Eastern Tribes Return Home

 Joshua 22:1-5

 

Eastern Tribes Return Home

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded.  For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you.  Now that the Lord your God has given them rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.  But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

 

Have you wondered what being a faithful person looks like?  If so you need not look anymore, for the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the haft-tribe of Manasseh were those kinds of men.  But it came at a cost, they were not there to show their son a trade, or teach them to learn how to become men, or instruct their daughters on how to do many things, but they believe God would be there for them and He was.  Paid close attention to verses 6-8, ^“Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes.   (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”

 

Now be quick to take notice, it was God that gave them the land, it was God who protected their families while they were away for a long time doing His will, and it was God who sent them home with great wealth.  It was all God, so not only does being a faithful man in this life have great value in the eternal, but it also has God's blessing today.

 

You would have missed the message that the book of Joshua is teaching us if you believe it came without a personal cost to these men.  But what we have observed is that obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings heartache and great discipline.  

 

I do believe as we wait for our LORD to return soon, we are going to be tested, so it's time now before it comes into play, to choose, for me and my house we choose to be obedient and do what God tells us.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice