Week 68, Day 2: The Witness
Today’s Reading: Joshua 22:1-34
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
This chapter displays for us how attentive Israel was during this time to be want to please God. A blatent act of unfaithfulness was not going to be tolerated. When Gad, Reuben and Manasseh built this other alter it was perceived as being another place of worship (instead of the tabernacle at Shiloh) and therefore viewed as straying away from serving Jehovah. Notice that the chiefs refer to the sin of peor and the sin of Achan when speaking to Gad and Reuben. The leaders were very concerned about a sin among the children of Israel causing trouble and distress for the rest of Israel. They sought then to correct this problem quickly before it evoked God’s anger.
It is interesting though to see how Israel reacts to what is perceived to be a blatent act of rebellion verses more subtle actions. Was a lack of diligence in taking the land any less an act of rebellion? Israel was commanded to be diligent to drive out all of the inhabitants (Deut 7:2). This was a command just as much as being faithful to serve God only. Instead we read of times where when Israel became strong they made the Canaanites their forced labor instead of destroying them. Certainly God had said that He would drive out the inhabitant over some period of time so that the land did not become overrun by wild animals (Deut 7:22). But at some point the people begin to display a willingness to allow some to stay, a lack of trust in God to help them drive out the inhabitants, and a lack of dilligence in taking the land.
Question: How do you think we can be on our guard against the subtle acts of disobedience as well as blatent acts of disobedience in our lives and the lives of our family?
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