Joshua 22:13

"And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten princes, one prince of a fathers' house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were every one of them heads of their fathers' houses among the thousands of Israel. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of Jehovah, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following after Jehovah, in that ye have builded you an altar, to rebel this day against Jehovah?"

From this it is clear that all Israel accepted the principle of "only one sanctuary"; and as we have pointed out, that was the true meaning of God's instructions from Mount Sinai and ever afterward. That the breach of this was indeed serious is apparent in the dignity and importance of the delegation Israel sent to inquire into the matter.

Note that Phinehas was "sent" by the children of Israel. Who sent him? The central government, of which Joshua, of course, was the chief executive. Why did not Joshua go himself? For the same reason that the High Priest Eleazar did not go. Eleazar and Joshua were the ones doing the sending. In this light the error of Longacre's assumption here is apparent. He spoke of the, "Suppression of Joshua the leader in the interest of the religious leader Phinehas,"[15] offering this as evidence of the "late date of this Midrash."[16] Now, Phinehas was not the religious leader, Eleazar was! Joshua, the leader, was not suppressed here at all; he was an arm of the central government was in charge all the way. Phinehas, like the ten princes, was merely a delegate, albeit, the leader of the delegation, which was appropriate enough, since Phinehas was an expert in religious affairs. So, if someone wants to make a seventh century B.C. Midrash out of this, he will have to come up with something a lot better than that!

"Apart from certain entrenched theories regarding a Priestly document dating from post-exilic times, there seems to be no reason to think of the figure of Phinehas as representing a priestly influence upon this account."[17]

In the speech of Phinehas, next reported, below, there are repeated references to many of the events in the then-recent history of Israel; and, when all of this is taken collectively into consideration, `There is no way to avoid the conclusion that Deuteronomy, as well as all the other books of the Pentateuch, were in existence when these events occurred."[18]

The punishment for such a sin as making another altar, as well as the designation of that offense as sinful, is found in Leviticus 17:4,8,9, in Deuteronomy 12:4-14, and in Deuteronomy 13:12-16.