Month: March 2022

“The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14).

“And when the Israelites heard that they (Reubenites, Gadites, half-tribe of Manasseh, verse 10) had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them” (Joshua 22:11-12).

 

I just finished reading the book of Joshua and noticed the difference in the way the Israelites responded to the two events mentioned above.  The first event was the ruse dreamed up by the people of Gibeon when they realized God was helping the Israelites take over the land. The Gibeonites pretended to be from a far country and asked to make a peace treaty with the Israelites.  Apparently, they didn’t want to go to war and risk their lives. So, they dressed in old, worn-out clothes and carried stale and moldy provisions with them to trick the men of Israel.

The Scripture says, “the men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” Joshua made a peace treaty with them, but in three days they learned the truth.  The Gibeonites were their neighbors and they’d been tricked!

Fast forward to Joshua, chapter 22.  The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh had been given land on the east side of the Jordan River, but before they could settle there, they were required to help the other tribes take possession of the land on the west side of the river.  After they had accomplished that, Joshua blessed them and sent them back to settle in their land on the east side of the Jordan. Before they crossed the river, they “built an imposing altar there by the Jordan” (Joshua 22:10).

Their brothers’ response: get ready for war! Without finding out why the two and a half tribes had built this “imposing altar” they took off, ready to fight.

The reason the altar was built is found in verses 24-29. They knew most of the Israelite tribes were on the west side of the Jordan River and future generations might question what the Reubenites and Gadites had to do with the Lord. The altar was built as a witness between the tribes of the west side and the tribes of the east so that future generations would know that all the tribes worshipped the One and only God. It was not to be a place of worship. That was at the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh. Rather, it was a place of remembrance and commitment. They named the altar “A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.”

The men of Israel put down their weapons and praised God for the faithfulness of the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh.

I think there is a lesson for us today. The leaders of the Israelites were quite willing to accept those strangers and accept their lie as truth, without ever inquiring of the Lord.  But when they questioned the actions of their own brothers, they were ready to fight them.  Later, they learned the truth.

Finding truth isn’t always easy. God is truth so we start there.

“See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O Lord, according to your love. All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal” (Psalm 119:159-160). 

“Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river” (Joshua 3:8).

I can only imagine what that experience must have looked like and how those priests must have felt to take that first step into the flooded Jordan River. The Scripture says “as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.” Was there a sound as the water piled in a heap? What does a “heap” of water look like anyway?

We are not told much about this miracle except that it happened and the whole nation of Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground as the priests who carried the ark stood firm in the middle of the river on dry ground! God demonstrated His mighty power and the people obeyed. What might have happened if the priests had refused to take that first step? The nation would not have reached the promised land. The priests were to step out first and then to stand firm.

The Apostle Peter tells the early Christians and later Christians, as well. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). The saints of God, Christians, are a priesthood. Jesus has commanded us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). We live in a nation of lost people who are waiting for us to take that first step into the Jordan. I’m not sure what that first step might be, and it may be different for different people. We all know those who are lost without Jesus. Could it be they are watching and waiting for us to take that first step to show them the way? Are we willing to leave our comfort zone to show someone we care about their soul?

I was reminded as I read about the priests carrying the ark of the covenant into the Jordan River that they were carrying God’s law and the Seat of God’s very Presence. We, as Christians carry God’s word and the Holy Spirit within us. We are the priesthood that God uses today to bring the lost into the Kingdom. May we be found faithful!

God loves the lost so much He died for them. Am I willing to share that news with them?