JOSHUA 22<\/b><\/p>\n
And the Reubenites and the Godites gave the altar this name: A Witness Betweem Us that the Lord Is God<\/i><\/p>\n
(Joshua 22:34)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Joshua 13\u201321 offers a description of the boundaries of each of the tribes of Israel. Although this portion of the Bible seems rather tedious, it provides much information that is useful in understanding later events. For today, however, the reading tells us one definite thing: God is a God of order. In His kingdom, each person and group has a proper place.<\/p>\n
There were three tribes that settled on the far side of the Jordan, called the Trans-Jordanian area. They were Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh (sometimes called Machir). As Joshua sent the three tribes back to their land, he exhorted them to be careful to follow the commandments and ordinances of the Lord (Joshua 22:5). Perhaps this exhortation was particularly significant for them because of the geographical separation between them and the rest of Israel.<\/p>\n
Before they left the \u201cCis-Jordanian\u201d area (the land west of the Jordan River), the three tribes built a large altar at Geliloth near the Jordan River. When the rest of Israel heard about it, they assumed the three tribes were defying the Lord. After all, the Lord had made it abundantly plain there was to be only one place of sacrifice and sacramental worship in the land, which was wherever the tabernacle and its altar were located (Deuteronomy 12:11\u201314). Clearly the three tribes were setting up another place of worship. By doing so, they put themselves under the ban, and Israel prepared to go against them with the full rigors of holy war.<\/p>\n
Before they went to war, however, they sent Phinehas the high priest with a delegation to inquire why the three tribes had done this. The leaders of the three tribes replied that this altar was not for sacrifice, but rather was a memorial. They had erected it as a gateway into the west Jordanian area, a gateway to the tabernacle altar. There would never be any sacrifices on it.<\/p>\n
Far from intending to divide the nation, this altar, they said, was erected to ensure that it stayed united. \u201cSuppose your children decide that our children are really unworthy to be part of Israel? This altar is to remind you and your children that we too are of Israel.\u201d When Phinehas heard this, he blessed them and the war was called off.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Job 32\u201333<\/p>\n
Acts 13:1\u201325<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
Job 34\u201337<\/p>\n
Acts 13:26\u201352<\/p>\n
This story has an important lesson for us in connection with church life. Too often we hear a rumor, believe the worst possible scenario, and condemn the people supposedly involved. Wise Phinehas took steps to make sure he had all<\/i> the facts before he passed judgment. When you are tempted to make a quick judgment, be sure you have all the facts.<\/p>\n
For further study: 1 Corinthians 13:1\u201313 \u2022 Ephesians 4:25\u20135:2 \u2022 1 Peter 4:7\u201311<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOSHUA 22 And the Reubenites and the Godites gave the altar this name: A Witness Betweem Us that the Lord Is God (Joshua 22:34). Joshua 13\u201321 offers a description of the boundaries of each of the tribes of Israel. Although this portion of the Bible seems rather tedious, it provides much information that is useful … Continue reading “MISINTERPRETED ACTIONS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}