Joshua_Chapter 22

At that time, Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

And he said to them, You have all kept what the servant of the Lord Moses commanded you. You have all obeyed what I commanded you.

You have not left your brothers for many days until today, and have kept what the Lord your God has commanded you to do.

Now the Lord your God has brought peace to your brothers as he promised, and now you can return to your tents to the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you to inherit on the east side of the Jordan River.

Only be diligent in following the commandments and laws that the servant of the Lord Moses commanded you, love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, keep his commandments, trust in him, and serve him with all your heart and soul.

So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they returned to their tents.

Moses had already allocated land to the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. Joshua divided the inheritance of this half tribe among their brothers on the west bank of the Jordan River. When Joshua sent them back to the tent, he blessed them,

And he said to them, Bring a great deal of wealth, a great deal of livestock, and gold, silver, bronze, iron, and many garments, and return to your tents, to divide the things that you have taken from your enemies with your brothers.

So the children of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh departed from Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and returned to the land of Gilead, which they had inherited, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

When the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh arrived in the land of Canaan near the Jordan River, they built an altar there. That altar looks tall.

The Israelites heard that the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh had built an altar on the side of the Israelites in the land of Canaan near the Jordan River.

When the whole assembly heard this, they gathered in Shiloh to go up and attack them.

The Israelites sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to meet the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead.

And he sent ten leaders with Phinehas, one leader from each tribe of Israel, who was the commander of the Israelite army.

When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they saw the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and said to them,

This is what the whole assembly of the Lord says: Today you have turned away from following the Lord and have sinned against the God of Israel, building an altar for yourself and rebelling against the Lord. What sin have you committed?

Was the sin of worshipping Peter still small in the past? Although the plague has struck the congregation of the Lord, to this day we have not yet been cleansed of this sin.

Have you turned away today from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all the Israelites tomorrow.

If you find the land you possess unclean, then you may cross over to the land of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle resides, and inherit it among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, and do not sin against us. Build an altar for yourself outside the altar of the Lord our God.

Did not Achan, the great grandson of Zerah, once sin against the things to be destroyed, and wrath came upon all the congregation of Israel? Not only one person died in the crimes committed by that person.

So the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered the commander of the Israelite army, saying,

The Almighty God Jehovah. The Almighty God Jehovah. He knows it. The Israelites will also know. If we have rebellious intentions, or if we offend the Lord (may you not bless us today),

Build an altar for yourself, and turn away from following the Lord, or offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and peace offerings on the altar. May the Lord take our sins upon himself.

We did this not for no reason, but intentionally, saying, Perhaps in the future your descendants will say to our descendants, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?’?

Because the Lord has designated the Jordan River as the border between us, you Reubenites, and Gadites, and you have no part with the Lord. In this way, your descendants will make our descendants no longer fear the Lord.

Therefore, we say, it is better to build an altar for oneself, not for offering burnt offerings, nor for offering other sacrifices,

This is to serve as evidence between you and me, and between you and my descendants, so that we may also offer burnt offerings, peace offerings, and other offerings before the Lord to serve him, so that your descendants may not say to us in the future that you have no part with the Lord.

So we say, “In the future, if you say this to us or to our descendants, we can answer, ‘Look, the altar our ancestors built is in the style of the altar of the Lord.'”. This is not for offering burnt offerings, nor for offering any other offering, but for serving as evidence between you and me.

We have built another altar outside the altar in front of the tabernacle of the Lord our God to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and other offerings. We have rebelled against the Lord and have turned away from him today. We have no intention of doing so.

When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the Israelite army who came with him heard the words spoken by the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manasseh, they all thought it was good.

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this sin against him. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the hand of the Lord.

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders left the Reubenites and Gadites and returned from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan. When they arrived at the Israelites, they reported this matter to them.

The Israelites praised God for this matter and will no longer bring it up to attack the Reubenites and Gadites, destroying their land.

The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar Testimony, saying, This altar proves among us that the Lord is God.