Why did Joshua send the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh back home with blessings?

Joshua sends the eastern tribes home because they had finished the work they promised to do. They had left their families and crossed the Jordan to help the other tribes win the land. Joshua praises them for listening to Moses and to him, and for not leaving their brothers until the task was done. He blesses them and tells them to return with the riches and spoil God had given them in battle. This shows that God keeps his promises of rest, and that faithful service is both noticed and rewarded.

What is the main warning Joshua gives before the eastern tribes leave?

Before they go, Joshua warns them to be very careful to keep God’s command and law. He tells them to love the Lord, walk in all his ways, keep his commandments, cling to him, and serve him with all their heart and soul. Even though they are going far from the tabernacle and the other tribes, they must not grow careless. Their new rest and wealth must not pull them away from God. The warning shows that outward success means little if the heart turns cold toward God’s word.

Why did Israel almost go to war over the altar by the Jordan?

When the other tribes heard that Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built a large altar near the Jordan, they assumed it was a rival place of sacrifice. God had appointed one altar at the tabernacle, so any new altar for offerings looked like rebellion and idolatry. Remembering sins like Peor and Achan, they feared God’s anger would fall on all Israel. Out of zeal for true worship and to protect the whole people, they gathered to go to war, but wisely sent a delegation to ask and listen first.

What was the real purpose of the altar called Ed?

The eastern tribes explain that the altar was never meant for burnt offerings or sacrifices. They built it as a witness, a visible reminder that they shared the same God and the same worship as their brothers west of the Jordan. They feared that in the future, the other tribes’ children might say, “You have no part in the Lord,” because of the river between them. The altar’s pattern copied the true altar, not to replace it, but to testify that they all belonged to the same covenant and should keep fearing the Lord together.

Who is Phinehas in this passage and what role does he play?

Phinehas is the son of Eleazar the priest. He leads the delegation from the western tribes to the eastern tribes. He speaks strongly about the danger of turning from the Lord, reminding them of past sins and how one person’s rebellion brought trouble on all Israel. At the same time, he offers them space to move back if their land is somehow unclean, showing concern for unity. When he hears their explanation, he accepts it, sees that they have not rebelled, and declares that the Lord is among them. His careful listening helps stop a civil war.

What does this passage teach about dealing with conflict among God’s people?

This passage shows both a right and a risky side in dealing with conflict. The western tribes care deeply about faithful worship and are ready to act if there is open sin. They remember that one group’s sin can affect the whole community. But instead of rushing straight into battle, they send leaders to speak, ask questions, and listen. The eastern tribes answer clearly and openly. In the end, honest conversation clears up the misunderstanding, anger is eased, and unity is kept. It encourages us to combine zeal for God with patience, careful listening, and a desire for peace.

Why do the people mention the sins of Peor and Achan in this chapter?

Peor and Achan are brought up as warnings from Israel’s own past. At Peor, many joined in idol worship and brought a plague on the people. Achan kept what God had cursed, and God’s anger fell on all Israel, not just on him. By remembering these events, the western tribes are saying, “We have already seen how turning from God in worship brings judgment on everyone.” They do not want to repeat those sins. It shows how seriously they take faithful worship and how they see the whole nation as sharing both guilt and blessing together.

What does the altar Ed teach about unity when God’s people are separated by distance?

The altar Ed shows that physical distance does not have to become spiritual distance. The eastern tribes knew the Jordan River might one day make others think they were different and cut off from the Lord. To prevent this, they set up a visible reminder that they were part of the same people, serving the same God, at the same true altar where sacrifices were actually offered. It teaches that when believers are spread out, they should still look for ways to remember their shared faith and avoid anything that might slowly divide them in heart.

Josh.22.1

Joshua 22:1

KJV

Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

The Eastern Tribes Return Home

1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.

4 And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan.

5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.

7 ¶ Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,

8 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

The Altar of Witness

9 ¶ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10 ¶ And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.

11 ¶ And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.

12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

15 ¶ And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,

16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord?

17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,

18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the Lord, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

21 ¶ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

22 The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,)

23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord himself require it;

24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?

25 For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord.

26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

27 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord.

28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

29 God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle.

30 ¶ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.

31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.

32 ¶ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.

Cross References

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