Joshua 22
22
The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Land
1Then Joshua summoned all the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh 2and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. 3Through it all, you’ve never deserted your fellow Israelites and were always there to help them. You’ve completed every task given to you by Yahweh your God. 4Yes, he has promised peace to your fellow Israelites, and he has kept that promise. So now, return to the homeland east of the Jordan which Moses, Yahweh’s servant, assigned to you. 5Make sure you obey every command and instruction Moses, Yahweh’s servant, gave you. Love Yahweh! He is your God, so walk in his ways and obey his commands! Cling to him and serve him diligently with all your heart and with all your soul!”
6Then Joshua spoke a blessing over them and sent them on their way, and they settled there. # 22:6 Or “they went to their tents.” 7To one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had assigned land in Bashan. To the other half, Joshua assigned land on the west side of the Jordan with their fellow Israelites. Joshua blessed them and sent them off to their homes 8with these words: “You are free to go. You leave for your homes rich—with great herds of cattle, silver and gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing! Share with your friends and families everything you took from your enemies.”
9So the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh left their fellow Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan and returned to Gilead, their homeland. For Moses had told them before he died, “Yahweh wants you to take this land for your own.”
The Tribes East of the Jordan Build an Altar
10On their way home, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh came to the town of Geliloth near the Jordan River. So they built their own large, impressive altar there. # 22:10 The Hebrew text is somewhat ambiguous. Although some scholars (including the historian Josephus) believe the altar was on the east side of the river, it is more likely they built it on the west bank before they crossed over. 11When the rest of the Israelites heard that the people of the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the entrance to the land of Canaan, 12they gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.
13-14The Israelites of the ten western tribes sent a delegation to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in the land of Gilead. They sent Phineas # 22:13–14 Phineas, the grandson of Aaron, was known for his zeal for Yahweh in resisting apostasy. See Num. 25:11–12; Mal. 2:4–6. The name Phineas means “mouth of brass [judgment].” son of Eleazar the priest, together with ten respected clan leaders, princes from each of their ten tribes. 15So they came to the people in the land of Gilead, to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. Phineas and the men with him said, 16“We speak to you on behalf of all Yahweh’s people. Why did you rebel against Yahweh and build this altar for yourselves? Why did you quit following the God of Israel and do such an evil thing? 17Haven’t we had enough trouble from the terrible sin # 22:17 Or “Was that sin too little for us?” The implication is that building an altar to any god other than Yahweh would be worse than the sin the Israelites committed at Peor, which released an epidemic that killed twenty-four thousand. See Num. 25:1–9. Peor means “opening.” Their sin at Peor became an opening for darkness and sickness among them. Peor was the mountain where Balak attempted to entice Balaam to pronounce a curse upon Israel. See Num. 23:28. we committed at Peor? There a plague came upon us even though we belong to Yahweh. To this day, our conscience is stained and we still suffer # 22:17 Or “we have yet to cleanse ourselves.” This statement shows the depth to which their sin had rooted itself in the conscience of the nation. from our atrocious deeds. 18How dare you turn back from following Yahweh! If you rebel against him today, he will be angry with everyone in Israel tomorrow. # 22:18 They were asserting that the altar constituted a rebellion against God and against the unity of the nation which was to worship Yahweh at Shiloh. The centralization of the worship of God’s people was at stake. Collective guilt can be a “plague” on the moral conscience of a nation. 19If you think your land is defiled, then come back to Yahweh’s land, where his tabernacle stands at Shiloh. But don’t rebel against Yahweh or us by building for yourself an altar. 20Don’t forget what happened to Achan! Yahweh told us, ‘Destroy everything in the city of Jericho.’ But Achan son of Zerah did not obey Yahweh’s command regarding the devoted things, and so Yahweh punished us all. Achan died because of what he did, and so did many other Israelites because of Achan’s sin.”
Reconciliation of the Tribes
21The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the princes of the tribes of Israel: 22“Yahweh is the God of all gods! Yahweh is the God of all gods! We appeal to God Almighty as our witness. He knows why we did this, and we want you to know too! If we rebelled or betrayed Yahweh, then you may take our lives today. 23But we built this altar with no intention of burning any kind of sacrifices # 22:23 Or “burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, or peace offerings.” The evident intention of listing these three types of sacrifice is to be comprehensive. on it. If we built this altar in rebellion against Yahweh or to break our covenant with him, then may Yahweh himself punish us. 24-25No! We love Yahweh! We were afraid that in the future your descendants will say # 22:24–25 When we are afraid of what people will say, we are walking in fear, not faith. This entire episode could have been prevented if the two and a half tribes had consulted with the others beforehand. to our descendants, ‘Who are you? What right do you have to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel? He has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and your people. You Reubenites and Gadites have no part in the worship of Yahweh.’ And your descendants may prevent ours from worshiping him. 26We did build an altar, but not for burning sacrifices or making offerings. 27We built this altar to show to our people and to your people and to the generations to come that we will worship Yahweh at his tabernacle. We will bring all our offerings into Yahweh’s presence there so that your children may never say to our children in the future, ‘You have no part in the worship of Yahweh.’ 28We have decided among us that if that day should ever come, our descendants would reply: ‘See the replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made here at the border between us—not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, # 22:28 See Deut. 12:4; 13–14. but as a witness that we both serve the same God.’ 29Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh or to turn away from following him this day by building an altar on which to present offerings or make sacrifices to Yahweh our God. We would never build an altar to take the place of the altar which stands before his tabernacle, the place of his presence.”
30When Phineas the priest, and the princes of the tribes heard the explanation of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, they were satisfied. 31Phineas son of Eleazar the priest said to them, “Now we know that Yahweh is among us! Since you have not rebelled against him, you have indeed saved the Israelites from Yahweh’s punishment.”
32Then Phineas and the ten princes of the western tribes returned to the land of Canaan and told the people of Israel everything that happened. 33The outcome pleased the Israelites and they praised God. They spoke no more of going to war against the eastern tribes to destroy the land where they had lived. 34The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar Witness, for they said, “The altar stands as a witness to us all that Yahweh is God.” # 22:34 How soon we forget all that God has accomplished for us! In a little over four centuries, the meaning of the altar of witness had been forgotten. See 1 Chron. 5:25–26.
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Joshua 22: TPT
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