Joshua 22

  We are back to Joshua for the next three weeks, and then we will move into the book of Judges, beginning with the January 24th meetings.  If you know of any women who are looking for a good time to join us, that would be a good week to tell them about.  

Read Joshua 22

Who? Joshua, Phinehas, the elders of Israel, and the people of Israel, especially the eastern tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh - Josephus says there are about 50,000 warriors from these tribes here)

What? The eastern tribes are released to go home and build and altar on their way

Where? Shiloh and as they cross the Jordan from the land of Canaan to the land of Gilead

When? After the land has been allotted and mostly conquered

Why? The eastern tribes have fulfilled their obligation to their brothers and can now return home to their own portion of the land.  The eastern tribes build a monument to remind them all that they are unified under God.  The monument is misunderstood at first by the western tribes and they prepare to do battle for God against idolatry.  When the eastern tribes explain, all is well and everyone returns to their own lands.

How? The eastern tribes head home and, on the way, they build a monument that looks like an altar.  The misunderstanding leads to battle lines being drawn up between the eastern and western tribes, but Phinehas remains cool headed enough to thoroughly investigate and realize that the western tribes’ conclusion was incorrect.

Joshua 22:5 is a key verse in this passage and one we need to apply to ourselves.  Joshua is reminding the eastern tribes to be intentional in their wholehearted love and devotion to God alone.  This is the proper human response to God’s grace and faithfulness (see Deuteronomy 4:9, 29; 6:5; 10:12-13; 11:13; and John 14:23).  The eastern tribes are allowed to take the spoil they have gathered from the battles they have fought in and go home.  

On the way home, the eastern tribes build an altar (22:10) which is really more of a monument.  The western tribes “heard a report” but they do not know the intentions behind the actions.  They jump to conclusions and make ready to fight.  If their conclusions are accurate, this is the proper response (see Leviticus 17:8-9 and Deuteronomy 13:12-18).  Joshua is not with them and Phinehas the priest is in charge.  He takes Deuteronomy 13:14’s instructions to heart and searches out the matter to make sure they have the facts correct.  He emphasizes the unity of Israel (22:16) and points out that they still have the tendencies for idolatry that they had at Peor (see Numbers 25:1-9).  Phinehas dealt with the problem then and is prepared to deal with the problem now, if it exists.  He points out that apostasy offends both God and His people (22:19).  

When the eastern tribes respond to Phinehas, they make it clear that this is all just a misunderstanding.  They agree that apostasy is wrong and that the only true altar is in the tabernacle.  This monument they have built is their attempt at maintaining unity with Israel, now and in the future, even with the geographical boundary of the Jordan River.  The altar or monument is meant to be a witness or a testimony that they are all united under God.

Phinehas listens carefully and recognizes that there is no apostasy or idolatry happening here.  He commends the eastern tribes and tells them that, by not turning away from God, they have saved all Israel from His wrath.  Everyone returns to their own lands, leaving this sixth heap of stones in Joshua as a witness to their unity.  They all know and are reminded that they are one nation under God.

Question 1: How is the situation of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh different from the other tribes?  Why does Joshua commend them?

Their land was conquered first and is on the east side of the Jordan River.  Joshua commends them for obedience to Moses and to himself.  They have fought these years with their brothers and can now go home.

Question 2: Describe the conflict and confusion between the eastern and western tribes.  Were the western tribes right to be concerned?  Cf. Numbers 25:1-9 and Deuteronomy 12:10-14

Idolatry/Apostasy was taken very seriously.  The western tribes may have jumped to a rash conclusion, but they did investigate and listen to the eastern tribes’ reasoning.  They were prepared to slaughter them for apostasy, which they should have if it was true, but they were also careful to listen to know whether there really was apostasy.

Applications:

We need to follow Joshua’s command to the eastern tribes in 22:5, loving God, obeying Him, clinging to Him, and serving Him always.  We must carefully watch ourselves that this is always true.  We also need to remember that our sin affects our brothers and sisters, not just ourselves.

When there are members of the body who have turned from God, we need to confront them.  We should follow Christ’s instructions in Matthew 18:15-17 and carefully seek out the facts of the matter as God instructed in Deuteronomy 13:14.  We need to be careful to avoid gossip and not jump to rash conclusions.

We need to be reminded often of the unity we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  There will be things that we disagree on, but that does not make us enemies.  Often, the things that Christians disagree on are not matters of salvation or clear, black and white instructions from Scripture, but things where either opinion can be supported Biblically.  As the saying goes, “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all things, love.”  The eastern tribes wanted to make sure that their children would be reminded, and the children of the western tribes would also be reminded, that they were unified.  Building this unity is important today, as well.  We need to remind our children and the children of others that we are unified under God, with Christ as the head of the body.  Our actions should be about seeking unity, not seeking our own way or trying to “one up” each other in spiritual matters, whether these are denominational differences or individual differences.