February 28, 2014 - Friday

Start Time: 5:20 A.M.

End Time: 5:53 A.M.

Title: Eastern Tribes Return Home

Scripture: Joshua 22:1 – 34

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you.  Now that the Lord your God has given them rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 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 obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes.  (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.” So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

NOTES:

Ø God send those who sacrificed and obeyed Him with great wealth and plunder from the enemies of their fellow Israelites!  When we are called by God to make sacrifices for His Will and when the mission is completed, we will not go home empty handed!  God blessed not only those He called to take possession of His promises but even those who helped His children make that calling a reality!  So this is why we are to do good to others and see that they live the lives God promised them.  We are to help them achieve this and rejoice with them when they do so because God will surely not allow us to go home with nothing!  He has made His blessings available not only to the person He called but also to the ones who helped Him accomplish his calling from God!  Hallelujah!  That’s why it is not a waste to help out a friend because God sees every sacrifice we make and He ensures that we are rewarded for it with great wealth and we even get to enjoy the plunders from the enemy!  Amen!  Thank You Jesus for You take care of us always!

→  When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side,  the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them. So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh.  With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans. When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord!  And are you now turning away from the Lord? “‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God.  When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,^[a] did not wrath come on the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’ Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.  “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.“That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’ “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witnessbetween us and you.’  “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”

NOTES:

Ø The Lord remains silent in times when there is chaos (doubts) for He, unlike us, does not jump into conclusions!  He sees the hearts and intentions of His people and does not go in rage whenever an action was made that doesn’t seem right in the eyes of men.  When doubts come God remained cool and get to the bottom of His people’s actions and not act upon doubts and we should do the same.  In many cases, we act upon our suspicions and end up judging others without really understanding the main purpose or intentions of the action.  This is what happened to the Israelites.  The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, decided to build an imposing alter by the Jordan but when the Israelites heard this, they rushed to their land and accuse them of rebelling against the Lord.  The passion of the Israelites seems right as they learned their lesson and made a decision to obey the Lord and anything that is not commanded by God to Moses or the prophets or Joshua, seems like a command against God.  But there is a flaw to this as they have become quick to judge!  The law guided them to live rightfully before the Lord but they have become so self-righteous that in the end a simple act of worship to God becomes an act of rebellion.  The same goes with the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, because of their fear of being distance from the Promised land, they resorted to think for themselves and build an altar (more like a replica) to declare that they are part of God’s people.  But in all these chaos and uproar, God remained silent for He knew what’s in the hearts of His people and He saw that both shows pure and good intentions!

→ When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.” Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites.  They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.  And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us—that theLord is God.

NOTES:

Ø God is a teaching God and He reveals the hearts (intentions) of His people to each other and unite them in Peace in His Presence!  God could have intervened and assured His people that the Reubenites, Gadites, half-tribe of Manasseh were not thinking of anything wrong by building the altar yet He allowed His people to charge in their land and find out the truth for themselves and make the right decisions based on what they found.    Our God is a truly a teaching God and He wants us to exercise our will and our freedom to choose and make decisions rightfully with His guidance!  Hallelujah!  We do not have a dictator God but a God who guides and teaches us to practice the gifts and skills He gave to us as we live rightfully in the land He has chosen for us!  Praise the Lord!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, amazing Lord!  Thank You because You see everything and You took note of everything that we did and gave up to help others in receiving the promises You have for them.  Thank You because as You bless them, You bless us as well because of the sacrifices we made and You make sure that we do not go home empty handed.  Thank You Lord because You plans are far greater than what we can think of.  Thank You that even in times when You allow us to rest and enjoy Your blessings, when chaos arises or doubts come, You remain cool and silent; always seeking the hearts and intentions of Your people.  You are truly slow to anger unlike us that we tend to jump into conclusions and make judgments.  Lord help me to be more like You every day that I will not act in rage but will always seek to know the truth at all times.  Lord thank You because You are a teaching God and I am blessed to know that You will always reveal our intentions and unite us in peace in You.  Guide me always Lord and help me make the right decisions in life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!