Joshua 22:34 –
The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness,” for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the LORD is our God, too.
Some transcripts omit the name of the altar, I assume because it’s used as a verb right after. I went to the ESV which I have been told is the closest word for word translation and it’s there. So just thought I would make a quick note of this before exploring this passage.
To set the stage, before crossing the Jordan the tribes of Gad, Ruben and the half tribe of Manasseh all decided they wanted land west of the Jordan. Moses said ok, but they had to help take the Promised Land before they could settle in their portion. They had completed their obligations to the other tribes and were now settling into their new homes west of the Jordan. They built an altar and once the other tribes heard of this they were ready to attack, since the tabernacle was the only altar that could be used for sacrificial ceremonies.
The tribes of Ruben and Gad explained why and this satisfied the others so not to attack them. First thing that I take from this is the people’s passion to satisfy the Lord. Think about it a war almost started within the Israelites because one tribe wanted a reminder and the others through it was not in obedience of the Law. Sometimes I wonder why we don’t have this same passion today. I was at a meeting last night talking about the opportunities to expand the kingdom with a new church plant, which received a warm reception. The next comment was about the Falcons beating the Lions this weekend and everyone went nuts. I wish our passion for the Lord was equaled by our passion for sports teams.
The other thing I took from this is naming the altar “Witness”. This is odd to apply a name to an inanimate object, since rocks really can’t witness. But when you think about it, when we wear a cross or have a “fish” bumper sticker those are witnesses to our faith. But even more than having symbols to witness our faith we need to act in passion and not by flipping someone off in traffic with your fish bumper sticker. We need to reach out to the people seeking God more than just showing them our altar, because Jesus’ death on the cross means nothing to someone who does not know the reason for his death. We can take the easy way and invite to church, but we really should be a living witness to the glory of God and be ready to explain what that really means.