Joshua 22:20 - Prayer Tents

Joshua 22

Joshua Sends the Eastern Tribes Home

22Then Joshua called together the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.H3091H7121H7206H1425H2677H4294H45192He said to them, "You have done everything that Moses the LORD's servant ordered you to do, and you have obeyed all my commands.H559H8104H4872H5650H3068H6680H8085H6963H66803All this time you have never once deserted the other Israelites. You have been careful to obey the commands of the LORD your God.H5800H251H7227H3117H3117H8104H4931H4687H3068H4304Now, as he promised, the LORD your God has given the other Israelites peace. So go back home to the land which you claimed for your own, the land on the east side of the Jordan, that Moses, the LORD's servant, gave you.H3068H430H5117H251H1696H6437H3212H168H776H272H4872H5650H3068H5414H5676H33835Make sure you obey the law that Moses commanded you: love the LORD your God, do his will, obey his commandments, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and soul."H3966H8104H6213H4687H8451H4872H5650H3068H6680H157H3068H430H3212H1870H8104H4687H1692H5647H3824H53156Joshua sent them home with his blessing and with these words:H3091H1288H7971H3212H1687"You are going back home very rich, with a lot of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and many clothes. Share with your fellow tribesmen what you took from your enemies."H2677H7626H4519H4872H5414H1316H2677H5414H3091H5973H251H5676H3383H3220H3091H7971H168H12888Then they left for home. Moses had given land east of the Jordan to one half of the tribe of Manasseh, but to the other half Joshua had given land west of the Jordan, along with the other tribes.H559H559H7725H7227H5233H168H3966H7227H4735H3701H2091H5178H1270H3966H7235H8008H2505H7998H341H2519So the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh went back home. They left the rest of the people of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and started out for their own land, the land of Gilead, which they had taken as the LORD had commanded them through Moses.H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H7725H3212H1121H3478H7887H776H3667H3212H776H1568H776H272H270H6310H3068H3027H4872

The Altar by the Jordan

10When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh arrived at Geliloth, still on the west side of the Jordan, they built a large, impressive altar there by the river.H935H1552H3383H776H3667H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H1129H4196H3383H1419H4196H475811The rest of the people of Israel were told, "Listen! The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have built an altar at Geliloth, on our side of the Jordan!"H1121H3478H8085H559H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H1129H4196H4136H776H3667H1552H3383H5676H1121H347812When the people of Israel heard this, the whole community came together at Shiloh to go to war against the eastern tribes.H1121H3478H8085H5712H1121H3478H6950H7887H5927H663513Then the people of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in the land of Gilead.H1121H3478H7971H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H776H1568H6372H1121H499H354814Ten leading men went with Phinehas, one from each of the western tribes and each one the head of a family among the clans.H6235H5387H259H259H5387H5387H1004H1H4294H3478H376H7218H1004H1H505H347815They came to the land of Gilead, to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh,H935H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H776H1568H1696H55916and speaking for the whole community of the LORD, they said to them, "Why have you done this evil thing against the God of Israel? You have rebelled against the LORD by building this altar for yourselves! You are no longer following him!H559H5712H3068H4604H4603H430H3478H7725H3117H310H3068H1129H4196H4775H3117H306817Remember our sin at Peor, when the LORD punished his own people with an epidemic? We are still suffering because of that. Wasn't that sin enough?H5771H6465H4592H2891H3117H5063H5712H306818Are you going to refuse to follow him now? If you rebel against the LORD today, he will be angry with everyone in Israel tomorrow.H7725H3117H310H3068H4775H3117H3068H4279H7107H5712H347819Now then, if your land is not fit to worship in, come over into the LORD's land, where his Tent is. Claim some land among us. But don't rebel against the LORD or make rebels out of us by building an altar in addition to the altar of the LORD our God.H389H776H272H2931H5674H776H272H3068H3068H4908H7931H270H8432H4775H3068H408H4775H1129H4196H1107H4196H3068H43020Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about the things condemned to destruction; the whole community of Israel was punished for that. Achan was not the only one who died because of his sin."H5912H1121H2226H4603H4604H2764H7110H1961H5712H3478H376H1478H259H577121The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered the heads of the families of the western tribes: 06Jos 22:22 "The Mighty One is God! He is the LORD! The Mighty One is God! He is the LORD! He knows why we did this, and we want you to know too! If we rebelled and did not keep faith with the LORD, do not let us live any longer!H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H6030H1696H7218H505H347823If we disobeyed the LORD and built our own altar to burn sacrifices on or to use for grain offerings or fellowship offerings, let the LORD himself punish us.H1129H4196H7725H310H3068H5927H5930H4503H6213H8002H2077H3068H124524No! We did it because we were afraid that in the future your descendants would say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?H6213H1674H1697H559H4279H1121H559H1121H559H3068H430H347825He made the Jordan a boundary between us and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have nothing to do with the LORD.' Then your descendants might make our descendants stop worshiping the LORD.H3068H5414H3383H1366H1121H7205H1121H1410H2506H3068H1121H7673H1121H7673H1115H3372H306826So we built an altar, not to burn sacrifices or make offerings,H559H6213H1129H4196H5930H207727but instead, as a sign for our people and yours, and for the generations after us, that we do indeed worship the LORD before his sacred Tent with our offerings to be burned and with sacrifices and fellowship offerings. This was to keep your descendants from saying that ours have nothing to do with the LORD.H5707H1755H310H5647H5656H3068H6440H5930H2077H8002H1121H559H1121H4279H2506H306828It was our idea that, if this should ever happen, our descendants could say, 'Look! Our ancestors made an altar just like the LORD's altar. It was not for burning offerings or for sacrifice, but as a sign for our people and yours.'H559H559H1755H4279H559H7200H8403H4196H3068H1H6213H5930H2077H570729We would certainly not rebel against the LORD or stop following him now by building an altar to burn offerings on or for grain offerings or sacrifices. We would not build any other altar than the altar of the LORD our God that stands in front of the Tent of his presence."H2486H4775H3068H7725H3117H310H3068H1129H4196H5930H4503H2077H4196H3068H430H6440H490830Phinehas the priest and the ten leading men of the community who were with him, the heads of families of the western tribes, heard what the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had to say, and they were satisfied.H6372H3548H5387H5712H7218H505H3478H8085H1697H1121H7205H1121H1410H1121H4519H1696H3190H586931Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to them, "Now we know that the LORD is with us. You have not rebelled against him, and so you have saved the people of Israel from the LORD's punishment."H6372H1121H499H3548H559H1121H7205H1121H1410H1121H4519H3117H3045H3068H8432H4603H4604H3068H227H5337H1121H3478H3027H306832Then Phinehas and the leaders left the people of Reuben and Gad in the land of Gilead and went back to Canaan, to the people of Israel, and reported to them.H6372H1121H499H3548H5387H7725H1121H7205H1121H1410H776H1568H776H3667H1121H3478H7725H1697H772533The Israelites were satisfied and praised God. They no longer talked about going to war to devastate the land where the people of Reuben and Gad had settled.H1697H3190H5869H1121H3478H1121H3478H1288H430H559H5927H6635H7843H776H1121H7205H1410H342734The people of Reuben and Gad said, "This altar is a witness to all of us that the LORD is God." And so they named it "Witness."H1121H7205H1121H1410H7121H4196H5707H3068H430