Joshua 22 “Suspicious”

Joshua 22 – Brandon Hatmaker “Suspicious”
Friday, August 22nd, 2008

After reading the last few verses of chapter 21, that the Lord gave them “rest on every side” and that they “took possession of” the land… I was… well… I was suspicious about what was to come. I don’t know that I have ever studied Joshua this deliberately and couldn’t recall exactly what was next… I just knew the end of the story was coming. So I read ahead to see how the cycle of the people immediately doing something wrong continued. But it didn’t (at least not for now), and I was wrong. And I was glad.

Instead, there were great words of instruction like what is found in 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."

And while at first, it seemed like the altar the Reuben-ites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built in Gilead was built out of rebellion (that would have been my first impression as well), it turns out that they didn’t. It was in good intention, and only for a reminder to future generations that they worshiped the same God. The Israelites found out soon enough that their heart was in the right place in regards to the structure.

This was obviously a “tender” spot for the Israelites. It was idol worship at Peor where they first turned away from God, and they knew they needed to be careful in this area. They knew that while they enjoyed God’s favor in this day, if they “rebelled”, then tomorrow they could all experience God’s anger.

I would say most of us have “idol” issues. I do. It’s so easy to take things that are supposed to be about God, and make them about us.

There are traditions of faith we hold up as more sacred than we should. There are many physical things in our lives that we value more than we should. As believers, there are initiatives in the church that we can easily pursue for the wrong reasons. This is our battle. This chapter serves as a reminder to me first of all of my nature to want to “build” things for God, and that when I do, to be aware of my motive and heart. While they were found faithful with this altar in Gilead, it was still a good idea for a good ole “heart check”. Phinehas served as a great accountability partner. None of us are above that.

God, search our hearts. Show us where we have wrong motives. Show us our idols. Show us the things we are “building” that are more about us than they are about you. Today I ask that you gently instruct us in the way we should go. Help us to remove them. Amen.