Barry Metz 7/2/17

Sparing No Effort1 for UnityJoshua 22

Former pastor Eric Daniel Harris, age 37, pled guilty to the November, 1996 arson that burned down the Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church in Saline County Arkansas (where he pastored). According to a federal prosecutor, Harris said he did it because ‘there was a division among church members, and they needed a project to unify them.’2

Well in our walk through the book of Joshua, the people of Israel have been involved in a unifying project for several years—they’ve been fighting shoulder to shoulder to possess the Promised Land. But as of the end of Joshua chapter 21, which Justin covered last week, that project is complete. The last three verses of Joshua 21 say as much. …43 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

As of the end of chapter 21, God gave the people of Israel success and the project to conquer the Promised Land was officially completed. (Unofficially as we all know, there was land still to be subdued and Canaanites to drive out but officially the project had been completed) And so we wonder, with the project complete, will the people of Israel remain unified? When they return to their homes—and some of their homes will be east of the Jordan River, when they settle in to normalcy—and for the tribes east of the Jordan River, normalcy will be the lifestyle of the shepherd3--will they remain one nation under God? Without a project how will they stay unified? (Of course I’m asking that question tongue-in-cheek4)

We’re closing in on the end of the book of Joshua. Here is the outline we’ve been using from the ESV Study Bible.

1 To achieve something by working as hard as possible2 News of the Weird, March 30, 20003 Rhett Dodson, page 3294 With ironic or flippant intent

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Crossing into the landTaking the landDividing the landServing the Lord in the land…and in the outline the word ‘serving’ could equally be ‘worshipping’

If we were to look at Roman numeral IV—Serving the Lord in the Land--the last three chapters of the book in more detail we’d see this….

We’d see… Joshua chapter 22….our passage this morning… “A Perceived Threat to Unity”Joshua chapter 23…..Joshua’s farewell addressJoshua chapter 24……the covenant is renewed.

There is another issue that ties these three chapters together—it’s the idea that in each of the last three chapters Joshua summons all the people or some subset of all the people to assemble and hear a word from him and from God5 So the book closes with three assemblies of the people of God. And in general the emphasis in those assemblies is on Israel remaining faithful to Yahweh.6

{If you’re familiar with how the book of Romans is structured—there is this hinge at Romans 12:1I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies….that’s what’s going on here in the book of Joshua…the last three chapters of Joshua generally encourage and represent the response of the people to God’s faithfulness.}

Now our story today in Joshua 22 actually begins back in the book of Numbers.7 There Moses was leading the people of Israel northward and they were on the east side of the Jordan River.

5 Davis6 Davis, 22:5, 16,18,19, 25, 29, 31, 23:6,8,11; 24:14-15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 247 Numbers 32

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The plan was to go up on the east side of the Jordan River to the point across from Jericho. And then at the right time, cross the Jordan near Jericho and begin possessing the Promised Land.

As the people of Israel went northward, again they were east of the Jordan River, the people of the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and some from the tribe of Manasseh noticed how perfect the land east of the Jordan River was for livestock and they had many livestock.8 And they came to Moses and they said, “Please don’t take us across the Jordan! We want this land east of the Jordan”. Moses was taken aback at first, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?”9 “Why would you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land? Your fathers did this10…. and Moses launched into the story of the 12 spies who went into Canaan to spy out the land and the ten who discouraged the rest from entering the land. In Moses’ eyes, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh were acting like the ten spies who discouraged the rest. For Moses, this idea from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh felt like Kadesh Barnea, Part 2.

Well, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh came up with a compromise—their fighting men would leave their livestock and families on the east side of the Jordan River but they would cross over the Jordan when the time came and help the other tribes possess their inheritance west of the Jordan. And only when the land west of the Jordan was conquered—a process that took some five years—would they return to their families on the east side of the Jordan. So it was a compromise that won the day—the fighting men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and ½ the tribe of Manasseh committed to help their brothers obtain their inheritance on the west side of the Jordan before they settled down on their inheritance on the east of the Jordan. Moses agreed that it was an adequate compromise. So Moses, with the LORD’s approval gave the land east of the Jordan River to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the ½ tribe of Manasseh.

Now if we were to take the time to go back to Joshua chapter 1, we’d see that Joshua called out the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh and reminded them of their agreement, he reminded them of their compromise.11 And they answered Joshua—this is Joshua 1:16—All that you have commanded us we will do and wherever you send us we will go.

Well as we come to Joshua chapter 22, it’s been five years or so and the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh have faithfully completed their mission to help the tribes west of the Jordan possess their inheritance and it’s time for them to return home.

8 Numbers 32:19 Numbers 32:610 Numbers 32:7-811 Joshua 1:12-18

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If you’ve got your bible, follow along as I read Joshua chapter 22, verses 1-8 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. { Remember Moses was the one who gave permission for the compromise initially. But after Moses’ death Joshua led the way}

Verse 3… 3 For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you. I commend you tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh! You’ve been faithful. You’ve done what you said you were going to do. You’ve completed the Lord’s mission. Yes God enabled you to do what you did but you were faithful to follow thru and complete it. So many battles… “Injury—or death in battle—stalked you constantly.”12 So many treks into the mountains from the home base of Gilgal! The living conditions were not always the best, but you stuck through to the end! And it had to have been hard to be separated from your families for so long. Great job you Reubenites! Great job you Gadites! Great job you half tribe of Manasseh! Great job!

{On Mondays as a staff we have the privilege of reflecting together on all that God did the day before. And we often take time to celebrate what God did through specific individuals. Sometimes we even write a note of commendation. There’s a stunning amount of faithfulness that is going on at Kilgore Bible Church. There’s a stunning amount of service and care and love and counsel and investment, life on life at Kilgore Bible Church. And it’s right that we would celebrate it!}

4 Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

I found verse 5 to be curious. Why the piling up of these actions toward God? Well think about it with me. What’s the shape of a faithful life? If you were to say that the shape of a faithful life is attending church, there’s not much shape there to speak of really. Look at the beginning of verse 5… Be very careful…literally, watch, stay alert13…Why? “constant threats besiege devotion to God and momentary inattention imperils it.”14 Be very careful to keep the commandments and the Law. Put the law to memory. Meditate on it day and night. That’s the shape of a faithful life… to love the LORD your God (emotional devotion), to walk in his ways( to live as he wants us to live), to obey his commands, to hold fast to him (to stick to him like glue) and to serve him (perhaps worship him) with all your heart and with all your soul.

12 NIV Application Commentary13 NIV Application Commentary14 NIV Application Commentary

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You see the shape of a faithful life is a heart that is engaged, a mind that is actively thinking about God and his word, with actions that seek to faithfully obey God. It’s every part of us living in devotion to God.

Picking up in verse 6…. 6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to

their homes. Now Verse 7…is a parenthetical aside reminding us that Moses gave ½ of the

tribe of Manasseh an inheritance east of the Jordan River in Bashan and that Joshua gave the other half of the tribe of Manasseh an inheritance west of the Jordan River. Why does the author mention that here? We really don’t know but with “one foot on one side of the Jordan River and one foot on the other side of the Jordan River, the tribe of Manasseh is really a ‘bridge people’, a tribe whose very geography illustrates Israel’s unity”15. In other words the unified people of Israel exist on both sides of the Jordan River.

Verse 8 tells us that Joshua sent the tribes home with a blessing… “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies.” What brothers does Joshua have in mind? 16 Several suggestions have been made. I think it’s the fellow tribe members who didn’t cross the Jordan as they were supposed to. If you remember, the census of the tribes of Reuben , Gad and ½ Manasseh amounted to a little over 110,000 fighting men. But when it came to crossing over to fight, only 40,000 crossed over.17 And now five years later, as they return, Joshua is saying ‘Share the booty with those who stayed behind.’ The precedent in the book of Numbers was that the spoils of war were to be split between the battle participants, the congregation, Yahweh and the Levites (Num 31:27-30).18 At first glance it doesn’t seem entirely fair does it? But it does go a long way in promoting what? ….unity.

So in verse 9, “the two and a half tribes break camp at Shiloh and head east for a happy reunion with their families who have awaited their safe return for so long.”19

And we can imagine Roy Rogers and Dale Evans riding into the sunset with the 2 ½ tribes singing Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.

But look at verse 9….15 NIV Application Commentary16 Hubbard suggests that Joshua urges East Manasseh to reciprocate their gains in Canaan by sharing future plundered goods with the West Manasseh-ites. Dodson argues that Joshua is talking to Manasseh only and that each half of the tribe of Manasseh was to get half of the booty. But could Joshua be urging them to share their ‘booty’ with their fellow soldiers who stayed behind? In the Numbers 26 census, there were 40,500 Gadites, 43,730 Reubenites, and 26,305 Manassehites (this is ½ of the total) for 110,530. Of those, Joshua 4:13 said that only 40,00 passed over and so over 70,000 stayed back. 17 Joshua 4:1318 NIV Commentary19 NIV Application Commentary

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9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh….there’s something in that verse that’s a little bit ominous….let me read it again… So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh….don’t

you wish the author would have written parting from the rest of the people of Israel at Shiloh…this is kind of subtle but do you see what I’m trying to point out? The author even here at the headwaters of the separation of the 2 ½ tribes from the rest of Israel seems to be making a distinction between the people of Israel on the one hand and the 2 ½ tribes on the other. In fact the distinction seems to be extended in the rest of the verse. The people of Israel are at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan and the 2 ½ tribes are headed to Gilead their own land. So we wonder out loud if a storm cloud of possible disunity is rising up even in verse 9? The congregation has just left the church and suddenly it’s ‘us’ and ‘them’.

Whether we think we see a storm cloud of disunity or not, the story takes an awkward and nasty turn in verses 10-12 when the unity of the tribes is threatened by an unnannounced decision that the 2 ½ tribes make.

10 When they came to Geliloth….this word is either a particular place or just a word that means ‘boundary’…near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

Woa! Did everything go south quickly or what? What happened? And why did it cause such a stir?

Well the 2 ½ tribes built an imposing, literally ‘big to seeing’20 in our terms ‘so big you couldn’t miss it’ altar. What did the altar look like? We really don’t have a clue. We just know it was huge.

20 NIV Application Bible

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Ancient altars were sometimes made of packed earth (Ex. 20:24), piled field stones (Ex. 20:25), bronze covered wood (Ex. 27:1-8) or large unhewn stones (Judges 6:11-24). Here is a selection of possibilities…You’ll see three circles on the slide. The largest circle is around the altar associated with the tabernacle. Many of the Israelites would have seen this altar I think. The other altars on the slide—one made of unhewn stones, or a single stone or a mound of earth-- were used in the book of Exodus and Judges. The other two circles on the slide highlight the size of a human being. Let yourself be bowled over by the largest altar on the slide—the one that went along with Solomon’s temple, 1 kings 8—an altar that is still future to our story in Joshua.

Well why did this altar, built by the 2 ½ tribes, cause such a stir? Deuteronomy 12 tells us.

And at this point in Israel’s history, Shiloh was the one centralized place for worship God had chosen.21 Restricting sacrifice to one altar “was preventive theology, intended to preserve the purity of worship. (It signified) one altar, one faith, one people.” 22 If worship was allowed just anywhere in the land,one author suggested “it would soon take on a Canaanite color, soak up Canaanite belief, sport Canaanite practices, and adore Canaanite gods.” 21 Joshua 18:122 Davis

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So “another altar (had to) be a rival altar and thus a sure sign of apostasy.”23 No wonder the tribes west of the Jordan believed the 2 ½ tribes were rebelling against God! No wonder they believed that they needed to take action! It was time for ‘holy war’ –“defense of the proper worship of Yahweh against apostasy.”24

Now I suppose we should celebrate that the people of Israel were so stirred by ‘even the appearance of unfaithfulness’25 in their fellow tribesmen. That’s a sign of health isn’t it? In a New Testament setting isn’t it a sign of health when believers find out that another believer is

erring and they set out to bring them back into the fold? But…. we wonder if there wasn’t a less explosive “Let’s-reason-together” alternative besides gathering to make war. Couldn’t their earnestness to protect the proper worship of God have been expressed in another way besides taking up arms? And why, we wonder, was there no effort to hear from God through the Urim and Thummin.

One last thought before we leave verse 11, notice how the western tribes describe the location of the altar….in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel! Wait a minute…aren’t the people of Israel on both sides of the Jordan? It seems that in the minds of the western tribes, the altar builders are no longer Israelites!

Well in verse 13 we find that reason did win out at least temporarily…13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. The western tribes sent a delegation led by Phineas the priest to ferret out what was really going on. That a priest was in charge, assumed that the issue at hand was a religious one.26 But the other ten members of the delegation were no slouches. One author suggested that they were the “Israelite equivalent of a presidential cabinet”27

But who was Phineas anyway? If ever there was a ‘defender of the faith’ it was he! If ever there was a charter member of ‘Apostasy Busters,’ it was he! We won’t take the time to go back to Numbers 25, but we meet Phineas there for the first time. What was the situation? Well Israel was temporarily dwelling east of the Jordan River prior to coming into the land. And there was a mountain nearby called Peor. Well the Moabite women who lived in the area

23 Rhett Dodson, page 33524 NIV Application Commentary25 Davis26 NIV Application Commentary27 NIV Application Commentary

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invited the people of Israel to the sacrifices of their gods and the people of Israel bowed down to their gods. Numbers 25:3 actually says, “So Israel yoked himself to Baal of (the mountain of) Peor.” Baal of Peor was a local God. And this was the Golden Calf incident, Part 2! God sent a plague on the people of Israel. And soon after that, Phineas encountered a Moabite woman and an Israelite man flaunting their freedom and he executed them on the spot. And the Lord turned back his wrath on Israel and he commended Phineas because Phineas was jealous with God’s jealousy. So if anybody could defend the faith, if anyone was the right candidate for this delegation to seek out false worship, it was Phineas.

Well the delegation arrived and the questions begin. Verse 16 really contains two accusations—they have broken faith and they have turned away in rebellion from the Lord.

“The whole assembly of the LORD says….the people west of the Jordan River speaking as one ask….‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? The phrase ‘break faith’ –to act faithlessly—echoes Achan’s sin back in Joshua 7:1. Remember what Achan did back in Joshua 7:1? He took for himself some of the things that were to be devoted to destruction…He broke faith….So the first accusation out of the delegation’s mouth tars the audience with the same slimy brush that Achan was tarred with.28 How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this?

The second issue is turning away in rebellion. How could you turn away in rebellion from following the Lord? How could you be so unloyal to Yahweh and turn from following him? In verses 17-20, the inquisitors move from accusing the 2 ½ tribes of breaking faith and turning away in rebellion “to an appeal to spare everyone terrible consequences”29….

Verse 17 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

Notice the delegation’s point…The sin at Peor, back in Numbers 25, affected the entire congregation and the congregation is still not cleansed from that terrible sin! And why would that be? Isn’t that the way sin works? “Because no sin is a matter of the moment. While a sin may be committed at a certain point in time, the effects of sin are never confined to that instant. Sin has residual impacts. Its impact lingers.”30 What’s the saying? Sin will take you farther than

28 NIV Application Commentary29 NIV Application Commentary30 Rhett Dodson, page 336-7

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you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay31 Even sins that we commit in our minds leave their marks on our souls and harm others.32

“So, verse 18, if you 2 ½ tribes rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Your sin in building this altar will affect us all!”

19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean—in other words if you’ve concluded that the land on the east side of the Jordan is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands….again don’t miss what they are saying…. Yahweh’s land is the land west of the Jordan River…. but the land east of the Jordan river is defiled; it’s unclean…. and, vs. 19, take for yourselves a possession among us. We’ll make room for you! Come on over to the LORD’s side! Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

And then the westerners try to clinch their argument with another reference to Achan and his experience…. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? Didn’t Achan break faith in stealing the devoted things and wasn’t God angry at the entire congregation? And then at the end of verse 20…. And he….Achan…. did not perish alone for his iniquity.’ ”

Again Do you see what they are arguing? ‘Your sin, tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh will affect us all!’ Forsake your sin for the sake of us all!

Verse 2121 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel…notice they are portrayed as united…they speak as one… 22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! The 2 ½ tribes represented as one--speaking as one--let out a string of orthodox names for God hoping “to dispel any doubt about their orthodoxy”33 You couldn’t pack more orthodoxy in two phrases if you wanted to! It’s almost as if they all began reciting the Apostle’s creed together: We believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried…

We are not apostates!

31 Ravi Zaccharias32 Rhett Dodson, page 33733 NIV Application

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Continuing in verse 22…If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not

spare us today 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance.

The 2 ½ tribes, again speaking with one voice, reply…. “If building the altar was in rebellion or in breach of faith or for turning away from the Lord”, do not spare us today, may the LORD himself take vengeance!”

And then in verses 24-29 the 2 ½ tribes share why they built the altar—they were afraid that time would pass and that subsequent generations would argue that the Jordan was such an imposing boundary that there was no way that the people on the east could have a portion in the LORD. Follow along as I read verse 24-29….

24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.” ’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.” ’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

So why did the altar get built? It was the “fruit of the 2 ½ tribes anxiety (Hebrew, de’ agah, v. 24) for the future (machar, literally, ‘tomorrow’, in vv. 24, 27, 28). They were afraid that in a generation or so the descendants of the western tribes would treat their descendants with disdain, view the Jordan River as a Berlin Wall, and consider the eastern tribes as no part of Yahweh’s people. After all, the westerners could say, the eastern tribes weren’t settled in the real land of promise.”34

34 Davis, D. R. (2000). Joshua: No Falling Words (p. 168). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.

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SO the altar was built for exactly the opposite reason that the western tribes were accusing the 2 ½ tribes of building it. It was a tool to encourage loyalty not a tool to encourage rebellion! “What many perceived to be an act of blatant apostasy turned out to be an act of orthodox and whole-hearted devotion.”35

BUT there’s another point we should make. We shouldn’t fault the 2 ½ tribes for being anxious,

for being fearful for their descendants. The Jordan is a geographical feature powerful to divide. If ever there was a Berlin-wall-like-river36, or for us Texans, a Rio-Grande-type-of-River, it was and is the Jordan River. In the 19th century, George Adam Smith described the Jordan this way:

There may be something on the surface of another planet to match the Jordan Valley: (but) there is nothing on this (earth). No other part of our earth, uncovered by water, sinks to 300 feet below the level of the ocean. But here we have a rift more than one hundred and sixty miles long, and from two to fifteen broad (and I’m assuming the author is still speaking of miles), which falls from the sea-level to as deep as 1292 feet below (sea-level) at the coast of the Dead Sea, while the bottom of the (Dead Sea) is 1300 feet deeper still. In this trench there are the Jordan, a river nearly one hundred miles long; two great lakes, respectively twelve and fifty-three miles in length.37

The Jordan River was a geographical feature powerful to divide. It was and is a ‘colossal ditch’38

So their anxiety about the future was somewhat justified.

Now we could pause and ask “What are the Jordan Rivers in our experience at KBC that threaten to break our unity?” We have different convictions about scripture. We have different convictions about disputable issues. We have different convictions about Christian music. WE come from different denominational backgrounds. Our growing up experiences are all different. Some of us are old; some of us are young. As with any church there are a host of forces that could divide us, a host of Jordan Rivers that could divide us. But God has helped us in the gospel and he urges us to spare no effort in seeking to maintain the unity he has achieved. More on that at the end of the message.

Verse 30 tells us that the delegation liked what they heard from the 2 ½ tribes; it was ‘good in their eyes’

Verse 31 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst,

35 Rhett Dodson, page 33036 Davis37 Davis, D. R. (2000). Joshua: No Falling Words (p. 168). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.38 Davis quoting Smith

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because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”

Verse 32—the delegation returned back to Shiloh and shared the positive outcome with the people of Israel

33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.

34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

So the altar, “instead of being an alternative place of worship, was a witness that pointed to the one true altar and reminded all Israel that they found their unity in the one place of sacrifice.”39

______________

As we bring the message to a close, I’d like to explore two ideas: 1) how the gospel has accomplished for us in a New Testament setting, an invisible and yet indestructible unity that we must work to maintain and 2) a simple intervention—that our story this morning kind of illustrates—that we can use to keep the unity.

I. How the gospel has accomplished for us an invisible and yet indestructible unity that we must be eager to maintain

When we think of the topic of unity the book of Ephesians is very helpful. Unity is a key theme in the book of Ephesians. According to Ephesians 1:10, a great unity is God’s ultimate goal: All things will be summed up under the headship of Jesus at the end of time. In Ephesians 2, Paul gives us several images that communicate the unity that God has brought in the gospel—we are members of one body, we are citizens of one kingdom, we are brothers in one family, and we are living stones in one temple.

But it’s in the first six verses of Ephesians 4,that Paul really zeroes in on unity. Let me put them on the screen….

39 Rhet Dodson, page 330

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In these verses I think we see the call for unity (vs. 1), the character needed for unity (vs. 2-3) and the grounds for unity (vs. 4-6).

In verse 1 Paul makes the point that our lives should be different and special because we have a different and special calling on our lives. We could say it this way, “Since we have a $1,000,000 calling on our lives, shouldn’t we conduct our lives in a $1,000,000 manner?”

In verses 2-3 Paul lists 5 character qualities that make for unity….humility…having a lowliness of mind, thinking low…....gentleness.. .in the original language the word translated gentleness was used for a soothing medicine…patience…refusing to retaliate40 ….bearing with one another in love…putting up with each other in love…eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace….working hard to keep the unity….sparing no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…. Let me ask a question, “In our story today, would the escalation to war have occurred so quickly if the 91/2 tribes on the west had exercised these character qualities?” I don’t think so.

Well in verses 4-6 we have the gospel-produced grounds for unity. Because of Christ’s death we’re connected by one Spirit into one body. You see our unity flows from being united by one place of sacrifice. We all have the same hope. We all have the same Lord, faith, and baptism and there is one God and Father in all. God has produced an invisible and indestructible unity through the gospel—one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of all. And we are called with God’s help to spare no effort to keep the invisible, indestructible unity that the Spirit has produced.

II. A simple intervention—our story this morning could illustrate it! —that we can use to keep the unity.

40 Lightfoot

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Let me put up a slide up that diagrams how our actions come about.41

We see or hear something We make up a storyWe feel somethingAnd then we act…..the path to action

Now for some of you this is going to be a completely new thought. You might regularly find yourself thinking “They made me angry”…. But there’s a fallacy in that kind of thinking and living. Let’s walk through the steps on the slide with our story in Joshua 22.

So in our story today, the 9 ½ tribes heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar of imposing size at the Jordan River. (You can see that in verse 11). They just heard about it. Word spread that the eastern tribes had done this.

Now what story did the 9 ½ tribes west of the Jordan make up? Well we have to infer their story based on the accusations that they made in verses 16-20. Their story went something like this: “The 2 ½ tribes have built a duplicate altar at the Jordan River. This is in rebellion against God’s commands in Deuteronomy 12. The 2 ½ tribes have broken faith and turned away from the Lord in rebellion and they must be punished”

And what did their story lead them to feel? They were incensed! They were indignant! They wanted to fight!

And then they acted on their feelings and brought their accusations to the 2 ½ tribes.

41 This comes from the CD Series “Crucial Conversations”

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Barry Metz 7/2/17

Now this path to action takes place all the time in our marriages, in our families, in our work teams, and in church life. We see something….our spouse is busy with other priorities, our spouse is slow to initiate in our lives, someone passes us in the hallway and doesn’t make eye contact, we get left out of a meeting, a decision is made and we had no say in it. And it angers us. We’re hurt. Like the 9 ½ tribes we’re ready to take up arms.

There are hundreds of trigger events that can start the process rolling. It might not be something we see, it might be something we hear : someone cuts us off, someone is disrespectful, someone compliments our teammate. And on and on the list can go.

But it’s the next step where it all goes south for us—we make up a story….

I was left out of the meeting….I must not be appreciated. My spouse is always busy with other priorities….she must not love me. She didn’t look at me…..she must be angry with me. I didn’t get invited…. I must not be important here. No one called…. I must not matter. And on and on the stories go.

But here’s the key though—we make up the stories. The stories are a mixture of fact and fiction. And so we need to manage our stories. We need to find out what is fact and what is fiction. Someone close to us can help us with this.

Other times we may need to share our story with the ones we feel hurt by. We may need to approach someone we live with or someone we work with and actually say something like this… ‘Over the last months I’ve been experiencing some things and I’m starting to believe a story….can we talk? The story I’m telling myself lately is….

This vulnerable disclosure that steers clear of blame but seeks understanding can go a long way to clearing up misunderstanding and bringing unity.

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