Joshua 22 - Altar Built by Eastern Tribes | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church
The Bible by David Alley · David Alley
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Show Notes
In this video listen to Joshua 22 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In Joshua 22 It has been seven long years that these faithful men have been away fighting. Seven is the Lord’s number and so we all see that we must fight for the Lord. The men now get to go home, and take with them the spoils of war. There are spoils in warfare for us too when we plunder the enemy's camp in prayer. We also share the plunder with our brothers. The good things we obtain from the Lord are not for us alone.
We are meant to fight, to inherit and to share. The soldiers of the three eastern tribes built an altar on the jordan river on their way home, which causes the western tribes to be indignant at what seems to be a gross violation. They are zealous for the Lord and this indicates a different mind to the previous generation. Plus they have paid with seven years of hard work for their inheritance… so should it be so lightly thrown away?
Do we easily throw away things that have been hard fought? We should be zealous to keep them also. However in this case the eastern tribes were not sinful, but thinking with foresight. Verse 22 is one of many interesting things that undermine the JEDP theory. If the book was revised as theorised, why are all the names of God together in one place? The chapter finishes by highlighting one of the big problems in Christianity today.
There are parts of God’s body that do not recognize other parts of God’s body, just as was the danger here between the tribes. They effectively say to the others “You have no part in God.” This is a great sin, which grieves God very much, and grieves me too.
As my father John Alley has said on many occasions, it's sometimes not what we believe about God that is the problem, but what we believe about each other. This chapter is the witness against those people who say that, if they have eyes to see it.