“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”
– Joshua 22:5
Hi James and Ellen,
Would you make and name something ‘A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God’? What is it that you have done that tells other kids – and guys and gals, that you know that the LORD is God? What is it that your dad and/or ma have done that tells you – and every other guy, gal and kid, that they know that the LORD is God? Is there something that your grandmaa and grandpaa have done that tells you – and every other guy, gal and kid, that they know that the LORD is God? Before crossing back over the Jordan River to reunite with their families, Joshua recounts in Joshua 22 that the guys who had been conscripted from half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad built an imposing obelisk type altar in a place called Geliloth. These draftees from half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad had been faithful in carrying out the mission that God – as God the Father, had assigned them through Moses to do. Before the Israelite people groups guys and gals crossed across the Jordan River’s dry riverbed years earlier into the land area that God was giving them to always to have to live in as their very own land, half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad asked Moses if they could settle on the land on the east side of the Jordan River that the Israelite people group guys had conquered. When the task had been mostly completed of purging the different alien people groups of guys and gals from the land of Canaan, Joshua sent for the fighters from the half of the Manasseh tribal clan and from the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad to thank them for not deserting their tribal clan bros as they fought to clear the land that God was giving His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land to tell these guys that they could return to the east side of the Jordan River to live with their families. Joshua’s final charge to these guys is verse 5, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”’ Joshua then gave these guys – who really did not have any choice in having to do what they did – which was to leave their homes to risk their lives for their other tribal clan bros’ sake so that their other tribal clan bros could live in the land that was located on the Jordan River’s west side, their share of the loot that had been accumulated – that included large herds of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron and a large quantity of clothes, that had been seized while they were helping their other tribal clan bros annihilate the different enemy people groups of guys and gals who had been living in the land area of Canaan.
When God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living on the west side of the Jordan River heard that the half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad had built an altar – which they thought the half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad had built to worship an enemy god, they became very upset. The Israelite people group guys and gals had not forgotten what Achan did which resulted in a plague that affected all the tribal clans. They were ready to do whatever to keep that from happening again – even to totally devastating the land area on the east side of the Jordan River where the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad had settled. The priest’s son – Phinehas, along with ten guys – one from each of the tribal clans who had been allotted land on the Jordan River’ west side, were sent as a delegation to confront the half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad for building an altar that was perceived to be an affront to the Mighty One of Israel.
It was determined by Phinehas and his ten compatriots – after they cleared the air, that the motives of half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad were not nefarious when they built an altar replica as a witness and reminder to their tribal clan bros who had settled in their land allotments on the Jordan River’s west side and to their own extended families who Moses had given the okay to settle on the east side of the Jordan River of their role in ridding the enemy people group of guys and gals who were living in the land that God was giving to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land. The monument that half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad built was in their minds to be an everlasting memorial to what they had done through the help of their Lord; it was never in their thoughts to build something that would reflect having an allegiance with people groups of guys and gals who did not worship their Lord. Your grandpaa believes that it is super important that the life of a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid is always representative of his or her undying faith in God. Your grandpaa also believes that the Christ-follower life of a guy, gal or kid should always be a living monument of the grace that he or she has received from God – as God the Father. Just as the half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the tribal clans of Reuben and Gad wanted everyone to remember that they were faithful soldiers of their Lord by building a monument altar that they named ‘A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God’, your grandpaa believes that every Christ-follower guy, gal or kid should always be seen as being intentional about finding ways to always have his or her life be ‘A Witness Between Us that the Lord is My Father God’ memorial.
Joshua 22 (1083)