What Trespass is This? - Joshua 22:16

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “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, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers 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 spoke with them, saying,”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse sixteen of Joshua we learn how Phinehas and the priests ask, “What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel” where we read, 

Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have builded you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?

The verse reads, “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “thus says the whole congregation” which means “the following utters, declares, proclaims and asks the total and entire gathering, assembly and multitude” “of the LORD” or “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “what trespass is this” which means “what kind and whatsoever unfaithful and treacherous act exists” “that you have committed” or “that you, people of Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh, have unfaithfully and treacherously acted upon” “against the God of Israel” which means “in opposition to the Supreme Deity belonging to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’ and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”? Joshua or the writer shared how “Phinehas and the ten princes” asked the “people of Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh” on behalf of the entire gathering of the people of “Israel”. whatsoever treacherous act they had performed in opposition to Jehovah God.

The verse goes on to say, “… to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have builded you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “to turn away this day” which means “to return or go back that particular sunrise to sunset” “from following the LORD” or “separate and apart from coming after Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “in that you have builded you an altar” which means “since you, people of Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh, have constructed and erected a sacrificial place”, “that you might rebel this day” or “so you could revolt and be rebellious” “against the LORD” which means “in opposition to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”? Joshua or the writer shared how “Phinehas and the ten princes” continued their questioning of the people of Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh by wondering if they were erecting their “altar” so they could be rebellious and revolt from Jehovah God.

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how “Phineas, the ten princes and the congregation of Israel” continued to question why the people of Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh violated the instruction of Jehovah God and built their altar to revolt against Him. This was not true statement, and because “Phinehas and the ten princes” hastily moved to their conclusion, we shall see they were not correct. God knows we make mistakes, and because we are sometimes hasty and fearful, we do things that in in violation to Him. For this reason and others, God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to trust in, rely upon and cling to Him in everything we do. (See Proverbs 3:5-6)

Next time we learn how the congregation asks, “is the iniquity of Peor too little for us?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".