A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God

        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.  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 for 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 acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon 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.’

             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 acted unfaithfully toward 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 the LORD is God. (Joshua 22:9-34) 

            The angry parent storms into the room where the child is drawing on the wall. "What are you doing?!" the parent says, not knowing whether she's asking a question or exclaiming.

            "Look!" says the child, "There's Momma, and Poppa and me! I made a picture for you." Does Momma punish the child for drawing on the walls, or hug the child for his innocent display of affection?

            The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and part of the tribe of Manasseh had a problem. the conquest was over and they went back to their land on the east side of the Jordan. They looked west and wondered how long it would be before the rest of Israel decided they didn't matter. They built an altar to remind their brothers. They drew a picture to show the rest of Israel that  "we're just like you."

           Joshua had been here before, more than forty years before. Turn your back on these folks for forty days and they're building altars to golden calves. Fortunately, Joshua and the rest of Israel listened to what Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had to say. Unfortunately, neither side really seems to have dealt with the underlying issue. We're told a few verses later that they were glad they didn't have to go to war, but they didn't ask God about the situation, and neither side does anything more than accept the presence of the altar to reassure Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The distrust is allowed to remain.

           I can often relate to the two and a half tribes. Spending half a year in one place, and half in another puts a river between me and both groups. I miss out on most of the life of my church at home. I get to enjoy most of the life of my church at camp, but that life, too, is abbreviated. Some would probably say that I lack self-confidence. I'm not sure that's the right description. It's hard (for me) to feel like I'm part of a group, and harder when I know that within a few months, I'll be leaving. 

           So I hold back, or I try to prove myself. I build walls I don't need to build, sometimes without realizing I'm doing it. It's not that I'm not trusting God, or that I'm not trusting the others in my churches - except, maybe I'm not. When you're not part of the "us" at the moment, it can be easy to start seeing part of "us" as "them."

           It tends to take me a couple years to feel as if I'm part of a group, and only a few weeks for me to feel like I've lost that connection. Rather than building monuments to force them to remember that I'm part of them. I need to learn to trust them to remember it, and trust God to remind them.