Living in the Land​ - 250411

Speaker A Hello, I'm Rosemary Malkiewycz. Welcome to Let God Speak. There can be times in life when you misunderstand what a friend or family member says or what they do or what their intentions are. This can cause your view of that person to be significantly tarnished. You may feel that your trust in them has been broken, or it can result in a serious breakdown in the relationship. Even worse, major conflict can result. Today we will be exploring a story just like that which happened in ancient Israel. Stay with us because you will not want to miss the conclusion to this story. Speaker A On our panel today, we have Kaysie Vokurka and Rod Butler. So welcome to the program. I'm glad that I've had you two with me on the panel. Before we start, let's pray. Father in heaven, we just want to thank you that we can watch your happenings in the Word, the word of God, your word. And I pray, Father, that as we discuss this today on this program, that you will inspire us with the answers that you have to the problems that we face in our world today and in our personal relationships with others. So help us to really listen to what you are saying and let God speak to us in this program. And we thank you. In Jesus name, amen. So the people of Israel were finally ready to settle down and enjoy the land that God had promised to Abraham. The fighting men of tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh were now able to return to their allotted land and families on the other side of the Jordan River. So as we look at this, Kaysie, the first thing we want to find out is why did these particular tribes end up inheriting land on the eastern side of the Jordan instead of the west with everybody else? Speaker B Yes, that's what we want to know. And there is a story behind that. So we can have a look at numbers, chapter 32 and verses 1 to 5, and we can find out what happened. So it says now, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. And when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, Dibbon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elaleh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon. The country which the Lord defeated before the Congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock. Therefore, they said, if we have found favor in Your sight. Let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. So essentially, they saw the land and they thought, hey, this is suitable for our needs. We would rather have this as our inheritance than go and cross over to the Jordan. Speaker A Yeah, because they didn't know what was on the other side yet. Speaker B That's right. That's right. Speaker A So, Rod, how did the. Did Moses respond to this request? Speaker C Well, he did respond, and he had a concern, and we picked the concern up in verses 6 and 7. I would just like to read those. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, shall your brethren go to war, and you shall sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? Moses first concern is that, well, if you have this land, and that's it, you're going to just stay put here. The rest go across to dispossess the Canaanites. You're going to discourage them because there's two and a half tribes that aren't with them. So there's a disunity issue. Plus their forces are weakened. And then further down in verse 14 and 15, it says, and behold, ye are risen up in your father's stead. An increase of sinful men to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord towards Israel. For if you turn away from after him, he will again leave them in the wilderness, and ye shall destroy all his people. He's virtually saying that if you do this and don't keep together and do what God has said by all of us, then God could leave us and we could be taken out by the enemies. Speaker C His response is, this is not. There's not a good look here. Speaker A Yeah, you could discourage them. And the enemy could see this as a good thing to get rid of them and all. Speaker C And also could be disobeying God and God will withdraw his protection. Speaker A That's right. Like happened before with Joshua and Caleb. Speaker C So. Speaker A So what was their intention and how did they respond, Kaysie? Speaker B Well, they. They have. Moses shares what their response was in verses 16 and through to 18 of chapter 32. And it says, then they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones. But we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes. Until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. So they made it clear that they had very good motives in this decision. And they were not going to let go of supporting the rest of the tribes. They were going to do their part. They were going to help with the fighting and the inheriting of the land, all on the other side of the Jordan River. And so they were very much willing to do hard work and do their part. And we can see also in verses 25 through to 27, it says, and the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses saying, you, servants will do as my Lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will cross over every man armed for war before the Lord to battle. And just as my Lord says, so they. They were giving every assurance that they were going to stick by the rest of the Israelites and help the agreement conquering of Canaan. Yeah. Speaker A Yes. So. So, Rod, what does this reveal and what they've said? What does it reveal to us? Speaker C Well, it reveals there was a change of plans. And it reveals that there could have been a level of tension. And even though there's been assurances by those two and a half tribes that they will do the right thing, there may be a little bit of uncertainty with the other tribes. Will they, the last minute bail out? Can we rely on them? We're setting the scene here for the possibility of a misunderstanding. Speaker A Yes. Joshua wanted to remind them of the promise later on after they were going to cross into the land. So what did he do and what did he say to them then? Speaker C Well, the original interchange took place with Moses. Now we have Joshua. And Joshua reminds them just as they're about to cross over the Jordan River. And we pick up this in Joshua chapter one. And I'll read the verses. We're going to read from verse 12 down to verse 15. And it says, and to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half tribe of Manasseh spake Joshua saying, remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, the Lord your God has given you rest and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side, Jordan. But ye shall pass before your brethren, armed all the mighty men of valor, and help them until the Lord hath given your brethren rest. And as he hath given you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God giveth them, then you shall return unto the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you on this side of Jordan towards the sun rising. So he's basically saying that you've got to come across and be with the other tribes, and when they've all settled down, then you can go home again and be with your families. That's fair. Speaker A Okay, then. So had they changed their minds about this promised they'd made? Speaker B Not at all. Over the years, or however long the time was since they made this original arrangement, they had stuck to their. To their same position. And we can read that continuing in Joshua, chapter one, verse 16 through to 16 through to 18. So they answered Joshua saying, all that you command us, we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words in all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and of a good courage. So you can see by their language here, they were very solidly committed on staying with this plan and sticking with their agreement. Speaker A Excellent. So they're talking there about when the people receive their rest in their land, when they no more have to fight for it. And that's a significant theme that we'll look at later. But first, Rod, does the story. Or Kaysie, sorry, does the story end well? Speaker B Well, the. Initially it does, yes. So the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh keep their promise, just as they said. They were consistent the whole time. And Joshua, it's interesting to read, In Joshua, chapter 22 and verses 1 to 3, it says, then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh and said to them, you have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren, these many up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And so. Speaker B Joshua, when. When Joshua called them, they might have been wondering, you know, what's he going to say here, is this. Is this, you know, have we been faithful enough? Speaker A You know, have you done something wrong? Speaker B Yeah. Is he going to get us in trouble? Kind of like if you go to the principal's office kind of thing. But Joshua affirms them that, yes, they have committed. They have kept their promise entirely and committed to this. And so that's that's really inspiring to see that kind of commitment in this situation. Speaker A That's right. So, Rod, is that all that Joshua says to the people at that time? Speaker C Joshua confirms Israel has rest. And I just want to read Joshua. Keep reading from chapter 22, from verses 5 and 6. And it says, but take diligent heed to do the commandment of the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord, charged you to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went unto their tents. So they'd been away from home a long time supporting other tribes. You know, more than up to about six years of time. They've been away doing the right thing, being committed, being part of the tribes, and now it's their time to go home and they're being rewarded and they're being told they've been faithful. So go and enjoy your families. Speaker A Isn't that the sort of thing that God says to those he redeems in the last days, that they have been true and faithful servants? Speaker C Yes. Speaker A It's a beautiful message, isn't it? So wonderful. So, Kaysie, everything seems to be going well. Speaker A But there's something that they do that is unexpected, these two and a half tribes. Let me read it. In Joshua 22, verse 10, it says when they. The three, two and a half tribes, when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great, impressive altar. Why do you think that they did this right there beside the Jordan River? And it doesn't say anything there that they spoke to Joshua about at first? Speaker B Yeah, Well, I mean, it's hard to read people's minds when they're lifted 3,000 years ago. But just looking on that, you could come to all sorts of conclusions or. Speaker B Assume what might have happened or what they might have been doing here, because it was hard to understand why they would do that. And there was already, as Rod mentioned before, the potential of misunderstanding and, you know, this potential underlying sense of maybe not being able to fully trust them because of this change. And so it seems like there could have been tension and. Speaker B The situation could have brought, you know, potential. Speaker B Trouble just on the surface, without going into the details. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker A So, Kaysie, did they get away with it? Did anybody notice? Speaker B Oh, absolutely. They noticed. I mean, it says here, great impressive altar. It's kind of not something that can be hidden. And so It's. In verse 11, continuing from Joshua 22, it says, now the children of Israel heard someone say, behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan on. On the children of Israel's side. And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. So they were definitely concerned about this and whatever it might mean and whatever peace they had about, you know, they've conquered the land now. Everything's. Everything's happy. Suddenly there's a huge problem. Speaker A So, Rod, you know, I don't quite get this. Speaker A Why did the rest of the tribes, the nine and a half tribes still on the other side, on the western side of the Jordan, get so upset? I mean, this is just an altar. It's a huge altar, but it's just an altar. And Abraham went all over the place area of Canaan building altars. Speaker C Look, it is true that Abraham did have family altars, and he. They were a great witness to the Canaanites at the time of the true God, the God, the creator God. But you've got to remember the context here. This is not them in the land of foreigners. This is them taking possession of a whole land. This is the birth of a new nation. And the birth of a new nation to be successful, needs to have un unity. And the. Needs to have a national identity. And their identity and their tenure of the land was based upon their faithfulness to God. And we pick up some interesting things in Deuteronomy. I'd just like to turn to Deuteronomy, chapter 12 and verse 3 says, and this is the instruction of what they had. And you shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars and burn their groves with fire, and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods and destroy the names of them out of their place. So they're given the instruction to go in there and to literally clean house of all the pagan gods and all the false religions. And this was for the whole nation to be in a country where they'd cleaned house. And then we go down to verse 14 and it says. Speaker C But in the place which the Lord shall choose, in one of the tribes. Speaker C There thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. Well, they chose Shiloh to have the where that was, and that's where they all would have to go. And so for the birth of this new nation, the rules were we don't have any false gods, and we all worship at the one altar in the same place in the same part of the country where God is going to dwell amongst his people in the sanctuary. And so for them to hear that, here's these two, and I tribe building another altar, a huge one by the Jordan, that's like, heaven forbid, this is apostasy on a grand scale. And they knew that if there was apostasy, God could withdraw his protection and then they could all be destroyed. This was serious. Speaker A Yes, this was serious indeed, when you really think of it from that point of view. Speaker A And though it was serious, why did the other tribes take it as seriously as they did that they were willing to go to war. Speaker A With the very people, the very family members they had just finished fighting the enemy with? Speaker B It's an incredible turn of events, isn't it? And I think it really shows how much, I guess, they had learned at that point. You know, they have made many mistakes in the wilderness. They have apostatized many times, and they have tasted of the fruits of that, that if they turn away from God's commandments, there are consequences, and they're serious. And they were of the mindset of being faithful. And any deviation from that path of faithfulness, they were quick to jump on, to want to address it because they knew that the rest, which they finally had after 40 years that was theirs, could go from them if they didn't hold to this faithfulness. Speaker A It's quite. It's extremely important, isn't it, that they remain faithful to God. So, Rod, did the Israelites immediately attack those on the eastern side of the river. Speaker A Because of the situation? Speaker C They didn't. And fortunately they didn't. There was some cool heads. And we just pick up the story here. And it says in chapter 22 of Joshua, it says from verse 13, and the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten princes of each chief house, a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel. And each one was of the head of the house of their fathers among thousands of of Israel. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead. And they spoke unto them, saying, thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, what trespass is this you have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord in that you have built an altar that you might rebel this day against the Lord. So basically, they didn't immediately attack. They went and sought to find out what was going on. Speaker A But the charge there is that this is treason against God. This is treachery, this is rebellion. So this is a very serious matter. But why did they choose Phinehas, the high priest's son, to go instead of Joshua? You thought that Joshua would have gone to find out what was happening? Speaker B Well, it comes from the history. So only recently before this time, Phinehas had been involved in standing up against treason, basically, very boldly. And. Speaker B In chapter 22, verse 17 and 18, it kind of alludes back to that. It says, is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord. And. And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. So the reference to Peor, that was when. Speaker B The Israelites had committed sexual fornication with the Midianites. There had been that apostasy. And Phinehas had bravely stepped in and actually had killed two people who were just blatant in their act at that time of disobedience. Speaker A He stood up for God. Speaker B He did. He stood up for God. He stood up for what needed to be stood up for. And he in that sense, proved himself as a leader and someone who of fidelity. And he was very courageous. So I guess. And it wasn't just that, what he did, you know, after that, Moses then had to order for God, ordered Moses to then kill off a number of the other leaders who had been involved in this apostasy. So this had recently happened. It was fresh in their minds, and Phinehas was faithful. And this, they thought this was a similar issue that they were about to face. And so they thought, well, how can we prepare for this? Let's get our most faithful men and send them forward to deal with it. Speaker A So. Speaker A This is a serious situation. And I can see how they were behaving this way with this. But how did the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half a tribe of Manasseh respond to this accusation? Speaker C Well, firstly, they had to listen to the accusations. They sat and Listened and let the other side speak what the accusations were. And then they respond. And I'd just like to read part of their response, which is in again, Joshua 22:24. And it says, and this is the reason they gave as to why they did this. Verse 24 says, and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing saying, in time to come, your children might speak unto our children, saying, what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, your children of Reuben and the children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord. So shall your children make our children cease from fearing of the Lord. Therefore we said, let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but that it may be a witness between us and you and our generation after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings that your children may not say to our children in time to come, you have no part in the Lord. They were doing this as, like, a memorial. So there's no way the other tribes would forget. Oh, they're on the other side of the Jordan. They're not part of us anymore. This was. No, no, we're part of you. And that's to remind you that we're still part of you. Speaker A Yeah, that's right. Speaker C And so it was a memorial. So this was an innocent thing. Speaker B Honorable, really. Speaker C An honorable thing. They wanted to be part of God's people, but what happened was a misunderstanding. Speaker A Very good. So, Cayce, how did Phinehas and the others take this? You know what the other tribes had said as their reason? Speaker B Well, they listened. And we can read their response. In Joshua 22, 30, and 31, it says now, when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke. It pleased them. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh, this day we perceive that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord. So they. I can imagine a big sigh of relief that this. This was not what they feared. It was that they feared it would be. Speaker A Yeah, there was a good reason for it. Speaker B Definitely. Speaker A So. So, Rod, what do you think is a take home message that we can get from this situation we find in the Bible? Speaker C Well, two take homes that I can think of. Firstly, if. If there's some misunderstanding, get in early to sort it out. Don't let it fester. That's what they did. There was a misunderstanding. They were about to go to civil war, but they thought, no, we've got to find out what's going on. So seek first early. And the second point is, if you want to change your plans in life, make sure you tell other people because it could be confusion or misunderstandings. Speaker A And Kaysie, what do you think? Speaker B Yeah, well, they had this idea, but they went ahead and did it without explaining it. And so that created a misunderstanding. So communication 101, basically, let's talk about what we want to do. But then the other thing which is really amazing is when the children of Israel came and told them, you know, it looks like you're about, you're committing treason. They took that very patiently. Like they didn't rail up and say, no, we're not. You know, you could, you could arch your back up at that. But they took that very patiently, very humbly. And in that, that gentle response, it turned away any further anger. Speaker A Excellent. I just want to read a verse here that I find is very important for this subject. And it's found in John 17, 20 and 20 to 22. Jesus is praying here to his Father and he says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one, as you, Father, are one in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are. That's Jesus message for us. Thank you, Rod, and thank you, Kaysie, for being with us. You might be in a church situation where you are concerned with what other people are doing. It may be a worship issue or how someone is treating other people. These tensions can become very strong. However, it's important to learn how to resolve disputes through the example of the children of Israel rather than heading straight into war. They decided to have open dialogue. Because of this, war was avoided and they were able to achieve greater unity both with each other and with God. That's what Jesus was praying for. So we're glad that you joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programs plus teachers notes are available on our website. 3abnaustralia.org.au. Email us if you wish and we hope that you tell other people about this program and join us again next time. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.