Sunday Sermonette: At last a story with a point

Joshua 22 tells a simple story very elaborately, but at least it ' s clear why this is here. You may recall that three groups of Israelites wanted to settle on the east side of the Jordan, but God insisted that their military age men participate in the conquest of Canaan. Now their obligation is discharged, and they go home with their share of the loot. However, they feel isolated from the rest of the nation so they build their own altar. The people on the west side think they have committed apostasy, and send a delegation to investigate preparatory to bringing the whole army over and murdering them all. Along the way they are references to the miscegenation with Moabite women in Numbers 25 and Achan ' s theft of " devoted things " in Joshua 7, so this is one more warning against disobedience to Yahweh.But the east siders explain the altar isn ' t going to be used for sacrifice, it ' s just a reminder to the children that they are in the cult of Yahweh. So it ' s all good. The denouement is that Israelites can remain part of the national and religious community even if they don ' t have ready access to the tabernacle, while at the same time reemphasizing that the tabernacle and its altar are the one place where sacrifices can be made and Yahweh is imminent. BTW in the KJV they name the new altar " Ed, " but that doesn ' t happen in the New International Version presented here. Remember that all of this folderol about the altar and sacrifices is of course no longer applicable ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs