Unity and Faithfulness

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Let's turn over in our Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 22. Joshua 22. You'll be happy to know that this is the first chapter in a while that we don't have any cities. Joshua chapter 22, if you are in your pew Bibles, you'll find that on page 212. Joshua chapter 22, we are now in the concluding chapters of the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 22. Hear now God's perfect and holy word.

Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, You have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many days up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them.

Now, therefore, return and go to your tents and to all the land of your possession which Moses, a servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan, but Take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Now to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given the possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it, Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, and spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents. with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, the half-tribe of Manasseh, returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

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 the children, or the half-tribe of Manasseh, built an altar there 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 half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the children of Israel's side. And when the children heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead. And with him ten rulers, one ruler from each of 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 Reuben, 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 would rebel this day against the Lord?

Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till 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 you possess is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us by building yourselves an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on the whole congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.

Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, 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 Israel itself knows, 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 away from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or 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 River a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord. So your descendants should make our descendants cease from fearing the Lord. Therefore we said let us prepare to build ourselves an altar not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifice But that it 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 to our descendants in the time to come you have no part in the Lord therefore We said that it may it will be When they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, here is a replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made. Though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between you and us, far be it from us. that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn away from following the Lord this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God, which is before his tabernacle.

Now when Phinehas the high 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 Manasseh 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, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord.

Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord. And Phinehas 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 of 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 altar witness, for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We pray that these words would not just be dead words on a page, not just ancient history written on a scroll, but Lord, with a sharp two-edged knife, you would write them on our hearts. We pray that you would let us know your faithfulness and walk in your ways. In Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

We're going through an identity crisis. Do you know that? We are going through an identity crisis. No, I'm not talking about your kid who dyed their hair or your spouse who doesn't know what they're doing today. I'm talking about our whole country. Who are we? Who are we as a people? What are we doing? Why do we exist as a country?

You know, in 1630, when the pilgrims were crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, it was Governor Wilthrop who specifically said that we would be a city shining upon a hill. America, at least the northern colonies, were founded for that reason, to be a holy Zion in the wilderness of America. Who are we today? We can spend hours and hours and hours speculating about that, but I'd like to suggest that's what Israel's facing at this moment. Who were they as a nation? What were they about? Was there a true unity between all the tribes? Or was there something that could cause civil war to rip them apart?

God had continued to be faithful. Remember the words of verse 45, the very last words of chapter 21, not a word failed of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass, right? The Lord was faithful. And now we're not even flipping a page, just one verse down and the question is, are his people faithful? The truth I'd like for you to take home today is that God has always been faithful. Will we be faithful? Will we be faithful?

Table of contents for you here. We're gonna look at the two and a half tribes, their release from their service. But then we're gonna see that there is a rival altar, which might mean a rival God. A response that could rip them up and tear them into civil war. followed by a reconciliation and finally a remembering of who God is and the unity that they have. So first, we need to look at verses one through nine about what has happened at this point. Some Jewish scholars, when they were writing about this, they speculate, and this is speculative, that by this point, it's been 14 years. Might seem like we've been in Joshua for 14 years, but it's been that long since the two and a half tribes. You remember that point when Joshua walked and he confronted the two and a half tribes and he said, remember what Moses said.

If he gave you this land, you would be the first ones to cross over the Jordan River. You would be the first ones to go to war. You would go and fight until all your brothers were settled. Do you remember those words? And they said, yes, and we will do it. And they sent over 40,000 armed men. They left their cities, they left their towns, they left their villages. Now it's almost a decade and a half later. And they have been faithful to their promise. There is a discharge, an honorable discharge from service here. They are accommodated and they are commended for their work.

They were charged to love God. They were charged to conquer the land with their brothers and they did it. Joshua commenced them. Verse three, you have not left your brethren these many days up to this day, but you have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.

This is Joshua's job, or way of saying, well done. In the Navy, they would have said, bravo Zulu. Good job. This is their letter of accommodation. This is saying, you've done well. You've put in your time of service. Now you get to go home. Now you get to go see your wives. Now you get to go hug your children who were only at knee-high when you left, and now they're grown men and women. You've served the Lord well.

Go home with your bounty. You're gonna go home, you're gonna have finances, you're gonna have gold, you're gonna have silver, you're gonna have clothing to bring to your wife. You're gonna have these wonderful things that the Lord has given you from this side where you helped conquer the land. You're gonna take that home.

But with this charge to go home, this release from their military service, they're not released from their faithfulness to the Lord. Now what does he tell them in verse five? But take careful heed to the commandment and the law which Moses, a servant of the Lord, commanded you, to love the Lord your God. What does it look like to love the Lord? What does it look like to love Yahweh their God? It looks like the rest of the verse, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. just because they were going to be leaving the land of Canaan, crossing over the Jordan River, and going into the land of Gilead and Bashan. He says, don't forget the Lord.

You're separating from your brethren. They're no longer gonna be at Shiloh. You're no longer gonna be surrounded by the camp. But when you go home, remember what unified us. Remember how we had one soul. Remember the Lord. And so they go. They departed, verse nine.

Right, so the children of Israel, the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. They go home. But as they're going home, they have a concern on their hearts. As they're going home, they realize there's a legitimate geographical boundary line that physically separates them and us. But we want to be one with them. We don't want to be separate from them. And so they build a memorial there.

Second Point

But rumors spread quickly, don't they? There's a rumor, or second point, there's a rumor or a report of a rival altar. Could this be a rival God? This is what happens in verses 10 through 12. I love how in verse 11, this is where I lean into the idea of it being a rumor. Now the children of Israel heard someone say, behold, the children of Reuben. We don't know who made this report. Somebody was just in Jericho or over in Gilead. Somebody was up in the mountains and they saw, what are they doing? They're building an altar. This is a big deal. Why is this a big deal? Because there's only one altar. Because there's only one place to sacrifice. There's only one priesthood. There's one way in which to serve the Lord. There's one way in which God finds it acceptable to worship him.

So this rival altar is either going against what God has commanded and inventing a new way of worship, or maybe these people who conquered areas next to Moab and the Amorites and the Bationites, maybe their time on the other side of the Jordan, they were more corrupt in their hearts than they had realized, and this is actually an altar to another God.

The whole congregation, verse 12. The whole congregation of Israel gathered together at Shiloh. Remember what's at Shiloh. The tabernacle of God himself. The altar of God himself. Everything that Moses had commanded that their forefathers had received at Mount Sinai and had built it with the plunder of Egypt. There's a rival altar to what we're seeing, and they go to war.

Third Point

The heart of the nation has been questioned. Their national identity is in danger. The well-being of their children and their families is at peril. And their response is war. This is the third point. Their response, would war rip up the nation? would war rip up the nation. They send Phineas. Now, who is Phineas? Why does Phineas bring up Peor? If we turn back to the book of Numbers, Phineas is the son of the high priest. Many of you have asked questions about Balaam before, this witchcraft doctor who his donkey spoke to him and stuff like this.

He was trying to curse God's people. He couldn't curse God's people, right? The Lord wouldn't allow him to do that. But instead, how does he end up snaring the Israelites? Trip them up by getting them to intermarry with some Moabite ladies. do it openly and brazenly in the face of Moses before the whole congregation.

And it was Phineas, who's filled with zeal for God and the purity of his people, that he goes and he kills someone with the edge of his spear. They send this Phineas, who they've seen blood on his spear. And they've seen him command the Levites to go and to kill everyone who had been joined together with a Moabite woman. They send this Phineas as the chief confronter. What are you doing? They send the most prominent men, the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the people. to go and find out, is this really true? And verse 16 gets at the heart of this whole passage.

What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Yahweh, and that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might rebel this day against Yahweh. Why have you treated Jehovah with disrespect? Why are you turning away? This is the high priest staring them in the eyes. This is the one who ministers at the true altar of God. He's saying, why are you turning away? What are you doing?

Is not the iniquity of Peor enough for us? coming off the lips of the man who knew the cost of when people turn against the Lord. But it's not just that. All right, verse 20. Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, commit a trespass of the accursed thing, and wrath fell on the congregation of Israel? Do you not remember Achan? when Jericho was meant to be torn down, completely obliterated, went and he stole the wedge of gold and the silver talents and the Babylonian garments. Do you remember what happened when we went up to Ai and we fought and they killed us? See, we live in the West, right? You and I, we don't think about this. We don't think about when somebody else sins, when somebody else does something ungodly, we just think, oh, that's their problem. That's actually a misconception that people even have in the church, right? Well, if, I'm gonna make up a random name, because this isn't a person in the church, if Raphael is sinning, why does that matter to me?

Because the congregation is one. Because what Achan did had effects on the whole people of God. Because what the people at Peor did, not all the people had joined themselves to Moabites, just some of them, but God sent a plague on all the people because of it. We're all members of one another.

Yesterday our kids were playing and Ellie hurt her toe. You might think, oh, your toes are just little bits of your body. They're not that important. I mean, it was like a meltdown. Now, it was a bad boo-boo, right? But it was bad. I mean, like, tears for a long time, Band-Aids, ibuprofen, coddling. Are you OK?

Because this one part of her body hurt. Her whole person hurt. This is the imagery that God gives us of the body of Christ. This is what Israel was as a family, as a national identity. If one part was sinning, if one part had an infectious wound, the whole body would become gangrenous. There is a serious problem here. There is a community imperative to be holy and to be wholly devoted to the Lord.

So they ask in verse 18. See, they don't want to just go to war with them. This is one of these beautiful parts, right? Phineas knows they're ready to go to war, but Peace always should happen first. You try to keep the sixth commandment as much as humanly possible. And so they offer out an olive branch. Did you notice that, how kind they were? Verse 20, or 19, sorry.

Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord where the Lord's tabernacle stands and take possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us by building yourselves an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God." They're willing to say, yeah, we have an inheritance. You all helped us fight for it. We've got cities, we've got towns, we've got borders.

But if the land is so polluted on that side that you're going back and it's already making you build altars, you know what, it's better for you to move over to the western side of the Jordan River. It's better for you, we'll give you land for your cattle, we'll give you land for your sheep, you'll have vineyards for your kids to go pick grapes in, we'll take care of you, but it's better for you to worship at Shiloh, at the tabernacle, to be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord, than it is for you to be over there. We'll give you our land.

Don't commit this sin. But thank the Lord, as it all been a giant misunderstanding. Verses 21 through 33 is the part of the story about reconciling with each other. There's a reconciliation that happens, and it happens in verse 22 with an oath. Gad, Reuben, and half Manasseh make an oath. They call on God's name twice.

The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knows, and let Israel know itself. This is no different than us saying, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help you God. They're saying the Lord is my witness, the Lord God, the Lord God himself, he knows the truth. And I swear, we swear to it, so now you need to know the truth, we did not do this.

And then verse 23, if we have built ourselves an altar to turn away from following the Lord or to offer it in burnt offerings or grain offerings or to offer peace offerings on it, notice here who the judge is. Let the Lord himself require an account. Let God judge between us.

Let him send the plague. Let him kill us like what happened to Achan. Let him have us run through his spears like what happened at Peor. That's fine. If we did this, we deserve the punishment, but that's not what happened. And they tell their motives in verses 24 through 28. What their real motive is, is we were concerned. What happens when we go home? We've been with you for 14 years, but what happens when we grow up? Have you ever been to this before? Have you ever gone to a family reunion?

And you're looking at someone at the family reunion and you see their kids or their grandkids, you're like, I have no clue who that kid is. They're worried about that. What's gonna happen when we go to Shiloh and they say, we don't know if these people are Israelites. We don't know who Shlomo is. We don't know if that grandpa is really one of us. I mean, he kind of looks like my uncle, but I mean, that guy's like third removed and he looked pretty weird. And this guy, well, he kind of resembles him, but I'm not sure.

I'm not sure we should let them into the assembly. Because God might destroy us. If we let outsiders come into the tabernacle, what's going to happen? We're going to be judged. So we've got to keep these guys at an arm's distance. They live too far away from us. We have no way to verify their genealogy. You know what? It's best just to keep this divider here. Let's just have the eastern border be the Jordan River, and anybody on that side will Maybe they're Israelites, but we can't be certain of it.

That's what they're worried about. They're worried about being stripped of their identity. The two and a half tribes are worried about being stripped of their right to the tabernacle. They're concerned about being forgotten, alienated, removed from the nation of Israel and the covenant and the promises of God.

And so they build a sixth memorial. All over the place in the book of Joshua, there's been this pile of rocks, you know, in the middle of the Jordan River, and then there's this pile of rocks when they get through the Jordan River, and then they'd make a pile of rocks when they're at Gilgal, and they make a pile, they're making pile of rocks everywhere. Well, now they make a pile of rocks in an altar. And they're saying this altar, right?

We built this altar not to offer sacrifices on it. We didn't do it for that, right? We did not do it for that. We did not do it to offer burnt sacrifices, verse 26, but that it may be a witness, verse 27, that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices.

And then they'd go down in verse 28, the second part of verse 28, they said, here is a replica, right? They want their kids and their grandkids to be able to say, hey, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're part of the people of Israel. We have a right to the altar. And here's this altar as a memorial for this. Here is a replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made. They're not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between us. It's a replica.

You might say, okay, is this just like a creative story? Did the two and a half tribes just make this up to get themselves out of some hot water? Did they actually make sacrifices there and think, oh no, man, now we gotta like, back up. We don't really want them to know that we did this or we'll create this fanciful story.

Well, let's be honest, if you burn something on a pile of rocks, there's evidence. Flesh, blood, fur, smoke, fire. It would be clear if they had actually done this. So you can imagine the leaders of the two and a half tribes saying, we're telling you the truth, come look at the altar yourself.

Yeah, it looks just like the one in the tabernacle, but it's not because we actually wanted to make sacrifices on it. This is legitimately just a replica. It's not the real deal. Some of you like to get my kids toys and you give them little replica tractors. Daniel would love if you gave them the real tractor. But this is just a replica. It's not the real deal. They know the real deal's in Shiloh.

And the elders are pleased with this. The delegation in verse 30 says that the Phineas, the priests, and the elders of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words of the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke. It pleased them. And so Phineas closes the matter in verse 31. He says to them, this day we perceive that Yahweh is among us because you have not committed the stretchery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hands of the Lord.

Right? He says, all right, you're telling the truth. This is this dude's job as the priest, as a vindicator of the Lord. And he's saying, all right, I believe you. Telling the truth. And there's reconciliation. And they return home in verses 32 and 33. They go back away from the Jordan River. They thank God. Verse 33. The thing pleased the children of Israel and the children of Israel blessed God. They spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. They go home singing God's praises, thanking the Lord for national unity, praising God for keeping his people faithful. They bless the Lord.

Let me ask you, do the psalms stop when you walk out those double doors? Maybe you go through one of the single doors. When you go home this afternoon, does the blessing of God stop? Or do you go home and do you thank the Lord? God, it was a miracle. Yesterday, Lord, there was all sorts of people who were sick, there was all sorts of weather, there was wet roads, and you got us to church safely, and we got to worship you with your people, and they still love you. And it's amazing, Lord, because only you could do this. Do you thank God?

Some of you in the back right now. Look at the people in the pews in front of you. Every single one of them is sitting there because God is faithful and has continued to keep his people faithful to him. Do you thank God for that unity? Do you thank God for perseverance of the faith? The story wraps up with this final act of remembering. in verse 34. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad, verse 34, they called the altar witness. For it is a witness between us of what?

That Jehovah is God. That the God of Moses is a true God. that he is God of gods and Lord of lords, that he alone is the redeemer of his people, that he alone is to be worshiped, that he alone is the one to be followed, that he alone gives a law of righteousness, that he alone is just and pure and good and perfect in all his ways, and they would serve the Lord only. And this altar was for the two and a half tribes to look at. And to say, the Lord is God. And for the other tribes to look at and say, the Lord is God and those are our brothers. There was a sixth memorial in the land. That God's people had an identity. The Lord had always been faithful. And that's where their hearts were clinging to. To love him and to serve him. And their identity had to be on that the Lord is God. So what's our identity? What are we about?

Why are you here? You know, I heard there's a brunch in Mediapolis today. Why'd you show up here this morning instead? Why'd you wake up? I'm sure some of you didn't get much sleep. Why'd you put on a collared shirt? I know that you could go outside and work, it's cool.

What keeps us together? Is it not that Jesus Christ is the Lord? Is it not that our King has come as a high priest also and has called us together to be his people? If this was a couple weeks from now, I wish I could time things better, but you know I'm not very good at timing. I wish this was a Lord's Supper meal. How do we remember our identity? For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death and resurrection of our Lord. Our unity is in Jesus Christ.

Did you know that there are people of different political parties sitting next to you? I don't necessarily mean your spouse, maybe they are. But yeah, you guys can be the members of the same church. Did you know that there are people in this church, I hear rumors, they don't like pineapple? I don't know how I stand those people. So what is it that could get us to get along with each other. It's Jesus Christ. What is it that is the glue that makes us stick together?

If the identity of our church is not firmly rooted and fixed, founded in Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the church, then we are without hope. Right, this is why if we start focusing on whatever, you know, political thing is going on today and we think, oh, maybe that will unite us as a church, we're gonna fail. If we think that somehow our children are going to somehow love the Lord because we give them our favorite pet doctrines, good luck. No, what does Joshua send the two and a half tribes away with?

Love. Love the Lord your God. Walk in his ways, keep his commandments, hold fast to him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Our identity is in Jesus Christ. We look to the King of kings. We remember the sacrificed lamb. We rejoice in our high priest. We go before his throne of grace. and we worship Christ forever. Brothers and sisters, Jesus has always been faithful. Will you love him? Will you cling to him? Will you serve him? This is the glue that keeps us together.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we pray. that you would teach us to love you and follow you. We thank you for your love. And God, we pray that you would do this supernatural act, that you would knit our heart to yours, that you might let us love you and serve you all of our days. God, we are faithless people. We confess our frailty. We plead with you that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would keep us. Please, Lord, let nothing rip us out of your hand. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.