10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 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.
13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 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. 15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘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? 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”
21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “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 23 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. 24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 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.”’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”
30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “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.”
32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. 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. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the Jordan river on their way home after seven years of war. The river posed a very definite division between where they would settle and the rest of Israel. They felt that being east of the river might lead them to be forgotten and ultimately cut off from the nation. So they decided to make a memorial as a reminder of their shared right to worship at the altar of the tabernacle. Their choice of memorial was to build a large altar to serve as a visual reminder of this right. Why an altar? Because the basis of their unity was their common worship of the true God which was centred on the sacrifices at the altar.
When the rest of Israel heard of this memorial, they missed the symbolism of unity and instead thought that it represented apostasy. They thought that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were rejecting the altar at Shiloh and instead had erected a second altar of sacrifice in violation of the Mosaic Law (Lev 17:8-9).
Instead of tolerating the apparent compromise, the Israelites called for a war of judgement against their brothers. Thankfully they didn’t embark on a war campaign based entirely on their assumptions. Wisdom prevailed and they first sent a delegation headed by Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest and ten chiefs from each of the tribes of Israel. This delegation confronted the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh with the intent of getting them to stop their project of apostasy and avoid war. They charged them with turning away from the LORD and rebelling against Him. They reminded them of the sin of Peor (Num 25) and the sin of Achan (Josh 22:20) and how both had resulted in God’s judgement against the entire nation of Israel. They generously suggested that if they felt that the land on the east of the Jordan was unclean and not graced by God’s presence, then they would make space for them to take possession with them on the western side of the Jordan.
The eastern tribes didn’t respond in anger at their accusers but informed them of the reason for the monument and their concern that their geographic separation would eventually lead to the complete separation of future generations. They swore an oath with God as their witness stating that if they had acted in rebellion then they deserved God’s judgement.
The delegation accepted the eastern tribes’ explanation and the whole ordeal had a happy ending. Phinehas acknowledged that no sin had been committed. The monument was called Witness because it stood as witness to both sides that the LORD is God.
This story provides many lessons for dealing with disputes today. It is good for believers to be zealous about the purity of our faith. We should never let the truth be compromised. We should not be quick to judge people’s motives based on what we see and think they are doing. Instead, we should gather facts remembering that there are always two sides to every story (Prov 18:17). The best route to reconciliation is often through clear and open discussion, but it should always be done with a spirit of gentleness (Gal 6:1). When you find yourself wrongly accused, it is best to avoid defensiveness and remember that “a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov 15:1).
Which of these principles do you feel need more work in your life when it comes to situations of conflict?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
The Day the Sun Stood Still: Joshua 10
Often, especially when at school, it is easy to hear gossip and spread it but as we see in this passage, we must find out both sides of a story and only tell someone else if we really need to.
I think what I learnt from these verses was to trust God’s plan and to just trust him in general