Ed The Trouble Maker

Title: ED The Trouble Maker

Text: Joshua 22:1-34 - Key Verse: 11-12 and 30-34

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Introduction:

- In our text this morning we have the birth of a nation, a blessed people who had overcome great obstacles.

- A people who were careful to obey the one true living God.

- A people who were so excited about what God had done for them and through them.

- A people who loved each other and fought together for the cause to be a chosen people set apart by God to worship Him and be an influence in the world around them.

- But something went wrong as we will see in our text, that caused the birth of a nation who loved each other, were committed to each other and God, to almost kill each other.

- What happened? And what can we do to avoid the same problem the Israelites faced.

Read Text and Pray!!!

- It was now time to divide the allotments of land to the tribes.

- Each tribe got a parcel of land.

- But two and a half tribes were allotted land east of the Jordan river. The tribes were Gad, Reuben, and half of Manessah.

- These two and half tribes finished fighting with the rest of Israel for approx 7 years, now they were going back to there families east of the Jordan river were they had left them before crossing over with Joshua.

- They were excited, on fire for God, loving there neighbour and they parted as a nation to go to there allotted territory.

- So they leave Shiloh excited, but as they approached the Jordan river a sense of isolation from the other tribes begins to sweep over them.

- This was not just because of the River Jordan, for the Jordan is not a very big river.

- But rather that feeling came over them because of the mountains on each side that rise into the sky, approx 2000 feet, and the Jordan valley is nestled in between, and it looks like a great trench 5 to 13 miles wide.

- During the hot months of the year, who wants to travel and visit?

- Who wants to climb mountains with screaming kids just to go and visit with the 2 and a half tribes east of the Jordan. It would be allot of the work.

- This may have contributed to the fear of these tribesmen that they may never see there friends and brethren again. They would drift apart permanently.

- So they begin to ask themselves the question, what could be done to keep alive the ties of comradeship? To keep the fellowship alive and healthy?

- What could be done to symbolize the unity between people on both sides of the river, to remind everyone that they were all the children of the promise?

- There answer, build an altar. One that could be seen from a great distance, so all would no that they are the children of promise.

- So they erected an altar of great size on the west side of the Jordan river. To the show there children, and the world of there common unity.

- But there good intentions was understood to be that of Apostasy from the other tribes.

- To make a long story short, the other 9 and half tribes got together at Shiloh and were preparing to go to war with there brothers.

- And it was all on the basis of what they heard. (Jos 22:11)

- So what drove the 9 and a half tribes to go out and kill there brothers? Assumption and not fact!

- Assumption means taking all the pieces of a situation and putting them together to come up with an answer.

- But never going to the source for that answer first.

- The 9 and a half tribes put all the facts together that convinced them to go to war, and one of them was:

1. Setting up an altar when you were not suppose to.

Lev 17:8-9 says, “Say to them: Any Israelite or any alien living among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that man must be cut off from his people.”

Deut 12:27 says, “Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.

- Israel was told to destroy all other altars.

Exodus 34:13 says, “Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.”