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In Joshua 22
● understand that the declaration that the Lord God “has given rest” (4 and 1:15) to “your brothers” (4) in the promised land means that the tribes addressed may now “go to [your] tents” (4) in their possessions east of the Jordan,
● notice that Joshua accompanies his release of the men from the trans-Jordan tribes, these “men of valor” (1:14), with an impressive list of verbs: These men “have kept … have obeyed … have not forsaken … have been careful” (2,3),
● recognize that in the life represented by these verbs the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have been faithful to Moses, to Joshua, to their brothers, and to the Lord,
● notice, too, that Joshua sends them on their way with an even longer list of infinitives- “to observe … to love … to walk … to keep … to cling … to serve” (5)- to remind them that much life and work remain (a purposeful rest, to be sure!),
● remember both that these faithful men go to Gilead (9) and that centuries later Jeremiah, that weeping prophet, cries out the question: “Is there no balm in Gilead?” (Jer. 8:22),
● wrestle with the episode of the altar (10-34), seeing in it questions of authority, of naming (“Witness”- v.34), of hastiness, of purpose, of report, of consultation, and of near disaster,
● see that the apparent haste of building this altar “of imposing size” (10), the quickness with which a dire report comes, even with a “Behold” (11), and the immediate declaration that Israel “gathered … to make war” (11) are offset by the necessary slowing of events when an official embassy is sent (and several verses are spent) to discover reality by questioning this apparent rejection of the Lord (and the forsaking of all those infinitives) by building an unauthorized, alternative altar for sacrifice,
● notice the bold language- “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows” (22)- about God with which those thought to be rebelling against God begin their explanation of their intention in building an altar, not for sacrifice but for a witness of unity across the river,
● ponder both the understandable concern Phinehas, that zealous fellow (Numbers 25:7- 9), who remembers the woes at Peor and those caused by Achan, has, and the other- side-of-the-river people have about remembering in “time to come” (24, 24; like Exodus 15:14), and
● ponder some more about the oddity of this event.
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson