemy, you’d think there’d be some comradery, all these years, ‘Now they have built an alternative altar.’ They’d built another altar, but it wasn’t an alternative, that wasn’t true, and right away they react. I’m thankful they’re zealous, but their rashness is foolishness, and they’re going to go to war against their brothers. “And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest.” Now we all know how zealous Phinehas is. “And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,” (verses 13-15) now Deuteronomy chapter 13 had said this, it says, “If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities which the LORD God hath given thee to dwell in, saying, certain men of the children of Belial are gone out from among you, and hath withdrawn the inhabitants of their city saying, Let us go serve other gods, which you have not known, then shalt thou enquire and make search and ask diligently, and behold if it be truth, and the thing is certain, and that such an abomination is wrought among you, then you shall surely smite the inhabitants of the city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly and all there is,” but the idea is, if it’s not, then you spared them. God says, because he anticipated this, he knows us, you get into a situation, you hear a rumour about something, he knows that our first reaction sometimes is to start sharpening our swords. He said, no, no, no, no, first thing you do is you gather some people together, you go make enquiry, and you search diligently. You find out what’s going on, it’s just wisdom. And look, choose people I would say, if you’re in a circumstance like that, that you consider a mentor, somebody you consider Godly or spiritually wise. Sometimes we just want to gather a posse, don’t get the person that’s gonna do this, get the person who cares more about the cause of Christ than other things, and go and find out. It says “And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?” (verses 15-16) you know, you always exaggerate, ‘everybody’s is saying it,’ you know, people come to me and say ‘Everybody, everybody’s upset, I know millions of people,’ there’s not millions that come to the church, you don’t know millions of people, there’s always four or five that talk to each other [or two, it seems in my life], that’s the everybody. I had somebody come to me once, saying ‘You know, we know twenty people that are not happy with the worship, the drums…’ I said ‘Twenty? You don’t know nothing, there are at least 200, you must be new around here, you’re not happy with Hawaiian shirts, you’re not happy when we do speak in tongues, when we don’t speak in tongues, not happy with this…’ I said ‘You must be new around here,’ I said ‘Be patient.’ “Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?” (verse 16) they get there and say ‘EVERYBODY is saying What trespass is this that you’ve committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD?’ That’s wrong, that’s not true. ‘in that you’ve builded an altar,’ that’s true, this saying is wrong, “that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?” “Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,” (verse 17) you remember what happened with Balaam and so forth, “but that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.” (verse 18)

What Kind Of Sacrifice Are You And I Willing To Make To See Someone Restored?

“Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.” (verse 19) ‘Come over to our side of Jordan, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth,’ please notice, ‘and take possession among us, but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.’ Now we’re not going to get any further than this, but, notice this. This is an extremely gracious offer, they say ‘If you’ve decided you’re unhappy with things over there, and that’s why you’re building this altar, and that’s why you’re rebelling, cross back over the Jordan, come back over to us,’ this is Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, this is hundreds of thousands, ‘Come back to our side, and we will give you a portion of our land.’ What kind of sacrifice are you and I willing to make to see someone restored? You know, there’s both a condemnation and a commendation here of their behavior. They were zealous, and that was good, for purity, that’s a good thing. But they determined their behavior by hearsay, and when it’s hearsay, there’s only a partial truth. Yes, they had built an altar, what they’re going to say to them is ‘We built this altar, we were afraid, when we crossed over Jordan, we became very emotional, we realized in generations to come, we don’t want anybody to say that our children were not part of the worship of the LORD, so this altar was built as a reminder to our posterity, that on the other side of Jordan there is the true altar of the LORD where they’re supposed to go and worship, we did this as a reminder. If we did what you’re saying, then slaughter us, but if not, then hear us out.’ The interesting thing is, that these tribes said ‘Come back over, we’ll give you, take part of what we have, move into our territory,’ they were willing to be very gracious. I think, what sacrifices will we make to see someone restored? You know, it says ‘if you see a brother overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, with a spirit of meekness, restore such a one.’ That word “restore” there is the word for mending a broken bone. You know, we want to talk to somebody one time and have everything fixed, man, don’t you wish that could happen? You know, I raised four kids, I wish all through their lives I could have fixed everything with one conversation. Wouldn’t you like to say, one time, ‘You will clean your room as long as you live here.’ ‘Yes dad,’ you never have to say that again, ever. ‘You will not argue with each other,’ ‘Yes dad.’ never have to say that again. There’s a process of teaching, there’s a process of learning, and there’s a process unlearning, of restoration, and it takes weeks sometimes, it takes a long commitment. It was interesting for me as I look, they fought for all these years, and now they’re afraid there’s an error, and they’re saying ‘If you’re not happy, other than do that, come back over, and we will give, we will give, we’ll put our money where our mouth is, we will give, we’re willing to sacrifice to see restoration on your part.’ A lot of commendable things. We’re going to have to pick up here next Wednesday night, I’m going to Israel, going to be back here Lord willing, unless we’re all in Israel together next Wednesday night, we’ll pick up here in this chapter, we’ll move ahead, so back up to the beginning of chapter 22, start reading, because there’s some remarkable lessons as we go through, and I think God wants to say something, he gives us a tremendous detail about this confrontation. We have to ask ourselves ‘Why?’ And I think there are some lessons for us to learn. So, let’s stand, let’s pray, this evening I’d say, we have a better covenant, you run to your refuge, run to it. When you make a mistake, run to him, don’t hesitate, don’t wait, run to him. Our refuge is superior, our covenant is superior, our forgiveness, more complete, our Shepherd more important than a city. We have tonight, the covenant of God, the power of God, and the promises of God, we are the recipients of those things. If Israel was exhorted to take hold of that truth, how much more you and I, because those things are offered to us at the expense of the blood of Jesus Christ, a better Covenant, we have a Covenant that will never be broken, we have power, the power of God’s Holy Spirit offered to us, we have promises that reach beyond the pain in this world. Listen, in our journey, in our Wilderness wanderings there are times we cry from thirst, and hunger, there are times we are weary in battle, there are times we never think we’re going to see what God’s promised to us. There are times we get in the foolish frame of mind the promises are for every other Christian around me, but it never works out in my life, he’s picking on me. That’s not true, that’s not true, he picked on his Son on the cross 2,000 years ago so he never has to pick on you. It is finished, Jesus said. But this is a pilgrimage, this is not heaven [i.e. the Kingdom of heaven, which will end up on earth, cf. Revelation 21], this is earth, we get that confused, this is not heaven, this is the earth, and earth stinks sometimes. But we have his covenant, we have his power, we have his promises…

“He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.”

We have come as far as chapter 22, around verse 19, we had entered into the first part of the chapter, the land had been divided, the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been fulfilled [some of them, a lot of Genesis 49 is prophetic for “the last days” what each tribe would be as a nation, that hadn’t yet been fulfilled by this time in Joshua 22], in the sense that the children of Israel are in Canaan land, their enemies have been subdued, the promises he made relative to those things had come to pass. No doubt there are larger promises that we’ll see during the Millennium. But as the land has been divided then, Joshua turns to Reuben, Gad, and the half the tribe of Manasseh who have settled for their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan River, because grazing land was, it was a good place for cattle, so they had spoken their mind there. Moses at first angered, then saying ‘If you go with us to the other side of Jordan, you fight the battles of Canaan, once your brethren have received their inheritance then you can return.’ That time has come, these men have been fighting side by side for over seven years, now this is a day when Joshua is giving everybody an honourable discharge, and sending them back to their inheritances, the lots that had fallen out to them, commending them for their valour, their faithfulness, military obligation over now, spiritual commitment to abide, and there’s exhortation attached to that. And they’re at Shiloh, which is the center of the land, the Tabernacle is there now, it’s central to the land of Canaan. And as Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh then leave to head back to their territory, no doubt as they come the fords of the Jordan river to cross over to the other side, they’re filled with memories, the memories of when that Jordan river had parted and the priests stood in the middle of the river, and the twelve stones were taken and placed on the west side of the Jordan river, how they had come over and watched the walls of Jericho fall down under obedience to God, how they had seen the sun stand still and the moon in the Valley of Ajalon, and they had seen the hand of God in such an incredible way. And I think as they come there, certainly many things going through their hearts, going through their minds, because they’re going to cross the Jordan and then be on the other side, in a sense be separated now from their brethren and those whom they had fought side by side with for many years. And this was not in Apache helicopters and tanks, they were with swords and shields and bows and arrows, they were next to one another on the battlefield [watch The Last Kingdom series by the BBC to get an idea of this kind of battle, fought during the 800s AD, warfare hadn’t changed much from this time of Joshua to that time of Alfred the Great in Wessex England, fighting the Sword Danes for their very existence and that of England’s very existence]. No doubt great and deep abiding friendships were forged during that time. And perhaps as they come there, they see the pile of stones that Joshua had commanded them to take from the bed of the river and pile them there, and that was a memorial that God had established. And it tells us then, as they crossed the river, they then built and altar, in verse 10 it says that altar was a great altar to see, it means it was very high, and it tells us in the next verse “then the children of Israel heard say,” there was hearsay that these two and a half tribes had built this altar. Now, again that information was correct, it was true. But what was communicated was wrong. Those are different things. They had built an altar, that was true, the information was correct, but somehow what was communicated was they had built that altar to sacrifice on. And that wasn’t at all what was in the heart and the mind of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. But on the basis of hearsay now they’re ready to go to war with each other, and the drums of war begin to pound, and they gather together, and they decide that they’re going to send Phinehas, who has, you know, been promised by God a prominent place and peace his house because Phinehas was the one who went into the tent with Cosbi and so forth, in the sin or Peor, and had pinned them to the ground [with a spear] in the midst of their sin, and God took note of that, he was zealous for the things of God [read Numbers 25:6-15]. And Phinehas took leaders of the tribes from the other side of Jordan [the western side] to go to them. Now, the Scripture had instructed them to do that, Deuteronomy 13, to go and ask, if you hear in any part of Israel, God says after you come into the land, that there is worshipping of another god, where there’s idolatry, that you go and inquire, you don’t just slaughter your brethren, you go and you find out first. It tells us in Proverbs chapter 18, it says “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” You know, to make a judgment before you have all the information so often gets us into trouble, no doubt a lesson for us. Here’s the children of Israel, ready to go to war with each other over hearsay. And sometimes in our lives there’s hearsay, and we hear that someone did something or said something, and maybe it’s true that they did or said something, but we don’t have context, we don’t have all the information, so then what’s communicated to our heart and to our imagination, to our mind, what the enemy is able to feed us in our imagination is wrong [that has happened to me]. So there’s a great lesson here. Phinehas and the heads of the tribes now go to the other side of the Jordan to talk with them and to ask them what they’re doing. But of course, in their minds, what they’ve done is all wrong. Verse 15 says “And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD,” now that’s wrong, “in that ye have builded you an altar,” that’s true, “that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?” (verses 15-16) that was wrong. They had built an altar, but the only altar to worship and to sacrifice on was to be at Shiloh, the place that God would appoint. So immediately in their minds they think this is what they’re doing. “Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,” (verse 17) ‘Don’t you remember what happened under Balaam’s instruction at Baal-peor when 22,000 died,’ “from which we are not cleansed unto this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, but that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.” (verse 18) ‘We’ll all pay for this, remember how all Israel paid for it,’ he’s going to mention Achan, the sin of one can affect everyone. He’s coming saying ‘Don’t you realize this is going to affect all of us?’ “Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.” (verse 19) Now again, a very generous offer, ‘If you’re not happy come back to our side,’ they had just divided up the whole land, ‘we will give you a portions,’ ah, that’s sacrificial, and again, how often are we willing to sacrifice to see someone restored or someone put right, because sometimes it may take that. It is an interesting gesture they make here. And they again say “Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.” (verse 20) he wasn’t the only one to suffer.

The Real Truth Comes Out, The Accusations Were Wrong

“Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)” what he’s saying is “the Lord knows our heart,” we do that all the time, “the Lord knows our heart,” you see them doing something, and sometimes too often they’re doing something you know is wrong, that they shouldn’t do, and it’s the same excuse, “the Lord knows my heart,” that’s what they’re saying, and they’re justified in it to some degree here, “that we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;” ‘we agree with what you’re saying, if we’ve done that, we understand doctrinally what you’re saying, then we are wrong,’ “and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children” on the right side of the Jordan river “might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?” (verses 21-24) Now what they’re saying is ‘We’re worried that in the generations to come, your children over there are going to say to our children because we’re on this side of the Jordan river, you don’t have anything to do with the worship that’s in the land.’ So what they’re going to say is ‘We built this altar as a memorial to remind everybody that we’re part of Israel, it’s an altar of memorial, not an altar of sacrifice.’ But I don’t buy all of their argument, I do in regards to the altar, but their concern about their children is questionable, because they were more concerned about their cattle than their children, that’s why they settled on that side of the Jordan in the first place, because it was good grazing land, and they went there [unless you’re going by the land promised to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 15, all the way to the western shores of the Euphrates]. And they said, now they’re blaming the LORD, verse 25, “For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you,” he did not! they were all supposed to be on the same side of the Jordan, there wasn’t supposed to be a border, they made it a border, they had settled for less, they’re blaming God, I’m aware of that, I know, “ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.” this is what this is all about. Look, here’s the problem, the other memorial that was there, the pile of stones, that was built according to the Word of God. God told Joshua, ‘When the priests stand in the middle of the river, you take twelve stones, you put it there [in the middle of the camp at Gilgal], so that in generations to come, when your children ask, What meaneth this pile of stones, then you’ll tell them this whole story about crossing the Jordan River.’ That pile of stones was there because God directed it, it was there according to the Word of God. This other altar is built out of human reason and fear. There’s no evidence that God directed this at all. My suggestion to you would be, not to build altars God hasn’t told you to build. Just don’t build religious stuff that you haven’t been instructed to. You know, sometimes in all of our lives there’s something that becomes important to us, a life verse or there’s something, we’ve got a plaque on the wall, you know sometimes there are things that are good for remembrance for us as individuals for one way or another. But I would say unto you, don’t, if there’s a prohibition of something in Scripture, don’t even make something that looks like it, avoid all appearance of evil, because imagination and misinterpretations are just waiting to find its way into those kind of circumstances. Don’t even build an altar that you’re not going to use as an altar, saying, ‘Oh ya, we built an altar, but it’s not really an altar-altar, it’s a memorial altar, not an altar-altar.’ And the problem with that is, of course, then the next generation is going to have to know the intent the people who originally put it there for. And they’re going to drift from that intention, the next generation, and the generation after that, always drift from some kind of icon that’s been left to them, from the intention that was originally attached to it. Listen, we know that, because Moses put the serpent in the Wilderness upon the pole according to God’s instruction. And generations later, we find out in 2^nd Kings 18, under the reign of Hezekiah, that thing is being worshipped, that serpent on the pole. [Comment: Pastor Joe’s fears about them wandering from the true God and reasoning is sound to a point, but Israel would wander anyway, with all the pagan influences around them, taking into consideration, which many evangelical Christians overlook, the fact that Israel in general, the overall population of Israel was never offered the Holy Spirit, as Moses and God brought out in Numbers 11:10-16-17-28-29, read through those verses and you’ll see that Israel was not then or after that, as a whole people, offered the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was placed within only special people God called and chose. Israel was only called to an understanding of who God was, and given the Law of God to obey, as best they could, all on their own, and their lesson as recorded in Old Testament history shows us believers now how utterly incapable we are to keep God’s Law all on our own, without God’s Holy Spirit. These people and all Israel will have their chance later in a resurrection back to physical life that all the religious Jews talk about to this day, as prophecied in Ezekiel 37:1-14.] And Hezekiah takes this serpent on a pole and breaks it in pieces and says Nehushtan, it’s just a thing of brass, doesn’t mean anything. Now in case you’re interested, that serpent today, supposedly, is in a cathedral in Rome in a glass case in front of the church, there’s a glass case with a bunch of broken pieces of brass in it, and it’s being venerated again [the Roman Catholic church is full of idols and idolatry anyway, not surprised]. He should have broken it and ground it up into powder is what he should have done. Here, no doubt this altar, would at some day be misinterpreted very wrongly. Now they’re saying ‘We didn’t build it to be an altar-altar,’ but the point is, don’t even do this. If it’s not an altar, then don’t build an altar. Because if it looks like an altar, and smells like an altar, and it quacks like an altar, it’s an altar, and the next generation is gonna think it’s a altar. And of course something very interesting attached to this altar, it tells us in verse 34, that it was called Ed, which is the Hebrew word for “Witness.” Now did the generations after that venerate this thing? I don’t know. I know there’s another very interesting place in the Middle East, on a very interesting structure, where there’s an ancient Hebrew inscription that says Ed, but we won’t talk about that, because the whole world might blow up (you can ask me if you’re interested). But this may have been, and maybe more of a problem than we ever thought it would have been, but here, they say ‘this is why we did this, it’s a memorial, it’s not an altar-altar, it’s a “to remind us altar,” that we’re really both the same nation, but God put this river between us.’ “Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: but that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.” (verses 26-27) ‘This is supposed to be a reminder that we can always come over and worship at Shiloh or wherever.’ “Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness [Ed] between us and you.” (verse 28) Now look, if they had come into the land, Canaan land was the land the LORD wanted to give them in the first place, they wouldn’t have had to build an altar that’s not an altar on the other side of the Jordan River, because they were afraid of what would happen in the future. It becomes complicated, way more than it needs to be, it’s so much easier to be satisfied with what God gives to us. “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 meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.” (verse 29) ‘We know what’s right, and we’d never do that.’ “And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.” (verse 30) they said ‘Good, we’re relieved, we had the wrong idea.’ “And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.” (verse 31) they were worried the LORD was going to punish the entire nation. “And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again. And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.” (verses 32-34) and “Ed” is the Hebrew word that means “witness.” It’s a reminder. So look, we have this story, written in great detail, certainly certain things for us here. The zeal for purity is a good thing, that’s a good thing. We see that in the story here, we should remember that. But judgment, before we have discussion, when we pass judgment that quickly, it is often a foolish thing. Again, for you and I in the New Testament, it says if you see a brother overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual should restore such an one with a spirit of meekness, you don’t run right away to ax somebody in pieces, particularly on the basis of hearsay. But we’re so sensitive, we hear somebody said this about you, or somebody said that about you, or somebody’s doing this, we’re very prone to immediately put the gloves on and get in the ring. My advice is, don’t put on the gloves, don’t get in the ring. That means you’re taking it personally. Be an observer before you become a participant. Stay on the sidelines and say ‘Lord, this is crazy, help me find out what’s going on here, and help me not just to clobber somebody and find out later they were unclobberable, Biblically.’ So that lesson certainly is there for us, and you know, when we’re falsely accused, this will happen if it hasn’t happened yet, Proverbs says ‘a soft answer, it turns away wrath.’ They said, ‘You guys have it all wrong, this is what you think, but that’s not true, this is what we’re really doing. We agree doctrinally, theologically, and if we’re doing that, then let God judge us, but that’s not what we’re doing.’ They didn’t just pull out their swords and say ‘Who do you think you guys are…’ so just an interesting picture. Look, there’s a warning in it for us, you know, judge not lest ye be judged, for the judgment you judge you shall be judged again, with the measure you measure shall be measured upon you, pressed down, shaken together. That is not an excuse for backsliders, that’s not a safety text for backsliders, it’s an encouragement for your and I to be merciful and not just to be judgmental, it’s easy to do that. To find out the story first, to find out what’s going on first, to come to terms with the right information before we immediately pass judgment. And look, if you’re anything like me, I can think of many times I heard something, ‘Somebody did this, somebody said this,’ and my initial reaction is, ‘Grrrowel, I’m gonna get ‘em.’ And some people right away, they go to gossip, they want to form a posse because they’re insecure. Right? And how many times I think, when I found out the whole story, I thought, ‘Man, am I glad, I didn’t shoot my mouth off or decapitate someone, I’m just so glad, I thank you Lord, because I’m just so stupid.’ So those lessons are here, and just very interesting, all this victory, the land’s divided, God’s promises fulfilled, and Satan couldn’t stop them there, and then he tries to turn them against one another, it’s just kind of this warning there, an interesting picture put in front of us.” [transcript of a connective expository sermon on Joshua 22:1-34, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]