Curtain Call
Joshua 22:1-4a
At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-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 have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. And now the LORD God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies. …”
The events that unfold in Joshua 22 are a vast exegetical terrain, each path a primer for some unique aspect of covenantal life and fellowship among believers. This chapter will illustrate how ministries performed by good intentions can still lead to great fallouts and controversies, how godly leaders can divide and even war over misunderstandings, how communicating motives behind missions is essential to preventing unnecessarily conflict, how to rightly confront those brothers who seem to be compromising and how to rightly respond to confrontation when others deem us to be compromising, and ultimately how God’s character is magnified and His people unified through reconciliation. This is the story about a living monument to God’s presence, erected on the eastern shore of the Jordan, that could just as easily dismantle another generation of pilgrims as it could unite them like never before. Which is why I encourage you to read Joshua 22 in its fullness today.
But for starters, notice how tremendous this opening scene is. It can’t be any brighter. All the tribes have parted ways, each to break new ground on their allotted inheritances, but two and a half tribes still remain. Why are they last among their kin? Why have they, like Joshua himself, waited till all others are safely home before leaving? Because these were the shepherds who’d pitched their tents on the other side of the Jordan during Moses’ ministry, the very shepherds who Moses initially accused of cowardice, but who vowed to fight at the front lines and never return home until every last man had received his inheritance.
Joshua’s commendation of these vow-keepers is apt here, but I hear an applause in Heaven that far outshines it: “Well done, my good and faithful servants!”