Joshua 22

Joshua 22 begins a different section of the Book of Joshua. Chapters 1 to 21 focus on conquest - crossing the Jordan - the central, southern and northern campaigns to conquer the Promised Land - and the division of that land - among the tribes of Israel. This section of Joshua is framed by a concern for those parts of the people of God who live OUTSIDE of the Promised Land; for those who live away from Israel proper, away from the sanctuary of God and away from the priesthood of God.

What is the book of Joshua about? Real people facing enormous challenges and learning to trust God along the way.

(1) Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

(2) He told them, “*You have done as Moses, **the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and you have obeyed every order I have given you.

• *You have done: We would want said of us that we have done what we had said we would do.
• **the servant of the Lord: There is no greater designation than “the servant of the LORD.” Are you “the servant of the LORD.”

(3) During *all this time you have not deserted the other tribes. You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord your God right up to the present day.

• *all this time: This had to have been hard - at least 7 years away from family and fighting for someone else. Now, it's up to each individual tribe to possess their territory.
• Numbers 32:28-29: So Moses gave orders to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the clans of Israel. He said, “The men of Gad and Reuben who are armed for battle must cross the Jordan with you to fight for the Lord. If they do, give them the land of Gilead as their property when the land is conquered.
• Deuteronomy 3:18-20: “At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them. Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you. When the Lord has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.’
• Joshua 1:12-18: Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He told them, “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you: ‘The Lord your God is giving you a place of rest. He has given you this land.’ Your wives, children, and livestock may remain here in the land Moses assigned to you on the east side of the Jordan River. But your strong warriors, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan to help them conquer their territory. Stay with them until the Lord gives them rest, as he has given you rest, and until they, too, possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. Only then may you return and settle here on the east side of the Jordan River in the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, assigned to you.” They answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us. We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses. And may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey your words and everything you command will be put to death. So be strong and courageous!”

(4) And now the Lord your God has given the other tribes *rest, as he promised them. So go back home to the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you as your possession on the east side of the Jordan River.

• *rest:
• Hebrews 4:8-9: Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.
• This is the sixth time the word “rest” is used in Joshua. Each time it refers to the tribes on the west of the Jordan - not the east.
• An underlying point is that even after the "big mission" has been completed, life will still go on. There are always going to be new issues in life to deal with once the significant major issues have been resolved. That is a point of this chapter.
• The rest that they so desired in the land and which necessitated these battles with the previous occupants of the land was secured. Rest must not be equated with full possession for there were areas where the Canaanites still dwelt in the land. But there was peace in that the land had rest from war. The people on the Canaan side of the river were going to enjoy a period of rest and the warriors from the two and half tribes were to go to their tents

(5) But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

• It appears that Joshua feared that they'd quickly fall away from the Lord since they wanted to settle on the wrong side of the Jordan and since they'd be so far from the center of worship of God. Great advice to a believer today!

(6) So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went home.

(7) Moses had given the land of Bashan, east of the Jordan River, to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The other half of the tribe was given land west of the Jordan.) As Joshua sent them away and blessed them,

• Of all the tribes to be taken into captivity the two and a half tribes were the first.

(8) he said to them, “Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies—the vast herds of livestock, the silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and the large supply of clothing. Share the plunder with your relatives.”

• The Eastern Tribes had fought the Canaanites, had taken spoils from these victories and were permitted to return home with this great wealth. The soldiers, upon their return to Bashan  and Gilead, were ordered to share their wealth obtained in warfare with their relatives who had kept the “home fires burning” during the wars.
• Numbers 31:27: Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people.

(9) So the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They started the journey back to their own land of Gilead, the territory that belonged to them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

(10) BUT while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called *Geliloth near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar.

• *Geliloth: (Gilgal) Or to the circle of stones.
• A. Coffman wrote that what was so serious about this action was that the Mosaic religion held the principle that there was to be “only one sanctuary” for the entire nation. This sanctuary was to be under the authority of the high priest. "This sanctuary as to location had been moved many times in the wilderness (no less than forty-two (42) times,” Coffman concluded and to Shiloh from Gilgal after Israel entered the Promised Land.
• That such an altar was actually built has been long ago verified by the discovery of the site.

(11) The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River.

(12) So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them.

• Leviticus 17:3-4: “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer. Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community.
• Deuteronomy 12:5-7,11,13-14: Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you. ... you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored. ... Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you like. You may do so only at the place the Lord will choose within one of your tribal territories. There you must offer your burnt offerings and do everything I command you.

(13) FIRST, however, they sent a delegation led by *Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

• *Phinehas: Psalm 106:30-31: But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped. So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.

(14) In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.

(15) When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

(16) “The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him?

• Three accusations are made - verse 16.  You’ve acted unfaithfully towards us and God.  Second: You’ve turned away from God - backslidden. Third - you’ve rebelled against God. You’ve deliberately turned against God’s will.

(17) Was our sin at *Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord.

• *Peor:
• See Numbers 25:1-18 where they "defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. .. 24,000 people had died."
• This incident would be especially meaningful to Phinehas, because he was the one who stopped the plague by making a dramatic stand for righteousness in the midst of gross sin.

(18) And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with ALL OF US tomorrow.

(19) “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God.

• Phinehas may be asserting that the land west of the Jordan was God’s country which, in his opinion, the land east of the Jordan was not God’s country. 

(20) Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”

(21) Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel:

(22) “The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day.

(23) If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us.

(24) “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel?

• The size of the monument would have made it visible from both sides of the river attesting to the solidarity of the tribes.

(25) The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a *barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.

• *barrier:
• The Lord didn't place the Jordan as a barrier - they did by insisting with Moses to stay on the East side of the river! The nation was divided and those East of the Jordan quickly took on the sins of their neighbors.
• “It’s interesting that the Transjordanic tribes pointed to the children as their concern. But it wasn’t their children who would ask, “What have we to do with the Lord God of Israel?” No, their children would be provoked by the children of the tribes in Canaan! Reuben, Gad and Manasseh were not even living in the land of God’s choice, yet they feared lest the children across the river would lead their children astray! The danger was just the opposite. In choosing to live east of the Jordan, the two and a half tribes separated themselves from their own people and from the land God had given to all of them. They put their cattle ahead of their children and their fellow Jews, but they blamed God and other tribes for the problem they created. But what kind of “witness” was this huge pile of stones? It was in reality a witness to expediency, the wisdom of man in trying to enjoy “the best of both worlds.” The two and a half tribes talked piously about their children, but it was their wealth that really motivated their decision to live east of the Jordan.” - Wiersbe

(26) “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

(27) but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the Lord.’

(28) “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’

• Israel sought to be and was one nation, but the geography of the region separates the east from the west by the Great Rift Valley including the Sea of Galilee, the descending Jordan River and the Dead Sea. 

(29) Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”

(30) When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of Israel—heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied.

(31) Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”

(32) Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened.

(33) And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.

(34) The people of Reuben and Gad named the *altar “Witness,” for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.”

• Some believe that an inscription was put on this altar, which pointed out the purposes for which it was erected. The real intention of building this altar was to be a witness or a testimony of the unity of the 12 tribes for future generations.
  
• They built eight altars of witness in the land:
  1. Pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan in 4:9.
  2. Pile of twelve stones in Gilgal in 4:20.
  3. Over Achan in 7:26.
  4. Over the king of Ai in 8:28-29.
  5. Joshua engraves a copy of the law in 8:30-32.
  6. Over the Amorite kings at Gibeon in 10:27.
  7. Peace in the land of Gilead in 22:34.
  8. Covenant renewed at Shechem in 24:26-27.

APPLICATION and LESSONS to LEARN:

1. Be very careful about believing and acting upon gossip, rumor and innuendo! Always get the facts and then decide what God would have you do.
2. If only the people of the tribes on the West of the Jordan had continued with this attitude of obedience to the Lord and avoidance of even a hint of straying from Him. We need to be just as careful not to compromise.
3. We must worship God in the way He has commanded. Unauthorized worship is unacceptable, even if it is not specifically condemned in Scripture.
4. We cannot worship God any way we please, or justify a manner of worship just because we like it.  First and always, our worship must be pleasing to God.  We must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
5. The two and a half tribes were content to stay on the east side of Jordan. The blessings were to be found on the west side of Jordan. They were content with second best. The land flowed with milk and honey but that was beyond the river. There may be giants in the land but with God on their side these would be overcome. Sadly, there many Christians who do not come into the full blessing that God wants each Christian to enjoy. They remain baby Christians with one foot in the world and allowing the flesh to dictate when the Spirit wants to be in the ascendancy.'
6. The following is adapted from the work of H. Rossier 1852-1942 - "It was their circumstances which led them to choose the east side of Jordan. They had much cattle and that was uppermost in their mind. It was not what lay beyond Jordan but they had acquired much cattle and what was best for them. They had not seen nor considered what lay beyond the river. The place they chose was a place for cattle - adapted to their circumstances. (Numbers 32:1) It is the same with many Christians. The main point in the Christian life of some believers is the circumstances of this life, the everyday needs, abundance or want (Numbers 32.16). Their Christianity is worldly in the sense that, although they have no wish to go back to Egypt, they want a life of faith for earthly circumstances only. They do not want to enter into that which speaks of the blessing of heavenly places. Moses was at first indignant with the two and a half tribes but he afterwards bore with them, seeing that although their faith was weak, still it was faith, and that these earthly links did not separate them from their brethren. This Christianity trusts the Lord Jesus for His providential care, and in the details, great or small, of daily life. The Lord Jesus is known as the Shepherd but the Shepherd is not just able to care for the things of time and sense. There is a spiritual dimension to His Shepherd care. He leads us through this world but it is not in material things that He gives us rest. The green pastures and the still waters are not the fields, nor the sheepfolds, nor the cities of Gilead, but the rich pastures of the land of Canaan. The picture is clear. These did not set their hearts 'on things which are above' (of the enjoyment of which things Canaan speaks). There is nothing wrong in confiding in Him for everything but let us know something of the joy of entrance into the blessings of the place where a glorified Christ is to be found, of being attached outside this world, drawn away from this scene, to be introduced, dead and risen with Him, into a heavenly Canaan. There, the motive for our walk will no longer be 'much cattle'. It will not be a question of arranging our life more or less faithfully according to what we possess but, having left all behind, self, and the affairs of this life, in the bottom of the river of death, we have now to fight to take possession of all our privileges in Christ, realizing them by faith, and enjoying them in the power of the Spirit."
7. God promises Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh the same thing He promises the other 9½ tribes - the whole Promised Land is theirs. But Reuben, Gad and 1/2 Manasseh choose what is less than God’s choice for them. Why? Looks like the better part of the deal for us.
8. Rest comes when we learn to choose to trust in God - to leave our lives in His hands.
9. We want the blessings west of the Jordan. But we can’t let go of the east. We experience God’s victory - see God do amazing things in our lives - but ultimately we choose to hang on to our selfish desires - choose to remain with the comfortable - choose to hold back from totally trusting God. We want God on our terms. Spiritual growth at our pace. Stepping out in faith when we choose. Worship that entertains us. Sermons that don’t step over the line and challenge us - too much. It is crucial for us to see that we either live west of the Jordan or east of the Jordan. There’s no island in the middle.
10. Chapters 22 to 24 focus on what it means for God’s people to live by faith as possessors of the Promised Land - the promises of God. How do we live by faith now?

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
• Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html