Paved with Good Intentions

Sometimes we have the best intentions and end up with terrible results. That is the lesson I find in Joshua 22. The three Transjordan tribes (Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh) are sent home to their families after the wars having followed through to fight with Israel for the land on the Western side of the Jordan. This is what happens next:

Joshua 22:10–11 (ESV) And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”

The built an enormous altar! This action was forbidden repeatedly by God. Thre was to be one altar, one temple, one place for God's dwelling for the sacrifice of sins. However, through investigation, the leaders of Israel find out why they build the altar. 

Joshua 22:23–24 (ESV) if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance. 24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?
... 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.” ’

It seems so justified now, doesn't it? They wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten by their brothers across the Jordan so they established a permanent monument that they wouldn't be left out. Unfortunately, their reasoning is faulty on many grounds. For one, it was not the responsibility of the other tribes to remember them. It was their responsibility to come to Jerusalem and worship for the annual feasts, regular sacrifices, and corporate festivals. 

Deuteronomy 12:3-11 (ESV) You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire... 5 you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,
...8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, ... 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD.

Note they were to tear down all the foreign altars in the land. Now those former altars carried no emotional attachment for them. But this one would have been made by their hands. How much more will this altar they create emotional strings for future generations? Remember it was a very large altar. Usually, the memorials of one generation have a habit of becoming idols in the next. Traditions for one generation can become inalterable monuments to a time and era long past which has nothing to do with where we are or should be going.

Consider the end of these tribes. They are part of the Northern nation from the divide following Solomon's reign and when the Assyrians invade, the whole tribe has become corrupt and comingled with idolatrous practices throughout. The three tribes named?
1 Chronicles 5:25–26 (ESV) But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.

Joshua is teaching us that even good things can become hazardous things. It's not like anyone wakes up wanting to commit adultery one day or have an abortion in the near future. These realities are the fruits of several indiscretions along the way. What is the answer? We will find that out from the next chapter in Joshua's speech. Unfortunately, Israel here proves an object lesson in what not to do with traditions and memorials. 

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