Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 21-22.

As I read this passage I really felt like I wanted to write something about the the cities and towns given to the Levites.  However the only thought which truly stuck me was the way in which the Levites became identified with the tribes they lived among without losing their identity as Levites.  Which brings me to what followed the warriors of Reuben and Gad being sent home.  I want to start by pointing out the final instructions Joshua gave them.  He told them to hold fast to God and serve Him with all of their hearts and souls.   The fact that all of the Israelites followed this kept a civil war from breaking out among them.  Before crossing back to the east side of the Jordan, the warriors of Rueben and Gad built an altar as a monument.  However, the other tribes thought they had built the altar as a place to worship God separate from where the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant were.  The thought the Reubenites and Gadites were preparing to worship a separate god.  They remembered what had happened when Achan violated God’s commands, how all of Israel suffered for his sin, and feared similar consequences.  Fortunately, rather than acting immediately on the sin they believed the Reubenites and Gadites were preparing to commit, they sent a delegation to talk to them about it.  Also fortunately, the Reubenites and Gadites did not respond angrily to the accusation that they had built the altar to sin.  Instead, they explained the purpose for which they had built the altar: to remind future generations that those Israelites living east of the Jordan were just as much a part of Israel as those living to the west of the Jordan.  Then we have the final good thing which was done.  The other tribes accepted the explanation and did not get insulted by the Reubenites and Gadites thinking that such a monument was necessary.  We see here two groups who could have easily allowed their pride to be offended instead talk to each other and accept that the others had valid reasons for concern.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.