Notes: June 4, 2008 - Joshua 22

Bob Feather June 4th, 2008

A word for those who live far away

  • You have kept your word and helped your brethren to acquire the land that God assigned them. This is very good. (Joshua 22:2-3). Who shall ascend to God’s holy hill? They who keep their promises, even at great personal cost (Psalm 15:4).
  • Now you may go home to your families (Joshua 22:4).  When the battle is over, then we can relax; but as the war continues, so we must continue diligent in the fight.
  • Don’t let distance cause you to forget about God and your obligation to love and to serve Him (Joshua 22:5). How important this word is to those who leave home to seek their fame and fortune!
  • On their way home, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh erected an altar by the Jordan River, When the other tribes heard of this, they inferred it to be an idolatrous act; and they were prepared to battle their brethren lest the same idolatry which had brought so many hardships on previous generations now find a home in the newly settled promised land. (Joshua 22:10-12).
  • In their own defense, the three tribes declared the altar was not for sacrifices, but for a memorial that they were, indeed, part of Israel, even though they lived some distance from the others, separated by a river. They wanted future generations  to know that all the tribes were one family; and they didn’t want their children to be outcasts in the minds of those who lived west of the Jordan River. Have you established any memorials for future generations to know that you are part of God’s family?
  • Cool heads prevailed; and civil war was averted. Sometimes things are not what they appear, and we should allow for discussion and defense before we falsely accuse others.
  • When it was all over, Phineas declared that he perceived God to be in their midst (Joshua 22:31). Yes, when men live in peace, there is evidence of God in their midst.
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Joshua 22:2-3
2And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
3Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
Psalm 15:4
4In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
Joshua 22:4
4And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
Joshua 22:5
5But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Joshua 22:10-12
10And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.
11And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.
12And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
Joshua 22:31
31And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.

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