Joshua 22:11-34
The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River.So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them.First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh,“ The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him?Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord.And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.“ If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God.Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel:“ The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day.If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us.“ The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours,‘ What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel?The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.“ So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours,‘ You have no claim to the Lord.’“ If they say this, our descendants can reply,‘ Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community— the heads of the clans of Israel— heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied.Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them,“ Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened.And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar“ Witness,” for they said,“ It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.”
Judges 20:1-17
Then all the Israelites were united as one man, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, including those from across the Jordan in the land of Gilead. The entire community assembled in the presence of the Lord at Mizpah.The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel— 400,000 warriors armed with swords— took their positions in the assembly of the people of God.( Word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened.The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said,“ My concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin.That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead.So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime.Now then, all of you— the entire community of Israel— must decide here and now what should be done about this!”And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared,“ None of us will return home! No, not even one of us!Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.One tenth of the men from each tribe will be chosen to supply the warriors with food, and the rest of us will take revenge on Gibeah of Benjamin for this shameful thing they have done in Israel.”So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying,“ What a terrible thing has been done among you!Give up those evil men, those troublemakers from Gibeah, so we can execute them and purge Israel of this evil.” But the people of Benjamin would not listen.Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.
