Please turn with me to Joshua 22.  Joshua 22 begins a different section of the Book of Joshua.  Chapters 1 to 21 focus on conquest - crossing the Jordan - the central, southern, and northern campaigns to conquer the Promised Land - and the division of that land - among the tribes of Israel.

As we’ve been moving our way through the book of Joshua we’ve been seeing that Joshua is about what?  real people facing enormous challenges and learning to trust God along the way.

We’ve seen that trusting God requires consecration - everything that we are totally surrendered to God - nothing held back - or held onto.  Its all God’s.  And God - if we will trust Him - will forgive us and set us free from our pasts.  He’ll renew us - cleanse us - heal us - and place before us new opportunities.  He’ll give us direction for our lives - guidance in how to live our lives as He’s designed them to be lived.

We’ve seen that in all the stuff of life - often increasing difficulties - when life seems stacked against us - when we can think of all kinds of reasons to throw in the towel - to give up - if we turn to God He will be there with us and for us.  The battle is who’s?  God’s  Who brings the victory?  God.  Who always fulfills His promises?  God.

Ultimately it is a pretty simple formula:  Trust self and get creamed.  Trust God and get victory.

Does that sound familiar?  As we’ve been watching Israel conquer and divide the Promised Land we’ve see that victory and blessing are an outcome of what?  faithful obedience.  Say that with me, “Victory and blessing are an outcome of faithful obedience.”

Without faith we miss what God has for us - what He desires to do in us and through us.  We fall short of honoring and glorifying Him.  Faith - for the follower of Jesus Christ - is not an option.  Faith is essential to being who God has called us to be.

Chapters 22 to 24 focus on what it means for God’s people to live by faith as possessors of the Promised Land - the promises of God.  Put differently - as seasoned veterans of the Christian life - some being more seasoned than others - as seasoned veterans of the Christian life - those who enjoy a relationship with God through Jesus Christ - who’ve been blessed by God - who have seen Him at work in our lives - how do we live by faith now? 

Joshua 22 - starting at verse 1:  Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.  You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.  And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan.  Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.  Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan.  So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, and said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”  The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of the possession which they had possessed, according to the command of the Lord through Moses.

Let’s pause there.  There are three things here that we need to understand.

First:  The commandment that was kept.  Say that with me, “The commandment that was kept.”

If you’ll look at the map - you see first what Israel conquered during the central and southern campaigns.  Then what they conquered during the northern campaign - what we looked at last Sunday - along with what they had conquered before entering the Promised Land.  If we put the Jordan River back in  - you’ll see the divisions of land that we’re reading about here - all of which is east of the Jordan River.  First what was given to 1/2 of the tribe of Manasseh.  Then Gad.  Then Reuben.

The reason these 2½ tribes were given that land east of the Jordan River was because they asked for it.

After Israel had conquered Sihon and Og - these kings and their kingdoms - after Israel had wiped out the Midianites - on the east side of the Jordan River - while the people of Israel were camped on the east side of the river waiting for God to take them into the Promised Land - the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw that the land on the east side of the river was good for grazing livestock - which they had - and they had a pretty comfortable lifestyle going for them there - so they came to Moses and asked if they could stay on the east side of the river.

Moses - without consulting God - strikes this deal with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and later the half tribe of Manasseh.  Fight with us now - while we conquer the Promised Land - and then you can come back and live on the east side of the river.  Which was the command Moses gave to Joshua.  After they fight on your side - after you’re victorious - let them go back to the land on the east side of the Jordan.  (Numbers 32)

Which is exactly what Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh did.  40,000 warriors of these 2½ tribes fought alongside their brothers - faithfully - with great bravery - dedication - commitment - sacrifice.  There’s no question that they 100% plus fulfilled their part of the deal.

Here in Joshua 22 these warriors get a honorable discharge.  They’re commended by Joshua for a job well done.  They’re dismissed to return to their lands east of the Jordan.  They’re given parting gifts - their part of the spoils of war - great riches - livestock - valuable metals - clothes.  Everything that was a part of the deal with Moses - everything that Moses had commanded the 2½ tribes and Joshua to do - they did.

Second:  We need to understand the contrast between tents and rest.  Say that with me, “The contrast between tents and rest.”

Do your remember when Lot and Abraham ran into a conflict over where to graze their flocks?  Abraham told his nephew Lot, “You choose whatever land you want.  Whatever is left over is where I’ll take my flocks and graze them.”

Lot looks at the Jordan River valley with all its water and prime grazing land - its like winning the lottery (pun intended) - a deal not to be missed - and Lot says, “I’ll take that.”  Abraham gets the leftovers.

Lot’s choice is based on selfish - not Godly - but self-focused motivation.  We know that not too far down the road that decision gets Lot in a heap of trouble - the whole Sodom ad Gomorrah - evil lifestyle - fire and brimstone from heaven - Mrs. Lot turning into a pillar of salt - thing.  Remember this?

Same choice here - made with self-focused and not God-focused motivation.

God promises Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh the same thing He promises the other 9½ tribes - the whole Promised Land is theirs.  But Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh choose what is less than God’s choice for them.  Why?  Looks like the better part of the deal for us.

In verse 4 Joshua says that God has given “rest” to your brothers.  This is the sixth time the word “rest” is used in Joshua.  Each time it refers to the tribes on the west of the Jordan - not the east.

On one hand what’s being said here is that the war was over.  Israel’s enemies had been wiped out or pounded into submission.  But, we know that after Israel finished conquering the land - that Israel fought numerous future battles.  They’re still surrounded and could have lived in fear.

The cessation of hostilities isn’t all of what’s being said here.  Rest - in a deeper - more lasting - at the core of who we are - spiritual sense - rest comes when - despite our circumstances - when we learn to choose to trust in God - to leave our lives in His hands.

Then notice what Joshua says in verse 4.  “therefore - since God gave your brothers rest west of the Jordan - you all can now - go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan.

The land - the wilderness to the east - is your possession - a concession to the choice you made.  Moses - not God - gave it to you.  An allowance that God permitted.  But it really wasn’t the best that He had for you.  Instead of rest you get tents.  Tents have no foundation.  They’re transitory - restless.  That’s what life is like when we’re trusting ourselves and not God. 

The third thing we need to understand here is the caution given by Joshua.  Say that with me, “The caution given by Joshua.”

There are two significant events in the Old Testament that the writers refer to over and over and over again.  The first is the deliverance from Egypt and the passing through the Red Sea.  When God’s people ceased being slaves and became a nation.  The second significant event is the crossing of the Jordan.  When God’s people ceased being wanderers and became possessors of God’s promises.

Crossing through the Jordan - for God’s people - signifies that whatever was east of the Jordan has been left behind - slavery in Egypt - the wilderness wandering and the sin that led to it.  What’s on the west side of the Jordan is God’s salvation - forgiveness - healing - the promise of a new land and a new life.

These eastern 2½ tribes had experienced that.  They’d crossed the Jordan with their brothers.  They’d been circumcised - consecrated to God.  They’d seen God’s provision first hand.  Experienced His presence.  Watched Him bring victory.  But now they’ve chosen to separate themselves - to move back closer to the issues and influence of godless peoples and what lay in the east.

So many Christians try to live out their lives like this.  We want the blessings west of the Jordan.  But we can’t let go of the east.  We experience God’s victory - see God do amazing things in our lives - but ultimately we choose to hang on to our selfish desires - choose to remain with the comfortable - choose to hold back from totally trusting God.  We want God on our terms.  Spiritual growth at our pace.  Stepping out in faith when we choose.  Consecration by our standards.  Service and sacrifice measured by our comfort level.  Worship that entertains us.  Sermons that don’t step over the line and challenge us - too much.

It is crucial for us to see that we either live west of the Jordan or east of the Jordan.  There’s no island in the middle. 

Like Lot - the decision to remain in the east will ultimately will lead them into a whirling vortex of evil.  Scary image isn’t it?

Have you seen these signs?  “Cuidado.  Piso Mojado.”  Means what?  “Caution.  Wet Floor.”

“Cuidado” means more than just notice that the floor is wet.  “Cuidado” has the idea and feelings of “Wake up!  Pay attention.  Realize there’s danger here.  Slow down.  Step carefully.  Take precautions to avoid slipping on the floor.”

“Be careful” is the Hebrew word “shamar.”  Same idea.  Be on your guard.  Take steps to preserve yourself.  Watch out!  Or, you’re going to be in serious trouble.

Joshua’s warning includes prophetic - prescriptive - advice.  “Observe what Moses commanded you.  Don’t stop loving and obeying and serving God with everything you are.”  Same commandment Jesus highlighted when He was asked which commandment was the greatest.  Applies to us today.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37).

These are words of heartfelt fatherly advice.  “God has given you what you asked for.  Be careful.  There’s real danger to your relationship with God.  So be careful - take steps to stay 100% committed to Him.”

Bottom line:  We are in significant danger when we try to keep our feet planted on both sides of the river.  Say that with me, “We are in significant danger when we try to keep our feet planted on both sides of the river.” 

Verse 10:  When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.  And the sons of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”  When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war.

If you look at the map you’ll see the locations of what’s being written about here.  Gilead was basically the land east of the Jordan.  Shiloh - by the time the land had been divided among the tribes - Shiloh had become the religious and political center of the nation.  Shiloh was where the Tent of Meeting was.  The ark of the covenant was there.

Where the altar - built by the 2½ tribes - where this huge altar was we don’t know exactly.  It was someplace just west of the Jordan River - opposite Gilead. 

Verse 13:  Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel.  They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke to them saying, “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day?  Is not the iniquity of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the Lord, that you must turn away this day from following the Lord?  If you rebel against the Lord today, He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow.  If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us.  Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God.  Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel?  And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’” 

Let’s pause.  There are two things here we need to see.

First, The concern for the spiritual welfare of the nation.

Imagine if one third of us decided to build and altar out in the back parking lot.  A huge platform for worship - comfy green teal colored chairs - sound system - the whole works - even bigger than in here.  The rest of us would probably want to know why.  That’s especially true if Shiloh is the one place where God is to be worshiped. 

Peor refers back to when Israel got into fornication with the women of Moab - participating in their fertility rites and sexual immorality - they began making sacrifices to the Moabite gods - specifically Baal of Peor.  God sent a plague that wiped out about 24,000 Israelites. (Numbers 25:1-9)  The deeper issues of that sin - the dangers of falling back into idolatry -  is something that the people of Joshua’s day still were deeply concerned about.

Achan - we remember from Joshua 7.  When Israel defeated Jericho - Achan kept things - hid them in his tent - kept things that God had commanded be destroyed.  He acted in disobedience to God.  As a result Israel was defeated at Ai.  Achan and his family was stoned and they and the stuff he kept was all burned.  God’s judgment on spiritual infidelity.

There’s a real spiritual concern here.  “What is this altar business?  Have Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh gone off the deep end spiritually - like some did at Peor or like Achan did?  If they have we need to deal with this quickly and effectively otherwise the whole nation is in trouble.”

Second - notice The purpose of the delegation.

In response to what they’ve heard about the altar a delegation is sent down from Shiloah - Phinehas - son of the priest Eleazar - representatives of the other 9½ tribes - and everyone else who wanted to come along.

Three accusations are made - verse 16.  You’ve acted unfaithfully towards us and God.  Second:  You’ve turned away from God - backslidden.  Third - you’ve rebelled against God.  You’ve deliberately turned against God’s will.

Notice also - along with the accusations is an offer - verse 19.  “If you’re struggling spiritually - because of what its like east of the Jordan - we can make space for you on the western side of the river.  Join us.  Come back.”

Israel hasn’t written off their brothers spiritually.  They’re not just rushing down from Shiloh with their swords drawn.  The purpose of the delegation is to ask questions - to warn of danger - to make an offer of doing whatever it takes to help.

Verse 21 - here’s the answer - coming from the 2½ tribes - Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel.  “The Mighty One, God, the Lord!  He knows, and may Israel itself know.  If it was in rebellion or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord do not save us this day!

Kill us now.

Verse 23:  “If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself require it.”

If God instructs us to offer sacrifices on this altar that’s His business and we’ll obey it.  But that’s not why we built this altar.

Verse 24:  “But truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?  For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.”  So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’ “

Pause there.  Three things we can’t miss.

First:  The reason they built the altar was out of concern - fear.  “We took this great step of faith and consecration and dedication to the One Mighty God and out of great concern for the spiritual welfare of our future generations we built this altar on your side of the river.”

Second:  Why the concern?  “Your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.”

Third:  Why?  Because God put the Jordan between us and you. 

When we’re trusting ourselves we live in fear of what may happen.  Anyone ever been there?  And if something does happen it’s a whole lot easier to blame God and others rather than to seek what God may be trying to show us about our relationship with Him.  Been there?

Don’t be fooled by all the spiritual language:  These people are living in fear because they’re trusting themselves and not God.

Verse 26:  “Therefore - because of our great concern for the spiritual welfare of our children - and because you and God might mess them up - therefore we said, ‘Let us build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it shall be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’   Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.”’   Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”  Back up in Shiloh. 

The altar is a replica - a monument - made to look like the altar at Shiloh - made to promote unity - keep the nation together - especially spiritually.  So when future generations of Reubenites and Gadites and 1/2 Manassehites see that huge altar they’re suppose to think, “Hey we’re part of those guys over there on the west side of the river.”

Sounds so good.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately - what?  sick;  who can understand it?”

Sin is deceptive.  While all this sounds good - the concern for their children - all the words about how great God is - at the core is the selfish motive of wanting the familiar grazing land of Gilead - the choice to stay on the eastern side of the river where its comfortable. 

No matter how we may try to justify our actions - even dressing them up in spiritual platitudes - choices about giving and serving - what we choose to expose ourselves to and participate in - the attitudes we harbor in our hearts - the thoughts we entertain - no matter how we choose to justify all that - we need to be reminded that sin is deceptive.  And without God in control of our hearts we’re easily deceived.

The whole nation of Israel is ready to go to war over this.  Its that serious a spiritual danger.  Out of great concern they send a delegation - offer to help - even giving up land.  But for Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh there’s no genuine accountability - no openness to counsel - only self-deception - self-justification and accusations.

Verse 30:  So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.  And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”   Then Phinehas the son of Eleazer the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them.  The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in war to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.  The sons of Reuben and the sons of God called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

The answer given was enough to satisfy the delegation.  Whatever the circumstances at least the altar won’t be used for purposes that will bring God’s wrath down on the nation.  What would have been a disastrous fratricide is not necessary.

Thinking about what all this means for us…

There’s a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is standing on the pitcher’s mound after losing his umpteenth baseball game - this one 184 to 0.  Charlie Brown says, “How can we lose when we’re so sincere?”

Sincerity is no substitute for faith.  Say that with me.  “Sincerity is no substitute for faith.”

We can try so hard to do all the right things - living for God - and still life in fear - still live without His rest - still live without His victory and blessing.

Last Sunday I shared that I was having some difficulties with our computer at home.  At one point I was ready to fix the thing with a sledge hammer.

I haven’t quite figured out yet what to do about the error codes in Chinese.  But, this last week a light bulb went off in my head that may have solved a huge problem.

One of the more brilliant things I’ve done - was about a year ago - I bought an external hard drive and copied everything from the hard drive on the computer on to this external hard drive - documents - the program files - the Windows operating system - everything.  My theory - at the time that this seemed brilliant - was that if the hard drive on the computer ever crashed then all I had to do was transfer everything from the external hard drive back onto the computer’s hard drive and away I would go as if nothing had gone wrong.  Which of course didn’t work.

As best as I understand this - every time we use our computer Windows remembers parts of what we did.  Changes are made to the system file.  So while the system file on our computer was changing - being updated - the system file on the external hard drive wasn’t.  What that meant was that every time we turned on both the computer and the external hard drive we had the potential of two Windows systems trying to operate simultaneously on one hard drive.

It doesn’t take Bill Gates to understand that 1 computer with two conflicting operating systems is in serious trouble.

When we try to live in the promises of God - with one foot planted on the west bank of the Jordan - and yet we cling to our selves - our own self-will unsurrendered to God - trying to keep our other foot planted on the east bank of the Jordan - it doesn’t matter how sincere we may be in our commitment to God - striving to do all the right things - if we haven’t completely stepped across the river cutting ourselves off from what lies behind - it is like having two systems operating in our hearts - God’s and ours - and we are in serious - serious - trouble.

Sincerity is no substitute for faith - no matter what we may convince ourselves we may be doing for Him.  If we want God’s victory and blessing in our lives - even His rest - not fear - regardless of our circumstances - we’ve got to let go of the east bank and all that that represents for us - and dwell in His land the way He desires for us to dwell there.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.