A Story of Witness and Commitment to YHVH

Picking up from my last blog-post taken from the Cepher of Y’hoshua (aka Joshua), I wish to now turn our attention to chapter 22, verses 10-34. And what we find here in this passage of Holy Writ is an amazing but awesome portrait of spiritual commitment and witness of a people’s relationship to their God—their Elohim.

Y’hoshua Releases the Eastern Soldiers to Return to their Lands

Recall from our previous post, Y’hoshua had released the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of M’nasheh (aka Manasseh) to return to their homes in the Land east of the Yarden (aka, the Jordan River). And the text tells us that upon these tribal soldiers’ return to their homes, they built a “great altar” in the midst of their territory.

Doubts Abound as to the Location and Existence of the Great Altar

Interestingly, archaeologists have incited some confusion in the minds students of the bible by casting doubts as to the actual location of this great altar, despite scripture recording that the altar was located east of the Yarden, against or facing the Land of Canaan, in Gil’ad or Gilead (vss. 11 and 32).

The Bible Remains a Reliable Witness

But I implore the diligent student of scripture reading this post to not be beguiled (as the nachash—the serpent beguiled Ishah (Eve) in the garden) by the misleading chattel of such archaeologists and so-called theologians. For our bible has and will always stand as a reliable witness to YHVH’s interventions into the affairs of His human creation.

A Remarkable Altar

Nevertheless, the greatness (be it the shear size or design, it is not clear) of this altar caught the attention of the western Israelites in Canaan proper. Consequently, however, as a result of a misinformed understanding of the purpose of this altar, the Canaanite-based Israeli-tribal heads met in Shiloh to formulate a military response to said altar.

The Danger of Assuming Things That Are Not

You see, the West of the Yarden Hebrews, in their fear of offending Yah and upending everything they’d achieved in their conquest through the mighty Arm of Yah, assumed the Gil’ad or Gilead Great Altar was indicative of their Eastern brethren acting as fools: them having fallen into idolatry (vss. 16-17). The Western Hebrews no doubt rationalized in their minds and hearts: Why would anyone build an altar unless they intended to sacrifice unto and worship other gods?

So the Western Brethren assumed the worse of their Eastern brethren. However, their concern was not for the depravity they believed their Eastern brethren had fallen into. Rather, they feared the wrath of Yah fall upon the entirety of Yisra’el (vs. 18).

Concerns For Brotherly Impurity

The Western Ysra’elites also expressed concern that their Eastern brethren’s land, as a result of their misperceived idolatry, had become unclean (Hebrew of “tame”).

Again, assuming these concerns to be the case regarding their Eastern brethren, the heads of the Western tribes met in Shiloh to strategize and assemble an army to eliminate the perceived threat.

Kill Them All

Although we will learn shortly that the Westerners’ assumptions regarding their Eastern brethren were in fact grossly misunderstood, we must recognize that the Western Hebrews were responding to their erroneous perceptions in accordance with Torah.

Regarding such a situation the Eternal commanded of Yisra’el:

12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. (Deu 13:12-15 KJV)

The Inquiry and Diligent Questioning

So the Western Yisra’elites go on over to their Eastern brethren and made inquiry of their building the altar. In addition they attempted to reason with their Eastern brethren to abandon their misperceived rebellious ways and even their their lands there in the east and resettle in the Western Land. They admonished them to not “become apostates from YHVH” (vs. 19).

It’s Not As You Perceive My Brothers

The Eastern tribal leaders in response to the concerns of their Western brethren (not to mention the existential threat they posed to them) sought vigorously to clarify their intentions in building the Altar. And in the process of clarify their intentions were not the least idolatrous in nature, they reaffirmed their commitment to YHVH by twice proclaiming Yah’s Name and His ‘s sovereignty:

“YHVH El of elohim, YHVH El of elohim” (vs. 22).

Now I should mentioned that the LXX renders the Easterners’ declaration here somewhat differently, the wording order giving offering a nuanced meaning that the wording found in most of the other English translations:

“God even God is the Lord, and God even God Himself knows, and Israel he shall know…”

God Knows Our Hearts!

The Eastern tribal leaders stated that Yah knew the truth as to why they built their altar AND that soon all of Yisra’el would know the Truth as well (that is, Elohim knows our hearts’ intent). They further placed upon themselves an edict that if in fact they had transgressed Yah and His Ways, that they not survive their Western brethren’s onslaught against them (vs. 22).

The Truth of the Matter My Brothers Is This…

The Easterners proceeded to explain that their building of the Altar was in no way a sign or token that they had turned abandoned YHVH and His Ways. Nor was it, they contended, built for the purpose of it being a rival to YHVH’s Brazen Altar that was tied to Yah’s Tabernacle.

Obviously the Eastern Hebrews had not forgotten or overlooked Yah’s commandments regarding worship at His Tabernacle:

“Then there shall be a place which YHVH your Elohim shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto YHVH” (Deu. 12:11).

This Is Our Witness!

So why did the Eastern Hebrews build this great altar in the midst of their land? Their representatives revealed that they built the altar in response to a “fear” (the Hebrew for “fear” being “de’agah,” meaning “anxiety”) they developed that future Western Yisra’eli generations might question their relationship with YHVH, since the Yarden separated them from them from each other. It was surmised that this natural separation that the Yarden/Jordan created between the two sides might suggest to future Western generations that the Easterners had no inheritance from YHVH and that future Eastern generations might be inhibited or prohibited from worshiping YHVH at the place where Yah would place His Name (vs. 25).

We Remain in Covenant With YHVH

Thus, the Great Altar was built, not for purposes of worship, but to serve as a witness that the Eastern Hebrew were indeed in covenant relationship with the Eternal; that they were indeed every bit members of Yisra’el as their Western brethren were (vss. 26-27).

This “witness” in the form of a “Great Altar” would ultimately serve to remind or prompt their western brethren (both present and future generations) to include them in their worship of Elohim. Bottom line: the “Great Altar” was a “witness between them, their Western brethren and YHVH” (vs. 28).

All Well That Ends Well

The Easterners’ words of clarification regarding their building of “The Great Altar” is recorded as having been met with the approval of the Western tribal leaders, including Pinchas (i.e., Phinehas) haCohen (Phinehas the Priest). It was evident to them that their Eastern brethren were in alignment with them in their dedication to and worship of YHVH. No evil whatsoever was intended.

Thus, Yah would have no cause to be angry with Yisra’el (vs. 31). So the happy ending to this story is that the whole of Yisra’el blessed (the Hebrew here being “barak” meaning “to praise”) YHVH. And any talk of war between the two groups of Hebrews separated by the Yarden was put away (vs. 33). And the tribes of Reuben and Gad proclaimed the altar (some translations say this proclamation was in naming the altar) “a witness between us that YHVH is Elohim” (vs. 34). Halleluyah!

What is our Witness?

The main thing that struck me about this beautiful story is the concept of “witness” that was woven into it. The term witness in the Hebrew is ‘ed. It essentially means to provide evidence or testimony of a thing (BDB Lexicon).

When I think about our day-to-day walk in Mashiyach, I wonder what witness do we-me or I, as Yah’s elect, provide to others of like mind as well as to the unbelieving world of our relationship with the Eternal and our commitment or dedication to walk in His Ways. And if we do indeed possess and show forth that witness to the world about us, what does it say about us? What effect does our witness have on those who see or experience our witness—our ‘ed—our testimony—our evidence?

What Kind of Witness?

The other thing that can’t be overlooked here is that we can just as easily so forth negative or bad witnesses to others. And these negative or bad witnesses can have just as powerful effect on others and on us as the positive witnesses. They would serve to tell the world around us that our relationship with the Eternal is maybe lacking or non-existent and that maybe our commitment to our Faith is the same.

So it’s important that we ascertain what type of witness we are showing forth to the world around us at all times.

What Witnesses Am I Writing About?

I would imagine that common witnesses to our Faith may include, but not be limited to:

• Our wearing of tzitzits.
• Our keeping and observance of the weekly Sabbaths.
• Our keeping and observance of the annual set-apart days and seasons of YHVH.
• Our eating clean foods.
• Our walking in Torah.
• Maybe our wearing (depending on which Messianic persuasion you’re attached to) of yamakas and or prayer shawls.
• Our rejection and non-keeping of certain pagan-linked horror-days such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and such.
• Etc.

And of course, it goes the other way around such that our not showing forth such “witnesses” could say to others that maybe our relationship with the Most High and our commitment to our Faith is not what we say it is.

Our Actions Often Speak Louder Than Our Words

Often times, our actions speak much louder than words ever could. And folks have this innate tendency of paying more attention to what we do (our witness) than what we say (although both can get you into trouble today if it rubs the right people the wrong way). And we know that our Father in heaven is big on intent and deeds:

I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jer 17:10 ASV)

So we can never overlook the importance of our witness. For our witness can have life and death consequences attached to it, as we saw illustrated here in our reading today.

What Does Your Witness Say About You and Your Relationship With YHVH?

And my prayer and hope for you today as you read and meditate on this post that you give serious consideration to what your witness says about you to others. And if our witness reveals to others the thing we want it to reveal about us, are we willing to defend that witness and back that witness with even greater deeds?

Conversely, if the witness we’re putting out (that being anything that contradicts our profession of Faith (such as disobedience to Yah and His Ways and such), are we at a place in our walk in Mashiyach to correct that wrong witness?

So ask yourself, what exactly do the witnesses you display to the world say about you and your relationship with YHVH?

Our Witness in Perilous Times Such as These

In a perilous time such as the one we’re all going through right now, “woke-ness” and “cancel-culture” challenges any witness that is not compatible with their mindset and majority rule. And certainly our Messianic, set-apart, covenant-walking/keeping witness is not compatible with these prevalent mindsets. So it is imperative that we be aware that our witness, like the Eastern Hebrews’ witness in our focus passage, can bring us potential harm, as well as bring us favor with the Almighty and like-minded brethren. Thus, we must be ever so ready to boldly give every person an answer for the hope that is in us” when our witness is questioned (1 Pet. 3:15).

What’s more, let us never regret nor be ashamed of the witness(es) that we put forth for the world to see. May those witnesses always declare our unwavering love for our Heavenly Father and our commitment to walk in His eternal Ways.

Faithfully,

Rod Thomas
The Messianic Torah Observer