Joshua 22:21-29 - Making Excuses and Blaming Others

In Joshua 22:21-29, the two and a half tribes that had chosen their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan were confronted by the ten tribes because of the great altar they built. These borderline tribes answered the accusations against them by making excuses and blaming God and others for their bad choices and sins. Notice the first things they did was invoke the name of the Lord six times as they replied to the charges; and in so doing, they used the three fundamental names for the Lord: "El [the Mighty One], Elohim [God], Jehovah [the Lord]." They were claiming that their intentions were pure and that the Lord knew their hearts.   Of course, the fact that the Lord knows our hearts, and that we've taken an oath, is no guarantee that our actions are right, because we don't know our own hearts (Jer. 17:9). All sorts of questionable activities can be shielded by, "But the Lord knows my heart!" When a whole nation misinterprets what is supposed to be a good deed, and it brings them to the brink of war, then there must be something wrong with that deed.   The accused tribes made it clear that they weren't setting up a rival religion because the altar they built wasn't for sacrifices. Rather, they were putting up a witness that would remind the tribes west of the Jordan that Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were a part of the Jewish nation. But what is interesting is that these “borderline” tribes pointed to the children as their concern. But it wasn't their children who would ask, "What have we to do with the Lord God of Israel?" No, their children would be provoked by the children of the tribes in Canaan! Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were not even living in the land of God's choice, yet they feared lest the children across the river would lead their children astray! It is obvious to us that the danger was just the opposite.   Not only did the “borderline” tribes accuse their fellow Jews of having worldly children, but they even accused God of creating the problem in the first place! "For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us" (Josh. 22:25). No! They were the ones who had made the Jordan River the dividing line! In choosing to live east of the Jordan, the two and a half tribes separated themselves from their own people and from the land God had given to all of them. They put their cattle ahead of their children and their fellow Jews, but they blamed God and the other tribes for the problem that they created.   They also claimed that this great pile of stones was a “witness altar” to the unity of the nation and to their obedience. But was it? No, it was a witness to expediency, the wisdom of man in trying to enjoy "the best of both worlds." The two and a half tribes talked piously about their children, but it was their wealth that really motivated their decision to live east of the Jordan.   Somewhere near this "witness altar" were the twelve stones that the men had carried from the midst of the Jordan River (4:20-24). It reminded the Jews that they had crossed the river and buried their past forever. But  Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh had crossed the river and gone back again. Their "altar" contradicted the altar that Joshua had erected to the glory of God. "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).   Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when confronted by God for their disobedience, they made excuses and ultimately blamed God for their sin and bad choices. I’m afraid that too many of us today as believers are doing the same thing.   May the LORD help us to simply confess our sin and ask forgiveness. 1 John 1:6-10 describes exactly what we are doing when we claim to be right instead of acknowledging our sin and asking forgiveness.   God bless!