Joshua

DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND: CONCLUSION

The Altar Across the Jordan

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

and said to them:“You have observed all that Moses, the servant of the Lord ordered you, and you have obeyed me constantly.

You have never deserted your brothers over this long time; at every point, you have obeyed the orders of the Lord your God.

Now that the Lord your God has granted your brothers the rest he promised them, go back to your tents, to the land given into your possession by Moses the servant of the Lord, beyond the Jordan.

But take care above all to keep the commandments of the law which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: love the Lord your God, follow his paths always, keep his commandments, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

So Joshua blessed and sent them away; they returned to their tents.

Moses had given territory in Bashan to one-half of the tribe of Manasseh; because of this, Joshua gave land to the other half of Manasseh among their brothers on the west bank of the Jordan. As Joshua sent them home to their tents, he blessed them and said to them:

“You are going back to your tents with great wealth, with cattle in plenty, silver and gold, bronze and iron, and great quantities of clothing; these are the spoils of your enemies that you shared with your brothers.”

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh went home again; they left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and made their way back to the land of Gilead, the territory which belonged to them and where they had settled by the order of the Lord given through Moses.

When they came to the stone circle at the Jordan, which is in the Canaanite territory, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there beside the Jordan, an imposing altar of great size.

The Israelites were told, “The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built this altar facing the land of Canaan near the stone circle at the Jordan, beyond the territory of the Israelites.”

When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to launch an attack against them.

The Israelites sent the priest Phinehas, son of Eleazar, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead,

and with him ten leading men, one leader from each tribe in Israel; every one of them was head of his family among the clans of Israel.

When they came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, they said to them:

“The whole community of the Lord asks you: What do you mean by this treason committed against the God of Israel? Why turn aside from the Lord today, building yourselves an altar? You are sinning against the Lord himself.

Was the sin at Peor not enough, the sin from which we are not cleansed even now, despite the plague that ravaged the whole community of the Lord?

You have stopped following the Lord today and set yourselves in revolt against him today. Tomorrow, his anger will be roused against the whole community of Israel.

Do you think your land is unclean? Then cross over into the territory of the Lord, where his Holy Tent is, and come to live among us. But do not rebel against the Lord or set yourselves apart by building an altar to vie with the altar of the Lord our God.

When Achan, son of Zerah, betrayed his trust in the matter of the anathema, did not the Lord vent his anger on the whole community of Israel, although he was only one man? Did he not have to die for his sin?”

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel:

“The Lord is the God of gods! The Lord knows well, and let Israel know it too: Let the Lord punish us immediately if we have been disloyal or betrayed the Lord.

Let the Lord punish us if we have built an altar to turn away from the Lord and offer a holocaust, an oblation, and a communion sacrifice on it.

We did this to prevent a future situation when your children ask our children: ‘What link have you with the Lord, the God of Israel?’

Hasn’t the Lord set the boundary of the Jordan between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad? You have no share in the Lord.’ So, your children might cause us to turn away from the Lord.

So we said to each other, ‘Let us build this altar, not for holocausts or other sacrifices

but as a witness between you and us and among our descendants after us. It will prove that we also worship the Lord with our holocausts, our victims, and our communion sacrifices in his presence. So that your children will never be able to say to ours: You have no share in the Lord.

For, in this case, we should say to them: Look at this structure, the Lord’s altar made by our ancestors not for holocausts or other sacrifices but as a witness between us and you.’

We have no intention of disobeying the Lord or turning away from him today. We are not building an altar for holocausts or oblations or sacrifices to compete with the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

When Phinehas, the priest, and the community leaders who were with him heard the answer of the sons of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, they approved of them.

Then the priest Phinehas, son of Eleazar, said to the sons of Reuben, sons of Gad, and sons of Manasseh: “Now we clearly see that the Lord is among us because you have not sinned against him; you have saved the children of Israel from the punishment of the Lord.”

The priest Phinehas, son of Eleazar, and the leaders left the Reubenites and the Gadites and returned from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, bringing back this answer to the Israelites.

The Israelites were pleased to hear this; they thanked God and spoke no more of making war and ravaging the country where the sons of Reuben and Gad had settled.

The Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar ‘Witness’: “Because” they said, “it will be a witness between us that the Lord is God.”