Joshua 22:1

The third and final major division of the Book of Joshua begins here. The Trans-Jordanic tribes, having discharged their duty, are sent home, with the compliments and encouragement of their great commander, who also gave a solemn warning against apostasy (Joshua 22:1-9). On the way home, the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh constructed an impressive altar near the Jordan (Joshua 22:10-12); the remainder of Israel were greatly disturbed and demanded an explanation (Joshua 22:13-20); the eastern tribes responded with a full explanation (Joshua 22:21-29); western Israel was pleased and satisfied with the explanation, and perfect unity was restored (Joshua 22:30-34).

There is no reason whatever for excising this chapter from the Word of God and for labeling it a "late priestly addition." No textual evidence whatever warrants such a scissors job on the Holy Bible. The only reason for the critical attacks against this chapter is that it destroys one of their darling THEORIES, namely, that, "God's command to worship at the central sanctuary was NOT VALID from the very beginning, but that such a law came into being only after the construction of Solomon's Temple."[1]

This theory is incorrect; it is founded upon two tremendous errors, namely: (1) that, "A plurality of sanctuaries does not seem to be frowned upon in the O.T. prior to Josiah's reforms (about 621 B.C.)."[2] Woudstra based that rather timid statement of the theory on Deuteronomy 12:1-5, but that passage forbids worship anywhere except, "The place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come." The critical canard that the ONLY PLACE God ever selected was Jerusalem is a gross mistake. Right here in Joshua, God chose to place his name at Shiloh, where the tabernacle rested for three centuries, and, throughout the history of Israel from the beginning to the end of it, the idea of the one central sanctuary where God would dwell among his people and where their sacrifices should be offered is the dominating theme.

(The first half dozen pages of my commentary on Deuteronomy 12, are devoted to the refutation of this irresponsible and ridiculous theory. Also, see my further comments in Vol. 2, Exodus, of the Pentateuchal series of commentaries, pp. 299,300.)

(2) The other prime mistake underlying this critical theory is that "Solomon's Temple" was the one and only goal of Almighty God throughout Israel's history! Preposterous! (Read our elaborate discussions of that "Den of Thieves and Robbers" known as Solomon's Temple in the N.T. series.) It was "the Tabernacle" that God gave Israel, not the Temple. The Temple was David's idea (2 Samuel 7), and, although God accommodated to it, God Almighty twice destroyed it. Why? From its beginning it proved to be a hindrance and a roadblock to the true will of God. It was that Temple, really, that crucified the Son of God!

This chapter, of course, is the death of that pivotal theory of the critics, and, therefore, they must get rid of the chapter! If they don't, they lose the war on that theory! We are thankful indeed that Samuel Holmes has told us exactly how they try to get rid of it. Here it is:

"This narrative is Midrash ... Midrash conveys doctrine, not in the form of abstract discourse, but in a mode appealing to the imagination. The teaching is embodied in a story, whether parable, or allegory, or seeming historical narrative; and the last thing such teachers would have thought of was the question of whether the selected persons, events, and circumstances, which so vividly suggest the doctrine are in themselves real or fictitious. The doctrine is everything; the mode of expression has no independent value. This narrative (Joshua 22) is clearly unhistorical. It is Midrash!"[3]

Is there any truth or value in such an "analysis" of God's Word? The answer is NO! It is on a parity with what Satan told Eve, "Ye shall not surely die." Such statements are not based upon any evidence at all, but merely upon the prior necessity of destroying a portion of God's Word that is hostile and contradictory regarding their false theories.

The big thing in this chapter is, of course, the near-civil war that was threatened by the building of that altar near the Jordan. It is amazing that a translator of the ability of Boling would declare this chapter to be the record of, "The comic squabbling of the people over an internal (or was it external?) boundary."[4] There is no boundary dispute at all in this chapter.

"Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gaddites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, and have hearkened unto my voice in all that I commanded you: ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of Jehovah your God. And now Jehovah your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he spake unto them: therefore now turn ye, and get ye unto your tents, unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you beyond Jordan. Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto 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 unto their tents."

This first paragraph of the chapter is "essential to the story of the invasion, showing that God kept faith with those who kept faith with Him, answering, as it does to Joshua 1:12-18."[5] Far from being a late addition by unscrupulous priests desiring to change God's law, as the critics allege, "The events of this chapter, without doubt, are recorded in their proper historical order."[6]

"These many days ..." (Joshua 22:3). Plummer says that the Hebrew in this passage actually means "a great many days."[7] Surely, those Trans-Jordanic troops served long and diligently in the conquest; and it is a remarkable tribute to Joshua's leadership that there is never a hint of any murmuring or dissatisfaction on the part of those soldiers. In fact, Plummer pointed out that the whole record of Israel under Joshua's leadership was one of strict obedience and continuity in God's law, forming a dramatic contrast with the endless bickerings and murmurings that marked Israel's conduct in the wilderness, and also immediately following the death of Joshua. He cited this as a significant indication of the historicity of the narrative." Any writer who was inventing his details (as would have been done in Midrash) could hardly have thought of making his history such a contrast with the rest of the history of Israel."[8]

"Do ... Love ... Walk ... Keep ... Cleave ... Serve ... with all your heart, and with all your souls ..." (Joshua 22:5). Here we have six one-syllable words, dramatic imperatives that can lead the soul into a state of being well pleasing to God. The message here is founded upon the "first and great commandment" (Mark 12:29-30). Throughout the Scriptures, the "love of God" is equated with keeping God's Word and doing His will. Christ said, "If ye love me, ye will keep my word; if ye love me, ye will keep my commandments" (John 14:15,23).