Joshua 22

Joshua 22:1

E. The Altar East of the Jordan (Chap. 22)22:1-9 When the land west of the Jordan had been divided, Joshua permitted the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh to return to their territory east of the Jordan, as originally agreed. He also told them to take with them their share of the spoil from the battles they had fought. It was over seven years since they had left their loved ones to fight the Canaanites. They endured the hardships of combat until the land was secured. We too are called upon by our Commander to endure hardships and fight the good fight of faith to further the kingdom of God on earth (1Ti_6:12; 2Ti_2:3). This kind of sacrifice is not easy, but it is an essential ingredient in the life that pleases God. Men with fiery zeal are needed on the battlefield today: Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, While others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas? Sure I must fight if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord; I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word. Isaac Watts22:10, 11 On the way home these men decided to erect an altar near the banks of the Jordan. When the other nine and a half tribes heard about it, they were highly incensed. They feared that it was a rival altar to the one at Shiloh. They feared too that it might become an idolatrous altar in time to come and that God would punish the entire nation because of it. 22:12-20 Before declaring war on the tribes east of the Jordan, the children of Israel sent a delegation to interview them and offered them land west of the Jordan if they considered their own territory unclean (v. 19). In dealing with the men who built the altar, Phinehas and the others recalled how Israel had suffered because of the iniquity of Peor (v. 17; cf. Num. 25) and the trespass of Achan (v. 20; cf. chap. 7). They saw this altar as another threat to their welfare; hence their strong reaction to it. As a people they had learned that sin defiled the whole camp, and that God held the nation responsible for the behavior of its individuals. 22:21-29 Then the men of Reuben, . . . Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh explained that this was not an altar of sacrifice at all. It was simply a memorial altar, testifying to future generations that the tribes east of the Jordan were indeed a part of the nation of Israel. 22:30-34 The other tribes were pleased by this explanation, and war was averted. The eastern tribes called the altar Witness, meaning that it was a witness between the tribes on both sides of the Jordan that the LORD is the true God.