A Time for Comfrontation (Joshua 22:10-20) (December 22, 2025)

A Time for Comfrontation (Joshua 22:10-20) Living Life 12/22/2025 Daily Devotional Bible Study

A Time for Comfrontation

Introduction: The Danger of Acting Before Hearing

How do you do with conflict with other Christians with other believers with like thinking you know the full story without hearing the full story?
Oh we're going to examine ourselves in this chapter as we get into Joshua Chapter 22 but they go through that and they're thinking that their brothers are wrong and they're going to have to fight and they're going to have to do all of this stuff but thankfully they hear them out.
Let's examine ourselves in this one Come on in and join me.

Entering the Tension After Victory

Hey all I'm Kila Welcome back to his word My walk We're still in the book of Joshua but we are getting so close to the end They have the land now the land is theirs and oh and then this it's like no that's how I felt reading this chapter.
Let's get right into chapter twenty two.Then Joshua called together the tribes of Ruben Gad and the half Tribe of Massa.
Do you remember they're the ones from the East of the Jordan who had sent their warriors to battle with them?
He told them

Obedience Recognized After Years of Faithfulness

Hold on I have to look something up First yell I was actually gonna like re record that whole little intro piece but this is truly how it goes.
I meant to look that up beforehand.
There was a little like fun fact that I wanted to know and I wanted to make sure that I was prepared to share with you so a little pause so I could look something up Truly this is what my time with God looks like And to know that I have now read this chapter

I don't know four five six seven eight times in the last month or more and this time I wanted to look up something fresh Oh just fun Okay Then Joshua called together the tribes of Ruben Gad and the half Tribe of Massa.
He told them you have done as Moses The servant of the Lord commanded you and you have obeyed every order I have given you.
First of all can you imagine hearing that sentence like Is that a sentence I deserve to hear?

You have done as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and you have obeyed every order I have given you I mean I can examine myself right in that Can you imagine that have I obeyed every order the Lord has given me right?
Yeah they're saying Moses and they're saying Joshua but it was the instruction from the Lord have I obeyed?
Could someone else say that about me?

Seven Years of Shared Battle

You have done as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and you have obeyed every order I have given you during all this time You have not deserted the other tribes You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord Your God right up to the present day How long how long had they been battling?
How long since they left their families on the east side of the Jordan River to cross with the rest of the Israelites to fight in battle with them?

I'll give you an approximate approximately seven years.
Did you think it was that long right because we've read a couple of chapters approximately seven years that they had been gone away from their family.
Remember there's no Skype calls home How was word getting back that they were still alive These are soldiers basically battling so then also think seven years in battle.
Think of the closeness that they must have as brothers right?

The Call to Continue Faithfulness at Home

It's almost like this is their family but they haven't been back to their families verse four and now the Lord Your God has given the other tribes rest as he promised.
So go back home to the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you as your possession on the east side of the Jordan River.
Now it's time to go back home.
Appreciate you thank you for your service.
Now you can go back home but be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you.

Loving, Walking, Obeying, Holding, Serving

I wonder what was going on east of the Jordan River in these last seven years Had anyone gone back there?
What about the refuge? How did they get the like cities of refuge?
How did they know which ones to set up?
What about where the Leavites go?
How did they know where they would go?
Did that all kind of happen time and time so like were there people crossing the Jordan River back and forth?

Have you thought about that?
Now that you know the length of time we're talking about This wasn't just a couple months This wasn't just one year that they came across and did all the fighting with them.
It's been approximately seven years that they've been there going through this with them but be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you.
Love the Lord Your God

walk in all his ways Obey his commands Hold firmly to him and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.
So Joshua blessed them and sent them away and they went home.

Returning With Blessing and Shared Wealth

How far was this right like how many days journey where were they when Joshua said this how many days journey through the land and how many of them were there?
How many warriors came from the Eastern tribes to fight with them?
Moses had given the land of Ban east of the Jordan River to the half tribe of Massa The other half of the tribe was given land west of the Jordan Right?
We knew that as Joshua sent them away and blessed them he said to them

Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies The vast herds of livestock The silver gold bronze and iron and the large supply of clothing.
Share the plunder with your relatives Woe okay so that gives us insight there's plunder not just from AI the second time right did they get plunder from all the cities from everywhere that they went through from everyone that they defeated

The Altar That Triggered Conflict

and now how many of them are there that are going back to the East?
How are they moving all this with?
They're moving cattle and everything right go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies the vast herds of livestock the silver gold bronze and iron and the large supply of clothing.
Share the plunder with your relatives.
I want to know like what this caravan looks like like how and how are they going to cross the Jordan River let's keep reading.

So the men of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa left the rest of Israel at Shilo in the land of Cannon.
There we go they're at Shiloh with Jordan or with Jordan with Joshua Jordan River Hear me out they are at Shilo which is where the tabernacle is now right they started the journey back to their own land of Giliad the territory that belonged to them according to the Lord's command through Moses their headed back east of the Jordan River.

But while they were still in Cannon and when they came to a place called GE Gelloloth near the Jordan River the men of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Masses stopped to build a large and imposing altar.

Preparing for War Before Knowing the Truth

You can do some research into those words the large and imposing altar like huge
The rest of Israel heard that the people of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa had built an altar at Gel Loth at the edge of the land of Kan on the west side of the Jordan River.

They heard that they had built an altar now in our mind right in our mind we're like cool they built an altar a memorial no no no Then altar was for sacrifice and now that the tabernacle is set up there shouldn't be any other altars unless it's for like Pegan sacrifice.
Let's keep reading.
So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shilo and prepared to go to war against them hold on so the entire community of Israel gathered at Chilo

Examining the Facts Before Judgment

How did they hear? How long did it take them to hear how big was this altar So how many days was it taking them to build that word could even travel and it's not like Joshua blew the horn and the whole community of Israel like country heard it says they gathered there so the whole community of Israel gathered at Shilo and prepared to go to war against them.
These are the brothers that they had just fought in battle alongside for like seven years and they're now

for the sake of God's holiness ready to go to war against them Just like that it just even makes me think of myself like what do I stand up for in God's holiness so strong that even someone that close to me I'm like nope that's not it.
Note don't do that first however they sent a delegation led by Phineas son of Elisar the priest to talk with the tribes of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa.

Confrontation Led by Spiritual Leadership

In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel one from each of the ten tribes and each of the head of his family within the clans of Israel Okay this is actually really cool they're upset they're standing up for God they're ready to go to war and what they do is they get Phineas son of Eliasar so they get the priest to go and take leaders and have a conversation with them to get the full story.

Remembering Past Consequences of Sin

Now I put a little a little thing in my Bible here because I wanted to go back to this verse because again I know we on this channel kind of skipped through but if you go back to flip back with me to Deuteronomy Chapter thirteen okay these are instructions that the Lord had given when it came to like idolatry and like the Pegan rituals and the idols and stuff okay so I just want to read a couple of these verses here Deuteronomy Chapter thirteen.
Let's start at verse twelve

when you begin living in the towns near No When you begin living in the towns the Lord your god is giving you Okay you may hear that scoundrels among you are leading their fellow citizens astray by saying let us go worship other gods gods you have not known before.
In such cases you must examine the facts carefully.

Willingness to Sacrifice for Unity

If you find that the report is true and such a detestable act has been committed among you

You must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants as well as all the livestock Okay this is what they think that's happening Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the open square and burn it burn the entire town as a burnt offering to the Lord your god That town must remain a ruin for ever.
It may never be rebuilt but let's go back to Verse thirteen

You must examine the facts carefully If you find that the report is true So kind of cool They're now in the land in the towns that the Lord has given them and this is coming up men among them their brothers that they just fought with in battle They now hear that they're building an altar for all they know it's for PEG and worship to worship It's another idol and they're ready to go to war but they examine the facts carefully

The True Purpose of the Altar

All right So they sent Elasar They sent this delegation Verse fifteen We're back to Chapter 22 Now Verse fifteen When they arrived in the land of Giliad they said to the tribes of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel.
How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him?

Was our sin at Pior? Not enough what happened there?
Again

do a little bit of research You can look up Pior in your Bible Dictionary You can do a quick Google search look up Pior Go back to the Book of Numbers read what happened there I'll tell you what the Lord sent a plague and twenty four thousand of them died.

Fear of Being Cut Off From Worship

There's the like Cala's notes version was our sin at Por not enough to this day we are not fully cleansed of it even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord

and yet to day you are turning away from following the Lord.
If you rebel against the Lord to day he will be angry with all of us to Morrow.

Hearing the Explanation Before Acting

They obviously learned that at Pior we also read that with Acin the whole community of Israel failed in battle because of one man's sin and now they're saying this if you are turning away from following the Lord if you rebel against the Lord to day he will be angry with all of us to Morrow.

If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled then join us in the Lord's land where the tabernacle of the Lord is situated and share our land with us but do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God.

Unity Preserved Through Understanding

Wow look at what they were willing to do.
We are going to examine ourselves right?
And we're going to examine ourselves individually.

We're not going to examine a church we're not going to examine a group of people we're going to examine ourselves individually but look at what they said If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled if you need an altar to the Lord because you think that the land where your families are, the land that you have is defiled and you're going to have to present sacrifices to the Lord to atone for it.

A Memorial, Not a Rebellion

If you think

that because if you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled then join us in the Lord's land where the tabernacle of the Lord is situated and share our land with us.
Do you know what that would mean?
How many men is this how many families is this?
Share our land with us they're willing to give up their own land and their own possessions that they just got so that their brothers wouldn't sin.

Witness Between Brothers

But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord Our God didn't divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel When Acon a member of the clan of Judah Nope Zarah Sorry HA HA HA HA a member of the clan of Zarah sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord.
He was not the only one who died because of his sin.

Then the people of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa answered the heads of the clans of Israel The Lord The mighty one is God the Lord The mighty one is God like hear us clearly he knows the truth and may Israel know it too.

Peace Restored Through Truth

We've not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord.
If we have done so do not spare our lives this day

If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings May the Lord himself punish us.

A Lesson in Conflict Among Believers

The truth is we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours What right do you have to worship the Lord the God of Israel?
We're worried that now that we go back on the other side of the Jordan that you're not going to count us as part of you anymore.

The Altar as a Witness for Future Generations

That's why they're doing it.
This is their fear.
So we decided to build the altar not for burnt offerings or sacrifices but as a memorial.
It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we too

have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings sacrifices and peace offerings.

Reconciliation Through Listening

Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours you have no claim to the Lord.
Wow that's why they built it.
Were they building it big enough that it could be seen from the east side of the Jordan River so that even their tribes east of the Jordan River could see this memorial as well to know hey we're part of this too.

From Suspicion to Praise

How often did they cross the Jordan River in the years to come to get to the tabernacle and how did they do that if they verse twenty eight if they say this our descendants can reply look at this copy of the Lord's altar that our ancestors made.
It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices it's a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.

Ending Conflict Before It Begins

Look at that they first of all this report of truth hasn't even got back to the people of Israel.
They're ready to go to war.

They're probably sitting there stewing and stirring like we're going to have to kill our brothers that we just fought with we're going to have to go to war against them we're going to have to do all of this stuff.
Can you believe that they're doing this because how long would it take for this word to get back to them that like hey guys it's all good it's a memorial it's actually pretty awesome.

The Power of Careful Examination

Let's go back

let's go back verse twenty eight if they say this our descendants can reply look at this copy of the Lord's altar that our ancestors made.
It's not for burnt offerings or sacrifices it's a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings grain offerings or sacrifices only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the tabernacle may be used for that purpose

What difficulties have you come across when trying to express your concerns to other believers?

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Satisfaction and Relief

all right so it is in their heart they are obeying the Lord like I wonder if if Phineas if the priest and the leaders are like okay Ho like they do got it they do know it they did it is in their heart they are good we are good He is the one true God the mighty God Yes Ho okay no more need to question we're good

When Phineas the priest and the leaders of the community the heads of the clans of Israel heard this from the tribes of Ruben Gad and the half tribe of Massa they were satisfied I think they were relieved but they were satisfied.

War Avoided, God Praised

Phineas son of Eliasar the priest replied to them to day we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought.
Instead you've rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.

A Call to Examine Ourselves

I mean they didn't really rescue Israel from being destroyed.
Israel would have done it themselves because they didn't trust that their brothers knew what they were doing.
However they investigated they examined it carefully before they came to a judgment and maybe that's just a lesson that we need to learn today.
Maybe we need to learn to examine things carefully before we come to a judgment.
Hear the other person out.

Being a Witness Today

You know that I've lost I'm sure you have in your lifetime I have like incredible friendships that have ended on a misunderstanding and one or both sides if I'm honest one or both sides not being willing to hear the other person out Oh I don't even think that's the walk at out challenge for today but if you feel that Yikes

Closing Challenge: Let the Altar Be a Witness

verse thirty two then Phineas son of Elias are the Priest and the other leaders left the tribes of Ruben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canon to tell the Israelites what had happened.
And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Rubin and Gad and the half tribe of Massa.

How come they're not included right there the people of Ruben and Gad named the Altar witness

for they said it is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God too.

Closing Prayer

You know it's crazy how sometimes we don't consider how someone else might feel you know like I wonder if the Israelites west of the Jordan ever considered that you all are going back east of the Jordan River The land that we have before it's been seven years we fought we have the land This is the promise land flowing with milk and honey the tabernacles here all of this.

Did they ever consider the feelings of Ruben and Gad in the half tribe of Massa going back east of the Jordan River that they might think man what if they think that we're not part of them anymore you know Hm

"The rewards of courageous confrontaion ... are the table of faith-filled fellowship, the laughter of serious joy, the glory of Christ-exalting worship."~Marshall Segal