"At this news, the whole community of the Israelites
mustered at Shiloh, to march against them and
make war on them.” –Joshua 22: 12
Out of context, one might read this
passage and assume that the Israelites are mustering to go to war against an
enemy, perhaps some nation that has become an abomination before the Lord. But,
in fact it seems to me, a perfect sign of what is to come for God’s chosen
people: in-fighting, mistrust, suspicion and jealousy; the human condition (one
might say).
Here, near the end of the book of
Joshua, when the battles are finished, and all of the tribes have been
allocated their land, one would imagine –expect, even—peace to reign, at least
for a chapter or two. However, almost
immediately after the fighting stops as the tribes of Rueben, Gad and “the
half-tribe of Manasseh” head home, they stop and build an altar (possibly in
Gilgal). In reading the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) how many times
have we seen the great figures from Israel’s history stop and build an altar of
stones to honor God? To memorialize some victory? To remember some great,
life-altering event? Abraham does it (cf. Gen 12:7 -8;13:18; 22:9) . Jacob does
it (Gen
35:7). Moses builds one (Ex. 17:15). Heck, even Joshua does it (Joshua 8:30). But now, when the rest of the tribes hear of this
particular altar they muster at Shiloh and prepare to march against them
because they find it suspicious and threatening. Here they are, finally settled
after 40 years of wandering and fresh from the seemingly miraculous victories
over their enemies, and what happens? They declare war not a pagan enemy, but on
their own brothers (and sisters) who have just fought along side them to win
them their homelands. Already in this nascent moment, the community of God’s
people is crumbling.
As a prelude to war, the priest Phinehas
is sent (with ten elders) to declare to these three (or 2 1/2) tribes their sin
and to demand an answer:
“What do you mean by this infidelity, which
you have
committed against the God of Israel…?” (cf. 22:16)
Phinehas asserts that this altar
puts all of Israel in danger. But the two
and a half explain that Phinehas (and the others) have been rather rash in
their judgment. This altar has been built not out of idolatry, nor infidelity,
but out of fear that these others –the tribes that sent Phinehas, et al—might some
day forget that the Reubenites and Gadites and half tribe of Manasseh too are
children of Abraham, and say to them:
“What
connection do you have with the Lord, God of Israel? Has not the Lord set the
frontier of the Jordan between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites. You have
no share in the Lord.” (cf. 22:24-25)
They have built this altar as a witness for future
generations, as a reminder that they too are a part of God’s people; they too have
a stake in His blessing. They have built
it that they might point to it as an image of what they once stood near, as an
assurance to future generations that they too “have a right to worship the Lord in His presence…” (22:27b)
Oddly
enough, nowhere in this story is there any mention of God’s approval or
disapproval of the altar. The same God who was so precise and exacting in his
directions to Moses for building a tent and an altar and special poles and
bowls and tent cloths –even to the number of loops in the cloth—and who and
when and where anyone could approach the altar-- doesn’t seem to have any
opinion on this one. So, I ask myself:
what lesson are we to derive from this story? If it isn’t a lesson about altars
and infidelity, then what is it? A lesson about trust? About faith? About rushing
to judgment? About making assumptions? One side assumes the other is doing
something sinful. The other side assumes that they will be forgotten. And
neither side seems to remember God’s strangely reassuring words from
Deuteronomy:
“It
is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are
going to possess [this] land, but it is because of the wickedness of these
nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you.” (Deuteronomy
9:5)
But as we see again and again in scripture, that is the key
mistake people make over and over. We assume it’s all about us. God is rewarding
us because we deserve it, or God is punishing us because we deserve it. At
least for me, it is always about me. My wife is mad because of something I did.
My kids are sick because I’m a failure as a father. My poem got rejected
because I’m no good as a writer. But as we see in the book of Judges, every
time things seem to start going right, every time the Lord blesses His people with
victory and protection and peace, they begin doing what is evil in the sight of
the Lord. It happens so often that it becomes a kind of refrain. The main
lesson I am hearing from this passage is: Don’t assume this all about you. And
don’t assume you know all the facts. And don’t assume you know God’s will… And don’t assume that just because God loves
you, He approves of everything you do. In
fact, just don’t assume.
