Joshua led the nation of Israel to see the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Joshua chapter 21, verses 43 to 45 boldly declare that every single word the Lord had promised to Israel had come true. Not one of their enemies had withstood this generation, these children of Egyptian slaves.
These people lived through many battles, and each battle was proof that the God of the universe was with Israel, judging nations and proclaiming his name as glorious throughout the world. Now that the land has been established and allotted by portions to each tribe of Israel, it is time for the people to begin their responsibility of being a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). It’s not time to just kick back and relax. If they thought the battles and the warfare was the hard part, they were wrong. God was the one who primarily defeated all the armies they had fought. They had to show up and believe and act faithfully, but the Lord defeated the armies and conquered the kings. Now that the land has been inhabited, it is the responsibility of the people to love and obey God in a way that is a light to the rest of the world; that the entire world may see what it looks like for God to dwell with man as he originally intended.
The last thing for Israel to do now, is for the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh to cross the Jordan and go back east to the land that has been allotted to them. These are men who have already received their portion of land, but have stuck with the rest of the people and fighting with them. They have left their homes and lands to fight with their brothers who were yet to receive a portion and inheritance. Now that the conquest is complete, they can return home, as they have fulfilled their oath. This is how it plays out in Joshua chapter 22.
Joshua exhorts them to return to their lands in peace and repeats a version of the famous “shema,” the most important verse in the Bible for the Jewish people (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Essentially, it says to love God with everything you have; heart, mind, soul, strength, everything.
On their way back, before they cross the Jordan, they set up an altar on the west bank of the Jordan. A huge altar “of imposing size” (v.10). The rest of Israel hears about this and everyone has the same thought: “after all we went through with those guys, after all they had seen the Lord do for us, they’ve gone and built an altar to foreign gods!” This was everyone’s knee-jerk reaction. No one thinks twice. Everyone gets so upset that they get ready to make war on their own brothers, their own people; all because they assumed that Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh had turned away from following God.
They meet up with these three tribes, ready to kill them all, and ask them why they have turned from God. And then the leaders of the three tribes respond.
“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, “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 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.” (Joshua 22:21-23 ESV)
I love how their first response is not to defend themselves or get into some kind of debate. I love how their first response is to declare who their God is, and they say it twice, just in case they didn’t hear it the first time! Their response is “it’s all about the Lord, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh.” They declare that their allegiance and faith is in the one and same God as their brothers.
This episode tells me a few things:
- The hard work of life with God comes after coming to know him. The hard part of life comes after salvation and knowing God; after he cleanses the darkness from your life.
- There will always be misunderstandings in life, even from your own spiritual brothers and sisters; from those whom you expect to be on the same side as you.
The three tribes built that altar because they wanted the other tribes’ children to know that they were all one people, even though there was a river that separated them all. They built it out of reverence for God, they built it as a witness.
The other tribes got ready for war because they were zealous to protect the name of the Lord. They couldn’t stand the thought of their own flesh and blood so suddenly and foolishly turning from the God who had so powerfully been with them.
Both sides were following God with all their heart, but there was a misunderstanding between them. What matters when we run into misunderstandings with other Christians is to find out where everyone’s heart is. So often we want to justify ourselves and have God back us up and defend our blamelessness; but the issue is a matter of the heart. If both sides are following the Lord with a whole heart, both should rejoice. We will bump and scrape each other along the way, but we shouldn’t be shocked about it. We should expect it. Sometimes it’s hard when other believers offend or wrong us, because we almost subconsciously expect them to know that we’re on the same side. It often hurts the most when pain comes from those closest to us.
The only thing that will heal is if both sides can know that both are wholly committed to the Lord. Both may take different approaches or do things that may seem offensive to one another, but what is the issue of the heart? Where does the heart stand in any given issue? If we cannot resolve the situation based on the character and identity of God himself, we will always be caught on issues of morality and ethics which can be a dangerous snare (although morality and ethics are very important). It’s like having a really bad argument/wrestling match in a really small, confined space; like an epic battle in an empty barrel.
Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). And that love is God (1 John 4:8).
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