Josué 22

Josué 22

Meyer - It was a great altar to see to, not intended for burnt-offering or meal-offering, or for religious rites; but as a perpetual witness that its builders were leal-hearted Israelites. But it was a great mistake. No pattern for its shape had been received from God, nor any direction as to its construction; whilst if they had obeyed the divine instruction, that three times in the year all their males should appear before God in Shiloh, there would have been no need for this clumsy contrivance. In their view the unity of the people could not be preserved by a merely spiritual bond, but by an outward and mechanical one. The common ties of the altar at Shiloh were insufficient; there must be in addition the great altar of Ed. Donald Campbell asks a pertinent question - In a book describing the occupation and distribution of the Promised Land, why should this single incident be treated in such detail? Simply because it illustrates certain principles that were vital to Israel living together in the land harmoniously and under God's full blessing. The same principles apply to those in God's family today. It is commendable for believers to be zealous for the purity of the faith. Compromise of truth is always costly. (See Jude 3) It is wrong to judge people's motives on the basis of circumstantial evidence. We need to gather all the facts and to avoid a quick response on the basis of an emotionally charged account of a situation. Frank and open discussion will often clear the air and lead to reconciliation. But we must approach such a confrontation in a spirit of meekness, not arrogance. (See Gal. 6:1) If we are wrongly accused, we would do well to remember the wise counsel of Solomon, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Prov. 15:1). (No Time for Neutrality) GEORGE BUSH Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 22 Called the altar Ed. It is remarkable that the last word in this clause, ‘Ed,’ a witness, is not found in the original, at least in the common copies, though others are said to contain it, and it occurs in the Arabic and Syriac versions. Our translators have properly supplied it in Italics, as it is the word which the sense evidently requires. How it comes to be lacking in the common editions of the Heb. it is impossible to determine. This altar, upon which there was probably an inscription, was henceforth to be a witness of the relation in which they stood to God and to Israel, and of their concurrence with the rest of the tribes in the great fundamental truth, that ‘the Lord he is God,’ he and no other, and that he was to be worshipped in no other way, and at no other place, than he had himself prescribed. It was, moreover, a witness to posterity of their care to transmit their religion pure and unimpaired to them, and would be a witness against them, if ever they should forsake God and turn to idolatry.—From the incidents above related we may gather, (1) That the best meant things may afford cause of suspicion; as those are sometimes suspected of aiming to effect a breach in the unity of the church, who are most diligently laboring to heal her divisions, and to preserve to posterity the purity of her doctrines and worship. (2) It can do our brethren no injury to be jealous over them with a godly jealousy, even when we may be mistaken in our fears. (3) Nothing will so soon kindle the zeal of a faithful and devoted spirit, as the symptoms of apostasy from God in others, because to such an one nothing is so dear as his glory. (4) Rising corruptions and dangerous errors should, in the spirit of meekness, be resisted as soon as broached, lest the evil leaven, being permitted to spread, should leaven the whole mass. (5) The testimony of a good conscience is the most effectual support against the heaviest accusations.