Joshua 22 -- A Decision Made On The Basis Of Human Wisdom, Not God's Truth

When the two and a half tribes were discharged to go back to their land east of the Jordan River after the battles had been won, the troops were surely thrilled to see home again.  But while it was home for them, it wasn't the home God had wanted for them.  When they got there, they began to worry that the tribes west of the Jordan, in the Promised Land, might someday claim that these tribes were not part of the nation of Israel.  In an effort to make themselves feel better, they constructed an altar just like the one at Shiloh on the western side of the Jordan River, in the Promised Land, so that later, if there was a claim that they didn't belong, they could point to it.

When word got back to the other tribes, they worried that God would deal with them harshly for allowing such apostasy.  They sent the High Priest's son and leaders from each tribe to determine what was going on.  After hearing them out, this delegation first declared their actions as a trespass (an act of treachery), and used the word rebel twice.  They then pleaded with them to come back with them to the Promised Land to share God's blessings.  But these tribes basically blamed God for the problem.  "For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us."  "No, they were the ones who had made the Jordan River the dividing line," my commentary said.  "They put their cattle ahead of their children and their fellow Jews, but they blamed God and the other tribes for the problem that they created."

After their solemn oaths involving God's name that their intention was honorable, the other tribes were pleased and left, but was God pleased?  "They rejoiced that God wouldn't send judgment to the land and that there would be no civil war in Israel, but the nation was divided in spite of the altar of witness... Peace at any price isn't God's will for His people.  This decision in Gilead was made on the basis of human wisdom and not God's truth... The peace that God's people achieve at the price of purity and truth is only a dangerous truce that eventually explodes into painful division.  There is always a place in human relations for loving conciliation, but never for cowardly compromise."

Father, I feel You are showing us important truths here for where we are now and where we are headed.  Lead us to Your truth, not letting us settle for human wisdom.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford