Joshua 22:1-34
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
2 And 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:
3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
4 And 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.
5 But 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.
6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.
7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,
8 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
9 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
10 And 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.
11 And 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.
12 And 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.
13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
14 And with him ten princes, of each chiefa house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,
16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?
17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.
20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;
24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?
25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.
26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:
27 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.
28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.
29 God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.
30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleasedb them.
31 And 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: nowc ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.
32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.
33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.
Now in chapter twenty-two, after now the land has all been given and apportioned out,
Joshua called the men from Reuben, and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 22:1).
Now you remember these are the people who when they were on the east bank of the Jordan River had already established there. It was good grazing country, they said, "We're farmers this is great territory." We'd love to just stay over here and have our inheritance right here where we are.
So Moses said, "Providing you'll send your fighting forces over with us to conquer the land, when the land is all conquered then you can come back. You can leave your wives and children, your families here. You send your fighting men over with us to help take the land. Once the land is taken then you may come back, and you can dwell in the land here."
So they promised that they would do just that, that they would come over, and they kept their promise. Now the land has all been conquered, the tribes have all received their portion. So Joshua called this fighting brigade to him of the tribe of Reuben, and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh who wanted the land on the other side of the Jordan River.
He said, "You fellows have fulfilled your promise. You've fulfilled your bargain; you've done what you said you would do, and what was commanded by Moses, now you may return back to your families. Take with you all of the spoils of war."
For in conquering this land, of course, they conquered all these cities, and they actually had tremendous wealth, the spoils of war, the silver, the gold, the brass, the cattle, the sheep and all. He says, "Take them back and share them with the others within the tribes back on the other side of the Jordan. So you may return now." You know they were setting them free, they having fulfilled their portion of the deal, now they could go back and establish with their families on the other side of the Jordan River.
Now as they were going back, when they got to the Jordan River and they crossed it, they built a huge altar that you could see for miles. Word came back to the men of Israel and they gathered the princes in Shechem. They said, "They have built an altar to offer sacrifices and all." The whole house of Israel was ready to go over and attack them because they thought that they were already lapsing into idolatry. That they would dare to offer sacrifices to God in a place other than the tabernacle, the place that God had established.
So the princes of Israel got together, and they came over to the men of Reuben and Gad and Manasseh, and they said, "What are you doing? Did you forget already the problems that our fathers have had because of idolatry? What are you doing erecting this big altar to offer sacrifices and all this?"
"Wait a minute you've got it all wrong. We had no intention of making any sacrifices on this altar at all. We have no intention of making any burnt offerings or sin offerings, or anything on this. This is just a reminder that we belong to you because we're afraid that in another generation or so that your children will say to our children, 'Hey you guys live on the other side of the river. You don't have any part with us.'"
So this is a sign. It's a memorial to show that we are a part of You, that we worship the true and the living God and we have no intention of offering sacrifices here. This is just so that your kids can't say to our kids, "Hey because you live on the other side of the river, you don't belong to us." So the princes of Israel were satisfied with this. They went back and they told the people, "Hey, they're not committing idolatry. They're not trying to create a schism and pull away." But actually it's just a memorial and it's just so that they will be identified with us in the minds of the children as they grow up and all.
So it pleased all of the people of Israel, and they accepted then this memorial that was erected by these tribes there on the other side of the Jordan River. So that basically is the story that you get in the twenty-second chapter of Joshua.
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