Year 1, Week 25, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 25, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Joshua 21-22.

Today’s reading completes the tribal allotments of the Land. Joshua 21 records the cities that were granted to the Levitical clans. The tribe of Levi was not given any allotment of land, but there were given cities. With the allocations of cities to the Levites done, the Land allotment was complete. The LORD had faithfully done what He had promised: “Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45). Once the tribes were in their land allotments, Joshua 22 records an incident of misunderstanding between the two and one half tribes living on the east side of the Jordan River and the nine and one half tribes living west of the Jordan.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the aversion of a war between the tribes: "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). Prior to crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, requested that their inheritance would be on the east side of the Jordan. Moses allowed that with a stipulation: “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession” (Numbers 32:29). The Reubenites, the Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, did as required—they crossed the Jordan to fight with their fellow Israelites until their land was possessed. Once that was completed, they could return to their land: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and…You have not forsaken your brothers these many days…Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan” (Joshua 22:2-4).

Once the tribes who lived on the east side of the Jordan settled in, they built an altar of their own. The tribes on the west side of the Jordan were greatly alarmed: “And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them” (Joshua 22:12). They sent a delegation to investigate what the east Jordaners have done: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel” (Joshua 22:13). The assumption was they the altar built by the east Jordaners was to rival the one altar presently at Shiloh: “What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD?” (Joshua 22:16). The west Jordaners were right to be concerned about what had unfolded. Their willingness to go to war reflects their concern for the proper worship of God. As it turns out, their assumption was wrong, but their concern was a good thing.

The tribes living on the east side of the Jordan clarify themselves: “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance” (Joshua 22:22-23). They proceeded to explain their real intention: “Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD” (Joshua 22:26-27). The east Jordaners wanted a non-working replica of the altar to serve as a witness that they truly belonged to the LORD as the west Jordaners.

Not only was war averted, but unity was solidified. What would unify the tribes of Israel was not merely their shared bloodline, but their shared focus upon the LORD and thus, shared concern for His honor: “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD…And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled” (Joshua 22:31-33). The precious reality of unity among God’s people is to be a unity built upon truth. As Jesus prayed for His people, He combined His desire for unity among His people with His desire for growth-producing truth for His people: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:18-21).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe