different, but still true

Joshua 22:10-19 (JDV)

Joshua 22:10 When they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built a large, impressive altar there by the Jordan.
Joshua 22:11 Then the Israelites heard it said, “Notice, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan at the region of the Jordan, on the Israelite side.”
Joshua 22:12 When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.
Joshua 22:13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead.
Joshua 22:14 They sent ten leaders with him – one family leader for each tribe of Israel. All of them were heads of their ancestral families among the clans of Israel.
Joshua 22:15 They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and told them,
Joshua 22:16 “This is what Yahveh’s entire community says: ‘What is this betrayal you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from Yahveh and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against Yahveh today?
Joshua 22:17 Wasn’t the iniquity of Peor, which brought a plague on Yahveh’s community, enough for us? We have not rid ourselves of it even to this day,
Joshua 22:18 and now would you turn away from Yahveh? If you rebel against Yahveh today, tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel.
Joshua 22:19 But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land Yahveh possesses where Yahveh’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But don’t rebel against Yahveh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahveh our God.

different, but still true

The Western tribes’ concern will turn out to be premature, because the altar was not intended as an apostasy. But their concern was appropriate. We ought always to be on the alert for signs of apostasy among the brothers. It is a serious thing to seek to replace the true faith with another option.

Lord, make us diligent to preserve the true faith, but wise enough to recognize when differences are not signs of apostasy.