Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Joshua 22:10 - 22:20

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Joshua 22:10 - 22:20


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The Building of the Altar and the Investigation Following

v. 10. And when they came unto the borders of Jordan that are in the land of Canaan,
the regions of Jordan, the valley proper of Jordan, in this case probably the eastern side, as the context seems to indicate, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, on the very boundary line of their possession, a great altar to see to, great-looking, great in appearance, great as compared with other altars.

v. 11. And the children of Israel,
the ten western tribes, 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, circles, regions, of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel, in the land opposite the sons of Israel.

v. 12. And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel,
all the able-bodied men, gathered themselves together at Shiloh to go up to war against them, for they took the erection of this altar as an evidence of apostasy, as a transgression of God's precept concerning the unity of the altar of burnt offering, Lev_17:8-9; Deu_12:4-14, and therefore prepared to carry out His command of extermination upon the apostate tribes, Deuteronomy 13.

v. 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,
as the ordinance of Jehovah provided, Deu_13:14, into the land of Gilead, the general designation of the land east of Jordan, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, who had once before distinguished himself by his zeal for the Lord,

v. 14. and with him ten princes,
heads of father-houses, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel, that rank at least the men selected had to hold; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

v. 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,
Phinehas probably acting as the spokesman:

v. 16. Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel,
in open rebellion against Jehovah, to turn away this day from following the Lord, by an act of faithlessness and disloyalty, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord? Even though the language may be considered strong, the zeal which prompted it was, at any rate, praiseworthy, since the altar, although not built for a place of sacrifice, yet might easily be perverted to that use, and lead the whole people into the sin of idolatry. At all events, the two and one half tribes ought not to have undertaken the building of this altar without first consulting with Joshua or with the high priest.

v. 17. Is the iniquity of Peor,
when the Midianite women seduced the men of Israel to adultery and idolatry, too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, for it seems that many Israelites in their hearts were still idolaters, lacking only the courage to show their preference openly, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, consuming a total of 24,000 people,

v. 18. but that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord?
And it will be, seeing ye rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel, for Jehovah would hold all the tribes responsible for the defection of those east of Jordan.

v. 19. Notwithstanding, and indeed, if the land of your possession be unclean,
making it necessary for them to have an altar for the expiation of sins in their immediate neighborhood, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, Canaan proper, west of Jordan, 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, who had commanded that the altar of the Tabernacle should be the only one erected for His worship and would seriously punish the erection of any altar to another god.

v. 20. Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the accursed thing,
in taking of spoil devoted to Jehovah, Jos_7:1-5, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man perished not alone in his iniquity, since not only his children were involved, but also, through the unfortunate attack on Ai, the entire congregation. Thus did the ten tribes voice their zeal for Jehovah through their delegates.