BIBLE STUDY LESSON 21
ONE PEOPLE
THE ALTAR CALLED WITNESS
From Joshua 22
“One day Joshua brought the soldiers of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh before him. Here is what he told them. ‘You have done all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you. You have also obeyed all the orders that I have given you. You have fought for your fellow Israelites for a long time and you have been careful to do what the Lord asks of you. Now there is peace, for our conquest has been successful, as the Lord promised it would be. You may go back to the land assigned to you east of the Jordan River, the land which Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave you. Continue to obey the Lord and to follow the commandments Moses gave you, to love the Lord your God and to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to go with Him always and to serve Him with all your heart and soul.’ After Joshua blessed them, he sent them away to their tents. When Moses had assigned the land to Manasseh, he had given Bashan to half of the tribe; Joshua later gave land west of the Jordan River to the other half of the tribe. When Joshua sent them away with his blessing, he said, ‘you are going home with much wealth; cattle, silver, gold, bronze, iron, beautiful clothing. Share your wealth, which you took from your enemies, with your relatives at home.’ The soldiers of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh left the people of Israel at Shiloh and journeyed toward their home in Gilead, the land which the Lord had given them through Moses. When they reached the Jordan River country, they built a large altar by the river. When the news of this large altar reached the other people of Israel, they were very angry, for they thought this was a sign of rebellion. They gathered at Shiloh and made plans to go to war against these tribes. Before going out to fight, they sent a group of ten tribal chieftains, one from each tribe, along with Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. ‘Why are you turning away from the Lord?’ they demanded. ‘The people of Israel want to know! Why have you built an altar to show your rebellion against the Lord? Wasn’t the sin at Peor a lesson? We still are not completely cleansed from that sin, even though a plague came upon us. If you turn away from the Lord, don’t you realize that He will punish all of us? If the land where you live is unclean, then come back with us to Shiloh and possess land there. But don’t rebel by building a second altar when there is already the one true altar at the tabernacle at Shiloh. Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah show you how that when one man sins, the whole congregation of Israel is punished?’ The people of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh answered the men who had come to see them. Here is what they said. ‘The Lord knows and we want Israel to know, that what we did was not rebellion. If it was, then let us die today! Let the Lord send vengeance if we built this altar as a place for offerings. No, we built this altar because we were afraid that someday your children might tell our children that they have no right to worship the Lord because we live on the other side of the Jordan River. Your children might force our children to stop worshiping the Lord. We thought we should build an altar to be a witness between us and between our children, that we also may worship the Lord. If it should ever happen that your children should say such things, then we or our children can point to the altar as a witness between us. We certainly do not want to rebel against the Lord or turn away from Him by building an altar for sacrifice in addition to the altar at the tabernacle in Shiloh.’ When Phinehas and the others heard this, they were very pleased. ‘Now we know that the Lord is in our midst,’ said Phinehas, ‘for you have not turned against the Lord. You have spared our people from sinning by going against you.’ Phinehas and the others went home to tell the people of Israel what they had learned. The Israelites were so happy to hear this report that they praised God and stopped their plans to make war and destroy the land of Reuben and Gad. The people of Reuben and Gad called the altar ‘Witness,’ for they said ‘it stands as a witness between our people that the Lord is God of all of us.’”
COMMENTARY
MANY ALTARS, MANY GODS
The men from the tribes that had settled on the east side of the Jordan River faithfully fought with their brothers in the battle for Canaan. When they returned to their homes, they built a great altar near Gililoth. The altar was not for sacrifice, but was to prove to future generations that the people on the two sides of the river were one people who worshiped one God. The Israelite leaders had good reason to be frightened when they discovered the ways of their Canaanite neighbours. They were afraid that their people would adopt the religion of their Canaanite neighbours who had many altars and worshiped many gods. At prayer times, the smoke of incense drifted from the roofs and hilltops, where Canaanites set their altars. The worshipers chose high places, believing that the incense vapours carried their prayers to the gods. Often these altars were simple rectangular blocks of stone with a depression in the top to hold the incense. Far more elaborate were the incense stands of pottery or bronze. Lions, bulls and twisting snakes on these stands constantly reminded the worshiper of the life-giving strength and fertility of the gods. One common type of stand looked like a many-storied house or shrine. Windows in the sides allowed the heavy smoke to escape. After living in Canaan for many years, some Israelites began practicing Canaanite rituals. In their idol worship they even used altars that looked like the one in the tabernacle. This violated God’s commandment that His people should worship no idols.
TEST YOURSELVES
1.) Where did the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh build an altar?
A) Peor
B) Jerusalem
C) Shiloh
D) Jordan River
2.) What was the Altar called?
A) Peace
B) Victory
C) Witness
D) Mercy Seat
3.) What signs did the altars of the many gods have?
A) Lions, snakes and bulls
B) Bears, monkeys and snakes
C) Lions, frogs and fish |
