Now if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, chapter 22. Joshua 22; page 196 in the church Bibles. We have been working through Joshua here at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday mornings and we’ve come today to the final section of the book. The last few chapters, you will remember, chapters 1 through 4, dealt with crossing the Jordan, entering into the Promised Land. Then chapters 5 through 12 dealt with conquering Canaan, then gave us the narrative of the conquest. Chapters 13 through 21 were about claiming the inheritance. Now that the conquest was complete, the land had to be apportioned to the various tribes.
And now here in chapters 22 through 24, we’re in the final section which is all about consolidating the gains. Consolidating their gains. The conquest is complete, the land has been allotted to each of the tribes, and the chapter before us today, in the chapter before us today, the two-and-a-half trans-Jordanian tribes – Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh – who had settled on the western shore of the Jordan River outside of the land of Canaan, before the conquest had begun, they are now finally allowed to return to their families and to their homes. And as the narrative unfolds here in chapter 22, we are actually being reminded and instructed about the centrality of unity among the people of God. Unity among the people of God. That’s the big idea.
And we are going to consider the teaching of the chapter under three headings. First of all in verses 1 through 9, we’ll look at the duty of future faithfulness. The duty of future faithfulness. As Joshua sends the trans-Jordanian tribes home, he calls them to press on and to persevere and to continue in that obedience to the Lord that has thus far characterized them on into the future. The duty of future faithfulness.
Then verses 10 through 20, we’ll think about the danger of past failure. The well-intentioned actions which we will see in a few moments of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh, caused considerable alarm among the rest of the Israelite tribes and they challenged them as a result of that alarm not to fall back into the same patterns of idolatry and sin that had characterized their fathers. So the danger of past faithfulness. The duty of future faithfulness. The danger of past failure – excuse me.
And then verses 21 through 34, the demonstration of persistent fidelity. Contrary to the misunderstanding of the rest of the tribes of Israel, the trans-Jordanian tribes have not defected back to idolatry, but on the contrary, have persevered and persisted in their fidelity to their promises before God and to all His commandments. And indeed, they call the rest of Israel to persevere in unity, to be one in faith and in affection.
So there’s the outline. I hope you’ve got it. The duty of future faithfulness, verses 1 through 9. The danger of past failure, 10 through 20. And the demonstration of persistent fidelity, 21 through 34. Before we look at each of those, let’s pause and pray and then we’ll read the passage together. Let us pray.
Our gracious God, we pray now that You would draw near to us, and by Your Word and Spirit instruct us in the way everlasting. Lead us to Christ. Show us His grace and sufficiency for all our deepest need. Rebuke us and discipline us and train us in godly obedience and enable us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by this portion of Your Word at work in our lives. For we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.
Joshua chapter 22. This is the Word of Almighty God:
“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 your 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, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, he said to them, ‘Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.’ So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses.
And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. And the people of Israel heard it said, ‘Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.’ And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, ‘Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’’
Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, ‘The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance. No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the Lord.’’ And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, ‘Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.’’ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!’
When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, ‘Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.’
Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, ‘For,’ they said, ‘it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.’”
Amen, and we praise God for His holy Word.
The neighborhood in which I grew up in the east end of Glasgow was a largely working class community nestled on the banks of the River Clyde. On one side of the river was Carmyle, where I lived. That was my community. On the other side was Cambuslang, which, Cambuslang is a name you may know. It’s famous in our circles today for the mighty revival that took place there in the 18th century led by George Whitefield. But growing up, I only knew Cambuslang and its people as “the enemy.” Straddling the river between Carmyle and Cambuslang was a disused railway bridge, and when the rivalries between the youth of the two communities broke out into fights, as it was occasionally want to do, the bridge was the neutral territory where all the action went down. These were kids from two communities that were as alike as can be imagined. They had everything in common. They spoke in the same rough, Glaswegian slang. They went to the same schools. Their families worked together in the same factories and in the same shops. The thing that divided them was not class or race or language or religion. The only thing that divided them was the less than one hundred yards of the River Clyde. But that was all it took for a “them” and “us” mentality to develop.
The passage before us this morning is haunted by the very real danger of the same thing happening between the tribes of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh on the one side of the river and the rest of the tribes of Israel on the other. It’s not that they were not culturally, linguistically, historically, religiously Hebrews. They were in no way distinguishable from their brothers in the west except for this one thing. The trans-Jordanian tribes lived on the eastern shore, but as the youth of Carmyle and Cambuslang can attest, sometimes all it takes is a natural boundary like a river to develop a “them” and “us” mentality. And so Joshua here in our chapter, he keeps the promise he had made to the two-and-a-half tribes back in chapter 1 of this book before the conquest began that now the conquest at last is concluded by may return to the land that had been given to them on the western shore of the river.
The Duty of Future Faithfulness
And as Joshua sends them home, it is to the prevention of that danger of a final breach within Israel that he directs his attention in the speech he gives them in verses 1 through 9. Would you look there with me please, verses 1 through 9? Here first of all is the duty of future faithfulness. The duty of future faithfulness. You’ll notice he starts with a backward glance; he looks back and surveys their history. Do you see that in verse 2? “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I 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.” You may remember back in chapter 1 when Joshua was urging these two-and-a-half tribes not to remain on the western shore but to follow with the rest of Israel into the conquest of the land of Canaan, he had used almost this precise language with them. He had told them to remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded them and they were to pass over before their brothers and help them. And in reply, the two-and-a-half tribes said to Joshua, “Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you.” And here is Joshua now at the other end of the story, quoting those very words back to them. And he is saying, “I know you’ve kept your promises. I’ve not forgotten the word that you gave. You have been faithful to Moses. You have been faithful to me. You have been faithful to your brothers. You have been faithful to the Lord.” He is commending them. He is thanking them and praising them.
Actually, just as an aside, that is something the Bible consistently encourages in us. Haven’t you found in your own life a quiet word of commendation, a gentle expression of gratitude, goes such a very long way in helping you stay the course for whatever challenges remain yet ahead of you? We need to be asking ourselves, in light of Joshua’s example, “Who have I been encouraging this past week? Who have I thanked for their obvious faithfulness and their commitment to godliness or generosity or kindness or servant heartedness?” Who do you need to take aside in the days ahead and to tell them what you have seen and noticed God doing in them and through them? We naturally find fault. Don’t we? It’s easy to spot failures. Joshua here reminds us that we must work to find ways to celebrate faithfulness, so he looks back and he makes a note of real faithfulness that he can observe in these two-and-a-half tribes.
But then he looks forward and he exhorts them, having come thus far in their obedience to the Lord, not to slack off but to press on. Look at verse 4. “And now the Lord your 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, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” What a perfect description of the duties of every child of God. Wouldn’t you agree? Observe the law of the Lord, love Him, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, cling to Him and serve Him with all of your heart and with all your soul. That is still our calling, isn’t it? That’s what godliness looks like among us.
Joshua, you’ll notice, is not here appealing to historical roots or to organizational structures to ensure that these two-and-a-half tribes continue to be aligned with the other tribes of Israel. The basis, rather, of the future unity of the people of God on both sides of the river depends not on some sort of administrative governance that holds them all together. It depends, rather, on a love for God and His Word and His ways. It rests on truth, embraced and believed and obeyed. It is the Word of God rested in and submitted to and lived out day by day. That actually continues to be a vital principle for the church in our own generation and time as well. Unity cannot be maintained by the apparatus of church government alone. It must be maintained by a shared commitment to Biblical doctrine and Biblical ethics and Biblical mission.
In verses 7 through 9, the two-and-a-half tribes are sent on their way with a blessing and an abundance of resources lavished on them in recognition for their costly service performed among their brothers during the conquest for so many months. But as they go, it is to a life of future faithfulness that they are being called. Yesterday’s faithfulness is worth celebrating, but it is no substitute for faithfulness again tomorrow. It’s good that you’ve served the Lord in days gone by, but do not let a good reputation for yesterday’s faithfulness become an excuse in your heart for present laziness or moral laxity or spiritual indifference. Paul exhorts the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Do not say, “I have come far enough. I have been faithful enough. I have done enough, served enough, been godly enough.” Go on! That’s Joshua’s word to them and Joshua’s word to us. “Keep the commandment of the Lord your God, cling to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” The duty of future faithfulness. Do you see it?
The Danger of Past Failure
Then secondly, look at verses 10 through 20. Here, we need to think about the danger of past failure. The duty of future faithfulness, now the danger of past failure. When the people of Gad and Reuben and Manasseh reached the western shore of the Jordan River, before they crossed back over into their own land – or rather the eastern shore, before they crossed back over into their own land – they stop and they build a massive replica of the altar of the Lord that was located centrally at the tabernacle at Shiloh. And what happens next in the wake of that action reminds me what happens on social media all the time these days. Somebody tweets out, “I love bananas,” and the internet explodes with accusations and denunciation – “What do you mean you love bananas? Are oranges not good enough for you? What’s wrong with peaches? Why do you hate all the other fruit?”
So verse 11 tells us the folk all over Israel are quickly blogging about this giant altar on the west bank of the Jordan and like the very best internet trolls on the web these days, you’ll notice in verse 11 the exclusionary language that they use. Do you see it in verse 11? They declare that the altar was built on the western shore of the river that belongs to the people of Israel. Did you catch the implication of what they are saying? Only the people on their side of the river count as real Israelites in their minds. Gad and Reuben and Manasseh, they are being canceled – aren’t they? And so verse 12, they all gather at Shiloh to make war against their trans-Jordanian brethren. It sounds rather drastic, doesn’t it? It is, I think, a salutary lesson to us in just how easily suspicion and division can creep into the assembly of the Lord’s people. No sooner have the trans-Jordanians left for home than the rest of the people are thinking in “them” and “us” categories. Aren’t they? How careful we need to be to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
But of course as we are going to discover, the other tribes have rather leapt to conclusions. However, before they launch a unilateral nuclear missile strike against Gilead, they do have the presence of mind to dispatch Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, to express their concerns and find out what in the world is really going on. And actually, as we listen to their concerns, as Phinehas represents them to the trans-Jordanians, verses 16 through 20, I think we begin to understand why the rest of Israel reacted as dramatically as they did. Would you look at the text with me – verses 16 through 20? You’ll notice in verse 16 the call the construction of the altar a “breach of faith against the God of Israel in turning away from following the Lord.” So they are taking this extremely seriously. But what’s the problem? Why is it such a big deal?
Well it seems they are worried that this is an act of theological schism. They are establishing, they fear, a rival center of worship other than the center that has been established at Shiloh where the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant was located. This may even be an expression, they fear, of outright paganism or syncretism or blending the religion of Canaan and the religion of the Lord. It looks like heterodoxy and heresy and idolatry, self-made religion, home-spun worship which the Lord will never tolerate. Those are their, actually not unreasonable, concerns. It comes out, if you look at the rest of Phinehas’ speech. Notice the two historical incidents to which he draws the trans-Jordanian’s attention, the first in verse 17. “Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which we have yet not cleansed ourselves and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you rebel against the Lord today, then tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.” Phinehas is talking about an incident that took place during the wilderness wandering of Israel back in Numbers chapter 25. They committed idolatry with the Moabites and they worshiped the pagan god, Baal of Peor, and the Lord sent a plague of judgment upon them. So this first historical reference is highlighting the consequences from idolatry.
The second incident happened much more recently after the people of Israel crossed the Promised Land. You’ll see it if you look down at verse 20. “Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’’ So this time, the historical reference highlights not just the danger of idolatry but the danger of breaking faith, of breaking covenant, of being disloyal both to the Lord and to the bonds that hold the people of Israel together as one. And Phinehas wants them to understand there are dire consequences for both – for both idolatry and disunity.
And then you’ll notice he offers a way out of what he fears may be a necessary, disciplinary action by the rest of the people of Israel. Look at verse 18. “If the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.” So we’re not to understand the Israelites’ concern as uncaring and a sort of fractious rush to judgment. No, they worry that the trans-Jordanians have built this alternative altar because of the uncleanness of their land, that is, perhaps remaining pagans in the land have incited them to this act of idolatry and rebellion against God. And if that’s the case, well then they were prepared actually to seed some of their own inheritance to their brothers on the other side of the river. “Rather that you take some of our land than that you fall into this terrible sin and the necessary judgment that will follow.” So clearly, actually, they care about the trans-Jordanians.
And so what is going on here if this is not just mere overreaction, but there is some legitimacy behind their concerns? I think we have to conclude even though they’ve misunderstood the intentions of the trans-Jordanian tribes, the fears that have riled up the remainder of Israel express appropriate and godly concern. This is what godly people do when they begin to notice defection from the path of faithfulness to God, when they begin to see the church of God accommodate the world and the priorities of the world and the ways of the world and the worship of the world. And so rather than condemning Phinehas and his crew too quickly, really we ought to be asking ourselves if we are appropriately distressed and grieved when we see compromise in the church of Jesus Christ with the spirit of the age. Or do we just roll our eyes and shrug our shoulders and mutter about how things were different in our day? Are we willing to confront sin with a kind but uncompromising call to repentance? The other tribes of Israel, at least in our chapter, were willing to do exactly that. They were not willing that any among them should descend into a pattern of sin and idolatry and they were prepared to take decisive, disciplinary action to address it where necessary.
In Old Testament categories, that disciplinary action would have meant military engagement. Today in the new covenant, it means church discipline. But either way, it is not motivated by a spirit of spite or judgmentalism, but by a concern for the holiness of God’s church. We said at the beginning of this message, the big concern in Joshua 22 is unity, but here we see, don’t we, as one of the commentators, Ralph Davis, puts it, that “there can be no unity with apostasy.” There can be no unity with apostasy. And if the other tribes are committing apostasy, as Phinehas fears perhaps they might be, they would be quite right to take this drastic and decisive action. There can be no unity with apostasy. As uncomfortable as that sometimes may make us feel, it’s a principle to which we must adhere.
The Demonstration of Persistent Fidelity
Well thankfully Phinehas and the others have in fact misunderstood the meaning of this giant altar on the banks of the Jordan. It was not meant to be a rival center of worship or a site for pagan idolatry. It was built, rather, to be a witness – a kind of non-verbal statement of continued commitment – to the faith and the covenant that the tribes of Israel on both sides of the river were pledged to maintain. Look with me at verses 21 through 34 and the third big theme in this chapter. First, there is the duty of faithfulness. Then, the danger of past failure. And now, verses 21 through 34, the demonstration of persistent fidelity. The demonstration of persistent fidelity.
As they listened to Phinehas’ exhortation, the trans-Jordanians are appalled at the misunderstanding that their actions seem to have generated, and they react, don’t they, verse 22, with a solemn oath. Do you see it in verse 22? This oath functions both to bring solemnity and gravity to their protestations of innocence, and also as a sort of renewed confession of faith in the God of Israel. Look at verse 22, “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance.” This altar has nothing to do with rebelling against God. Rather, this altar is about preserving unity for the future. It turns out, they understood quite well what the youths of Carmyle and Cambuslang knew. The trans-Jordanians understood people don’t need much encouragement for natural boundaries like rivers – whether it’s the River Clyde in Glasgow or the Jordan River in Canaan – to become barriers and a cause of suspicion and animosity between them. “The people on the other side are weird and strange and different. We can’t trust them. They’re not real Israelites because they don’t belong in the land of Canaan where the tabernacle is located.” And so as they put it in verse 24, “If that attitude were allowed to prevail between us, your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord.”
So here’s their plan to mitigate that danger. They say to themselves, verse 26, “Let us now build an altar not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you, between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings so your children will not say to our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the Lord.’” The altar is a giant replica of the altar at Shiloh, and it was meant to be a consistent reminder to people on both sides of the river that the trans-Jordanians and the rest of Israel were bound together as one people to serve the Lord and to worship Him according to His Word. It’s a symbol, actually, not of disunity as Phinehas is afraid it may be, but a symbol of unity – a witness and testimony of ongoing faithfulness and fidelity. As Ralph Davis again puts it, “If the concerns of the Israelites is that there is no unity with apostasy, the response of the trans-Jordanians reminds us there can be no fidelity without unity.” If we don’t hold together and maintain our unity as one people of God, there is every chance that we will turn on one another and cause generations yet to come to depart from the faith.
So these two principles are vital. Do you see them? We need to hold them both with equal determination. There must be no unity with apostasy and there can be no fidelity without unity. No unity with apostasy. No fidelity without unity. I think it’s important, by the way, to notice that it was an altar that the two-and-a-half tribes selected as the symbol of their commitment to God and His people. The altar is the place where sacrifice and atonement is made. The point is not hard to see. It is because of the blood of sacrifice, of atonement, that we are one; we are together under the atoning blood of the sacrifice that deals with our sin and thus are reconciled to God. That’s why we are one. That’s what they are saying. We are made one through the blood of a common atonement. And we all know, don’t we, the true and final atonement is made only through the blood shed not on a stone altar but on the cross where the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world died, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is surely one of the great joys of the Christian Gospel, a glorious surprise we discover when we believe the good news and trust in Christ crucified. But not only is our sin atoned for and our guilt taken away, not only are we reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made one with a global family from every tribe and language and nation.
Here is what happens to you when you trust in the blood of the sacrifice shed for you, not the blood of bulls and goats but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ – Ephesians 2:12 – “You were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise. You were outsiders, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for He Himself is our peace who has made us both one.” The blood of Jesus is the ground of our unity. There is no unity possible for those who have not come under the blood of Christ. Believers cannot be united to the world. There is no unity between those under the blood and those who are strangers to the atoning work of Christ. It is the cross that makes us one and the cross is mightier than any difference, mightier than class difference and race difference and educational difference; mightier than history or language or background. The blood of Jesus Christ makes peace and joins us together as family forever.
Well in the event, Phinehas is thrilled to hear the explanation of what has really been the trans-Jordanians’ intention. You’ll notice what he says in verse 31. “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.” The faithfulness of the people of God, Phinehas says, is the evidence in their midst of the presence of God. How does he know God is really among them? Not because of great signs and wonders and dramatic experiences. Not because of shock and awe. But because the people of God have stayed faithful to His covenant and to His commandments.
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I am tempted to look for signs that God is really with us in the spectacular and the dramatic. I want the extraordinary. I want shock and awe, you know. But the message of our text is that actually the clearest evidence of God’s presence to bless us is in the steady, continued faithfulness of His people to His holy Word. How will we know that the Spirit of Christ rests upon First Presbyterian Church in favor and blessing? We will know it by the persistent faithfulness of her members to a life of humble, Christ-like obedience and joyful unity under the means of grace. That’s the sign that God is really with us. It’s not shock and awe. It is unremarkable plodding in the clear paths of Christian godliness over the long haul. Is that what you aspire to, I wonder – persistent fidelity, demonstrated again and again in unity with one another and in devotion to God and His ways. Not shock and awe, but unremarkable, persistent plodding in the path of fidelity.
Well we’ve seen the duty of future faithfulness. Let’s never forget that yesterday’s obedience is not enough. Let us go on in growing likeness to Christ. We’ve seen the danger of past failure. Beware the mistakes of the past, lest we be doomed to repeat them. And we’ve seen the demonstration of persistence fidelity. The ground of our unity is the cross. United in Christ, we demonstrate that God is with us, not with grand gestures and dramatic expressions, but by a long obedience in the same direction. So may God help us, all of us today, to rest on the Lord Jesus Christ, on his blood and righteousness, and press on together in fidelity to Him.
Let us pray.
Our Father, we bless You for Your holy Word, for its instruction, its discipline, its rebuke, its beauty, its humor, its wisdom. How we need it all and so much more beside. Work its truth into our hearts and into our lives. Make us one not with a superficial or artificial unity, not a formal and external unity only. Make us one in the blood of Christ. Make us one under the altar, under the atoning work of our Redeemer. Make us one in Him, we pray, and by His grace enable us to go on in that faithfulness to which You have called us. For we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.