Week 9 Joshua
Yesterday I was thinking about the twelve tribes, wondering if the family glue would hold them all together.
Today I was thinking about a different family division that looked like it had the potential to put a dent in national unity.
Reuben Gad and half of Manasseh had their huge land grant on the east side of the Jordan River. It was negotiated by Moses and on the surface looked like a workable and manageable split. But under the surface it seemed like it could be trouble.
Anyway RG½M decided to build a huge altar right by the river. As soon as the other 9.5 tribes heard about it they were up-in-arms and said: the whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. So RG½M were seen as betrayers!
But RG½M told the 9.5s that they had their own concerns looking down the road: we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel?’ They figured the 9.5s might lock the religious door.
In the end cooler heads prevailed; unity was maintained.
But some fear and mistrust and disunity is already simmering between Israel East and Israel West and how that might pan out is something I’ll need to look out for.
Note: quotes from Joshua 22:16, and see all of 16-20; and 22:24, and see 24-29 (NLT)