Joshua 22:10-20

An Altar Erected At Jordan Joshua 22:10-20

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 chief 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 today against the Lord, that tomorrow 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.

4.

On what shore of Jordan did they build their altar? Joshua 22:10

Since it is said that they erected the altar when they came unto the borders of Jordan, it is apparent that the altar was erected on the west side of the Jordan. Even though Phinehas and the other Israelites who were with him went unto the land of Gilead (Joshua 22:15), it still seems apparent that the altar was on the west bank of Jordan. Phinehas and his men would have been obliged to cross the Jordan and enter into the land east of the Jordan in order to hold a conference with the eastern tribes. The altar would have served its ultimate purpose best by being on the west side of the river, for there it would serve as a constant reminder to the western tribes.

5.

Why did the rest of Israel think of going to war? Joshua 22:12

There was no separation of church and state in the days of Joshua. God was a ruler of Israel in a very real sense. His laws were the laws of the state. He had ordained that there should be only one place of worship (Deuteronomy 12). When the eastern tribes set up another altar besides the one which was at Shiloh, the western tribes naturally supposed they were transgressing God's laws. They banded themselves together as a military force to punish the criminals.

6.

Who was Phinehas? Joshua 22:13

Phinehas was the son of Eleazar, the high priest. He had proved himself to be zealous on behalf of the Lord when he punished those who committed iniquity in the days of Balaam while Israel was in Midian, across the Jordan River from Jericho. This same Phinehas had taken a javelin and slain Cozbi and Zimri (Numbers 25). He is to be commended for his zeal in enforcing the laws of God, but he and those who were with him should have made further inquiry before taking such drastic measures in the matter of the altar erected by the eastern tribes.

7.

Why did ten princes go with Phinehas? Joshua 22:14

The ten princes were selected from the tribes of Israel who lived west of the Jordan. Each was the chief of a house in these western tribes. There were only ten tribes west of the Jordan since the three tribes east of the Jordan had already gone home. There were ten west of the Jordan since another part of the tribe of Manasseh had settled in the western section.

8.

Why was the building of an altar a sin? Joshua 22:16

Phinehas considered the erecting of the altar as a trespass. He compared it to the iniquity which was committed in Peor. He also compared it to the sin of Achan (Joshua 22:17; Joshua 22:20). Phinehas believed the erecting of the altar was a direct violation of God's commandment that the people of Israel should bring their burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, heave offerings, vows, freewill offerings, and firstlings of their herds and flocks to the one place which God should select as the center of worship (Deuteronomy 12:6-7). God had given this commandment in order to prevent Israel from worshiping different gods in many different places in a manner similar to that followed by the Canaanites who lived in the land. Phinehas felt that such a sin should not go unpunished.

9.

What was the iniquity of Peor? Joshua 22:17

The sin which was committed at Peor was of great consequences. Phinehas said that the congregation of Israel was not cleansed from that sin even in his day. On that occasion the people of Moab enticed the Israelites to sacrifice to their god, Chemosh; and lewd women among them enticed the men of Israel to commit fornication (Numbers 25:3-4; Numbers 25:6). A ringleader in those sins was Zimri, a prince of Simeon. When God punished Israel in those days for those sins, twenty-four thousand Israelites were slain. Most of those must have been from Simeon since they were reduced to 22,200 in the second census from a much larger number of 59,300 in the first census. The short time which elapsed after the sin of Baal-Peor before the second census was not time enough for the tribe to recover from such a catastrophe.

10.

Why remember the sin of Achan? Joshua 22:20

Israel had been given very specific instructions about taking spoils of war as they conquered Palestine. They were to be allowed the taking of spoils from every city except from the city of Jericho. Jericho was the first city they attacked. It was something of a firstfruits of the land to be given completely unto the Lord. As a result, they were expressly commanded not to take any kind of spoil of war from Jericho. When Achan saw a wedge of gold, a Babylonian garment, and some pieces of silver, he coveted these items and stole them. His bold and brazen disobedience of an express commandment of the Lord brought punishment not only upon himself but upon other members of his household. Phinehas considered the erection of another altar a similar kind of brazen disobedience. He compared what he considered to be the sin of the eastern tribes to the sin of Achan.