U. The
incident of the altar of witness (chapter 22).
1. The
two and a half tribes returned to the east of the Jordan.
a.
Praises.
(a)
Obey all the commands of Moses and Joshua (2;
cf. 1 Pet 5:5, 6).
(b)
Seven years of battles for their brothers enabled
them to get the promised land (3; cf. Prov ; 1 Cor 13:5).
(c)
Keeping their promise (3b; Josh -18).
·
They would be able to return to their land and
reunite with their family members after completing their mission (4).
b.
Encouragement and benediction.
(a)
Joshua blessed and encouraged them before
sending them home.
(b)
To keep the commandment of the Lord, to love the
Lord their God, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all their heart and
all their soul (5).
(c)
He divided the wealth among the brothers (8; cf.
Num 31:25-29; 1 Sam 30: 23-25).
2.
The crisis of the altar of witness (10-34).
a.
The significant of building the altar.
When the tribes returned to east of Jordan,
in order to prevent their descendants from being separated from their brethren
from the west of Jordan,
they built the altar. The objectives were:
(a)
To offer sacrifices and, as evidence, to prove
that they belonged to God (28, 34).
(b)
To prevent their descendants from losing contact
with their brethren in the west of Jordan
and from being separated from God.
(c)
To let their descendants serve the only God
together with their brethren and to prevent the loss of their faith.
b.
The reasons behind misunderstanding and the ways
to handle it:
(a)
Although the intention of the two tribes was
good, due to the lack of communication, misunderstanding occurred.
(b)
The tribes in the west of Jordan
thought they wanted to turn away from the Lord, thus gathered the whole
assembly to war against them.
(c)
Phinehas and ten of the
chief men were sent to understand and to solve the misunderstanding.
3.
Teachings
c.
Although the twelve tribes of Israel
live separately in the east and west of the Jordan,
they were of one nation and worshipped the same God.
(a)
Although the true church is spread all over the
world; still, it is of one family. We ought to make every effort to keep the
unity of the spirit (Eph: 4:3, 4).
d.
The Israelites followed the instruction of the Lord
to worship Him (cf. Ex 27:1-8). Therefore, when they
saw that the two tribes had built an altar, they thought the two tribes were
going to rebel and disobey to the Lord, causing them to war against them. They
held firm to their faith, and their faithfulness towards their faith can be
seen here.
e.
Resolve to close the breach.
(a)
Not to become a breach, to communicate and
discuss with one another, to do what is right in the eyes of everybody (Prov ; Rom ).
(b)
A wise man ought to do things with caution.
·
to understand the real situation, and do not
have doubts
·
be honest when communicating with others
·
listen to others’ explanation
f.
Be concerned about the faith of our next
generation
(a)
To concern about and teach our next generation
to know and fear the Lord, and to provide them with a spiritual environment where
they can draw near to God (Deut 6:4-7; Prov 22:6; Ps
78:1-9).
