A Story Worth Telling
In Joshua 22 we find the 2½ tribes of Israel being released to go back to their families after fighting to take possession of the Promise Land. You may remember that these tribes, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, wanted to stay on the east side of the Jordan because the land was good for their cattle.
Evidently, they must have been talking on the way back to their families and came to the conclusion that they needed to construct an altar to unify them with the other 9 tribes. They believed that in the future the descendants of the 9 tribes would say, “What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord?”
Not knowing their reason, the 9 tribes on the west side of the Jordan heard of the altar and prepared for war. Verse 13, however, says that first they sent a delegation to talk with the 2½ tribes.
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