Joshua 22:10-34

hey hey good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions this morning we're at Joshua 2210 through 34 there's an altar that almost causes a civil war so let's have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into this pretty tense moment in Israel's history let's pray father we thank you so much for this day we thank you for the blessing it is to get to read your word we pray that you would please help us as we read it that we would understand we pray that as we read your Holy Spirit would not just let us understand these things but apply it to our lives in Jesus's name we pray amen all right here we go Joshua chapter 22 beginning at verse 10 and when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan the children of Reuben the children of GAD and half the tribe of manasse built an altar by the Jordan a great impressive altar now the children of Israel heard someone say behold the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the Hal tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the on the children of Israel's side and when the children of Israel heard of it the whole Congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them then the children children of Israel sent Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben the children of GAD and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead and with him 10 rulers one ruler each from the chief House of every tribe of Israel and each one was the head of the House of his father among the divisions of Israel then they came to the children of reuin to the children of GAD and to the half tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilead and they spoke with them saying thus says the whole Congregation of the Lord what treachery is this that you have committed against the god of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord and that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might rebel against that you might Rebel this day against Jehovah is the iniquity of peor not enough for us from which we are not cleansed this day although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord and it shall be if you Rebel today against the Lord that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole Congregation of Israel nevertheless if the land of your possession is unclean then cross over the land of the possession of the Lord where the Lord's Tabernacle stands and take possession among us but but do not rebel against the Lord do not did not aen the son of Zarah commit a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity then the children of reuin and the children of G and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knows and let Israel itself know if it is in Rebellion or if in treachery against the Lord do not save us this day if we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord or if to offer on it burnt offerings and grain offerings or if to offer peace offerings on it let the Lord himself require an account but if in fact we have done it for fear for a reason saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants saying what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel for the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us your children of Reuben and children of God you have no part in the Lord so your descendants would make our descendants cease from fearing the Lord therefore we said let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice but that that it may be a witness between you and us in our Generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings that your descendants may not say that to our descendants in time to come you have no part in the Lord therefore we said that it will be when they say this to us or to Our Generations in times to come that we may say here is the replica of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices but it is a witness between you and us for before it far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn from following Jehovah this day to build an altar for burnt offerings for grain offerings or for sacrifices besides the altar of the Lord Our God which is before his Tabernacle now in Phineas the priest and the rulers of the congregation the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him heard the words that the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of manasse spoke it pleased them then Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of Manasseh this day we perceive that the Lord is among us if we have not committed this treachery against the Lord now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Lord in Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest and the rulers returned from the children of Reuben and the children of GAD from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan to the children of Israel and brought back word to them so the thing pleased the children of Israel and the children of Israel blessed God they spoke no more going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt the children of Reuben and the children of GAD called the witness called The Altar witness for it is a witness between the Lord sorry it is a witness between us that the Lord is God W well we need to ask ourselves our ABCs A what is this about B what's the best verse to summarize this and C what are we called to do in response to this so hey what's this about well we get the story that unfolded before us right the the two and a half tribes are headed out to the east side beyond the Jordan they're going back to their lands they' done a good job Joshua sent them home and then there's a rumor that spreads what's the rumor that Gad and Reuben had built an altar on the other side of the Jordan it's as if they they are committing treason against God himself right that's what the charge was verse 16 thus says the whole Congregation of the Lord what treachery is this that you have committed against the god of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord in that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might rebel against the Lord this day I have that double underlined in starred right that's the charge that's the accusation they they come they're ready for war they send a delegation right it's eleazer and so one of Aaron's sons Aaron's dead now so it's just Eleazar and Phineas right these are the two sons that are alive and so Eleazar is the one who goes here first and he's he's not the high priest as Phineas but he comes as this Emissary with the other 10 heads of the tribes and they make this accusation this is treason this is rebellion how we don't understand how can you leave from this battle go over the Jordan and it's like the second your feet got out of the Jordan River they they got dry and you built a an altar you've broken the Confederacy right we were a Federation and you've destroyed it by by going against if your land is unclean if there's something with your land come over to our side but don't do this to God don't commit this treason right that's what they're saying to him but why did they do this why do they build this altar the altar is real it's there right it's it's got the horns it's got the base it's got everything necessary to actually make sacrifices but what did the leaders say they say no no no no hold on we didn't do this right that's what vers 21 through 29 where about say no no no hold on we're going to call God as our witness here that's this was an oath statement verse 22 the Lord right this is the Divine name Jehovah Yahweh right yod V he say it two times the Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knows and let Israel itself know right they they make it it's like when people put their hand on the Bible and they and they swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God right there's there're invoking God's name saying the Lord the god of gods the Lord the god of gods the one who rules Israel let him he knows the truth and let you know the truth we did not do this to Rebel so why did they do this why did they build this altar right it seems like they're supplanting the altar of God that he himself commanded in to that's in Shiloh right now so what's going on here well they say no no no they were worried they were worried about being disinherited from the Lord himself and so they had built a memorial to remind their children and the 10 and a half tribes or the 10 tribes on the other side as well one reason why hold on why why why not manasse why wasn't he involved in this right there was East Manassa and West manasse why wasn't East manasse involved in this well because his tribe crosses over the Jordan right it's it's it's the one tribe that goes on both sides of the Jordan and so they're not worried about being disinherited but these two Ruben and Gad really are and so it was meant to be a memorial it was meant to look like the one in Israel on the other side of the Jordan River so that way when the next Generations would come up right they they it's kind of a security plan a plan B is a memorial but yet it's it's also a memorial made out of fear right it's a memorial that's made out of somewhat of a speculation of the future that what could happen so they don't want their tribes to ever be removed from the inheritance of the Lord the Tabernacle and the worship of God there they don't want to be treated like outcasts and enemies so they build this altar not to make incense on not to or burn incense on not to make sacrifices on not to make whole grain offerings on right they say it's not for any of that right that's what happens where the Tabernacle is but here here's a memorial that we have a part in that we helped fight for that land we are two of your brothers we're your we're your Kinsmen and we have a share in the inheritance of what happened in that Tabernacle and so this is one of those those uh people all the time in life do things and they have intentions for them and the intentions for them may not have been necessarily the best but yet then they're interpreted in lack of of communication and information they're interpreted in the worst light and that's what almost happens here there's almost a civil war there's almost a a wiping out out of Reuben and Gad because this is idolatrous this is treasonist what's going on here they're rebelling thankfully there's an ambassador who goes and emissaries who are sent there's an answer given and it's acceptable right that's what happens that's what Phineas the high priest says in verse 30 so here we learn that it's both brothers who go and so Phineas and the rulers of the congregation the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him heard heard the words of the children of Reuben the children of GAD and the children of manasse spoke and it pleased them so it pleases them it says now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Lord right they say we we realized that we were wrong you didn't perceive this you didn't you didn't mean to to do this right that takes a lot of humility right they were just Ready for War it's really easy right this could have been the Hatfields of McCoy situation right this could have been really bad but people actually stop and they listen they hear each other out and there's some reconciliation given and so fin Phineas and eleazer and the rulers they go home they and they take all the children of Israel back home and they and they bring word with them and and tell everybody what happened verse that's what verse 32 says and it pleased the children of Israel and the children of Israel blessed God bless God because people were grieved they were worried they didn't like the idea of going to war against their own Brothers Civil War is never good thing and so what do they name this altar witness testimony that's a it's a Stella right it's it's a Steely it's a it's a um um Memorial to remember now there there's hirer critic people like I remember I was listening to actually in my state there's a scholar who runs a big magazine archaeological magazine and he was talking about how oh this is one of those idolatrous sites and that Israel definitely made this and and it's it's one of those those sites that shows the idolatry of Israel it's just a memorial it's just a witness there's all sorts of witnesses like this it's not meant to be idolatrous by any means it's the same way with the 12 Stones that come up out of out of the Jordan River right that wasn't meant to be idolatry that's just a memorial people forget things and it's set up to be a remembrance right I've gone to see my great uncle's name in the Vietnam memorial not because I go and I worship my my dead ancestor or something like that but because that's a memorial to remember the sacrifice paid by our family and the memorials there to remember I like going to DC for those memorials to remember I don't like going to DC for other reasons but it's it's pretty impressive when you do go but there's memorials all over the place we have memorials in our lives for special events and special people and special occasions not for worship could turn that way certainly but does it have to start that way or go that way no so what's the best verse to summarize all of this well in my Bible uh I have verse 16 underlined I also have verse 22 underlined as well as verse 26 underlined there just a lot here because it's a big story um but also in my Bible uh I have verse 30 and 31 underlined as the response back so that's that's what I have let's talk about C calling what are we called to do what what impact does this have in our lives right when there's this is a perfect example of what it looks like to have Godly communication right there's there is if this was real idolatry that's a real big problem and they don't just sweep it in his rug pass it off minimize it nothing like that right they actually are going to do something about it God had told them to do this and so they go and they take their role seriously but before they just wage into Civil War right they talk clar ver ify things what's actually going on here and I'm sure there were some people like maybe they actually did still set that up but then they just never used it maybe it was like a just in case we're cut off then we'll use that alter type thing but they don't they believe the best of them why because they're they're brothers and they love the Lord and and so that's one of these things that happens in reconciliation there's a lot here in this passage that we can learn about interpersonal communication right about going to your brother about confronting him with his sin and then hearing your brother out and if if he's seriously in the Lord and he's even willing to take it under oath taking him seriously at his word okay I know this guy right I know that he fears the Lord I've seen that in his life and he says that this was his true intention I have to I have to trust him I'm going to choose to trust him and so I think that's one of the things that's going on here right is is both parties are zealous for God's worship but in their jealousies they end up at logger heads with each other but they're willing to be reasonable I think this is one of the blessings that the holy spirit gives us right as we are living with each other to let our reasonableness be known to all men we take sin seriously but at the same time we listen we listen and we're reasonable and we work with each other for his glory because God is glorified even in this story to show us the Zeal that people had for the Lord's worship so are you zealous for the Lord's worship do you long to go to his Tabernacle do you love the congregation the Assembly of God God's people do want to go to him to worship him to sing his Praises it's a wonderful thing that the people are both longing for here praise God it was this disaster was averted I hope that we're willing to talk with each other even in tense situations tense situations for the glory of God and the furthering of his kingdom let's pray father we thank you so much for the blessing it is to know that you indeed are the Lord God of gods there's none like you and you know all truth father we confess to you that there are times where we are not excited for worship but father we long we long to be your people who truly do seek after you who want you who love you so father please stir up in our hearts more and more a desire for your glory for your kingdom Lord we pray that we would be led by your Holy Spirit in confrontation and in reconciliation Lord we pray that you would please keep your people from div divisive sins Lord and we pray that we would be able to understand you and that we would long to be with you and have a United testimony for your kingdom in Jesus's name we pray amen well may the Lord bless you may you walk in the joy and peace that comes from worshiping the Lord God of gods because Jesus indeed is Lord of lords and king of kings and worthy of all Grace see you next time bye