Corporate Holiness and the High Cost of a Hair Trigger Text: Joshua 22:13-20
Introduction: The Jealousy of God
We live in a flabby, sentimental age. Our generation wants a god who is more like a tolerant, slightly senile grandfather, one who pats us on the head and assures us that our intentions are all that really matter. We want a god who is big on affirmation and short on judgment. But the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God. And this jealousy is not the petty, insecure envy of a jilted lover; it is the righteous, holy zeal of a Creator for the absolute loyalty of His creatures. It is the jealousy of a husband for his bride, the church.
This divine jealousy is the engine that drives the entire history of redemption. And because we are made in His image, and because we are His covenant people, we are to reflect that jealousy. We are to be zealous for the purity of His worship, for the honor of His name, and for the unity of His people. Apathy in the face of perceived apostasy is not a virtue; it is a sin. A casual shrug when it appears a brother has set up a rival altar is not a mark of sophisticated tolerance; it is a mark of covenantal infidelity.
In our text today, we see this holy jealousy on full display. The tribes west of the Jordan hear a report that their brothers to the east have built a massive altar, and their immediate, gut reaction is to gather for war. Before we rush to judge them for having a hair trigger, we must first commend them for having the right trigger. They were jealous for the central tenet of their national existence: one God, one altar, one people. Their zeal was righteous, even if, as we shall see, their information was incomplete. This is a story about a near-disaster, a civil war that almost was. But more than that, it is a story that teaches us about the corporate nature of sin, the necessity of principled confrontation, and the high cost of schism.
The modern church, particularly in the West, is riddled with the cancer of individualism. We think of our faith as a private affair between "me and Jesus." But the Bible knows nothing of this. In Scripture, sin is never a purely private matter. It is a contagion. It is a gangrene that threatens the whole body. The Israelites understood this. They knew that the sin of a few could bring the judgment of God upon the many. They had learned this lesson the hard way, and the names of Peor and Achan were seared into their national memory. This is a lesson we have forgotten to our great peril.
The Text
Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons 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 leaders, one leader for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel. So they came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, “Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following Yahweh this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against Yahweh this day? Is the iniquity of Peor too small a thing for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there was a plague on the congregation of Yahweh? Yet you are turning away this day from following Yahweh. Now it will be that, if you rebel against Yahweh today, He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of Yahweh, where the tabernacle of Yahweh dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of Yahweh our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things devoted to destruction, and indignation fall on all the congregation of Israel? But he was not the only man to breathe his last in his iniquity.’ ”
(Joshua 22:13-20 LSB)
Righteous Zeal, Righteous Process (vv. 13-15)
Let's look at the initial response.
"Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons 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 leaders..." (Joshua 22:13-14)
The whole congregation is ready for war (v. 12), but they do not act rashly. Their zeal is tempered by wisdom. Before they draw their swords, they send a delegation. And what a delegation it is. This is not some low-level diplomatic mission. They send Phinehas, the son of the high priest. This is the same Phinehas whose righteous zeal turned back God's wrath at Peor by running a spear through an Israelite man and a Midianite woman in the very act of their idolatrous fornication (Numbers 25). If anyone understood the stakes of idolatry and the necessity of holy zeal, it was Phinehas. His presence alone was a potent message.
With him, they send ten leaders, one from each of the western tribes, each a "head of his father's household." This was a high-powered, official inquiry. They were taking this with the utmost seriousness. This teaches us a crucial principle for church discipline and conflict resolution. When there is a report of serious sin, the response should be weighty and deliberate, not driven by gossip or social media outrage. The men in charge must take charge. They showed their love for their brothers not by ignoring the report, but by investigating it properly.
The Charge of Rebellion (v. 16)
The delegation gets straight to the point.
"Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following Yahweh this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against Yahweh this day?’" (Joshua 22:16 LSB)
Notice the language. They don't see this as a simple misunderstanding or a matter of personal preference. They see it for what it appears to be: an "unfaithful act," a "turning away," and flat-out "rebellion." The central altar at the Tabernacle was not a matter of convenience; it was a matter of covenant. God had commanded that He would choose one place for His name to dwell, and that is where all Israel was to bring their sacrifices (Deuteronomy 12). To build another altar for sacrifice was to establish a rival worship. It was spiritual secession. It was schism made visible in stone.
In their minds, building an altar was tantamount to rebellion. And rebellion against Yahweh is the fountainhead of all other sins. They understood that worship defines a people. If you have two altars, you will soon have two gods, and then you will have two nations, and then you will have war. The unity of the people of God is grounded in the unity of our worship. When worship is fractured, the body politic cannot hold.
The Ghosts of Peor and Achan (vv. 17, 20)
To press their point, they bring up two raw, painful memories from their recent past.
"Is the iniquity of Peor too small a thing for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there was a plague on the congregation of Yahweh?" (Joshua 22:17 LSB)
The sin at Baal Peor was a national catastrophe. Israelite men began to whore with Moabite women, which led directly to them bowing down to their gods. The result was a devastating plague that killed twenty-four thousand Israelites. The plague only stopped when Phinehas executed God's judgment. The key lesson was that idolatry and sexual immorality are corporate sins with corporate consequences. The whole nation suffered for the sin of some. Phinehas is essentially saying, "Have you forgotten the stench of death? Have we not learned that God's judgment on idolatry is swift and severe, and that it splashes onto the innocent?"
He then brings up an even more recent example:
"Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things devoted to destruction, and indignation fall on all the congregation of Israel? But he was not the only man to breathe his last in his iniquity." (Joshua 22:20 LSB)
Achan's sin was private. He secretly took some of the devoted plunder from Jericho and hid it in his tent. But the consequence was public. Israel was defeated in their next battle at Ai, and thirty-six men died. God told Joshua that the entire nation was under the ban because of Achan's sin. One man's greed brought defeat and death upon the whole community. Achan, his family, and all his possessions were stoned and burned. The lesson was clear: there is no such thing as a private sin in a covenant community. We are bound together. One man's sin can defile the entire camp.
The Logic of Corporate Judgment (vv. 18-19)
Based on these precedents, Phinehas lays out the terrifying logic of their situation.
"Now it will be that, if you rebel against Yahweh today, He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow." (Joshua 22:18 LSB)
This is federal theology in its rawest form. They understood that they were one body. If the hand sins, the whole body is liable for judgment. This is why they were ready to go to war. It was an act of radical, corporate surgery. They were willing to cut off their own brothers to save the whole nation from the wrath of God. This was not hatred; it was a severe and holy love. It was a desperate attempt to prevent a greater judgment.
But their zeal is matched by a remarkable offer of grace. They consider the possibility that the Transjordan tribes feel their land is somehow "unclean" or second-rate because the Tabernacle is not with them.
"If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of Yahweh, where the tabernacle of Yahweh dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us..." (Joshua 22:19 LSB)
This is an astonishing offer. They are willing to redraw the tribal boundaries. They are willing to give up a portion of their own inheritance to accommodate their brothers and preserve the unity of worship. They are saying, "If you feel distant from God on your side of the river, then please, come back. Live with us. We will make room for you. Whatever it takes, just do not build another altar. Do not rebel against God, and do not rebel against us by fracturing our fellowship." Their priority was not real estate; it was right worship. They valued covenant unity over their own property. How many of our church splits could be avoided if we had this same spirit?
Lessons on a Hair Trigger
As the story unfolds, we discover that this was all a massive misunderstanding. The eastern tribes had not built an altar for sacrifice, but an altar of witness, a memorial to declare that they were part of the one people of Yahweh. But the misunderstanding itself is profoundly instructive for us.
First, we see the absolute necessity of guarding the purity of worship. The western tribes had their priorities straight. An attack on the central altar was an attack on the heart of their faith. We, in the new covenant, have one altar, and that altar is Christ Himself (Hebrews 13:10). Any teaching, any practice, any "new revelation" that sets up a rival to the finished work of Jesus Christ is a schismatic altar. Whether it is the altar of good works for salvation, the altar of mystical experiences, or the altar of political utopianism, we must be zealous to tear it down. Our unity is in Christ alone, through faith alone.
Second, we learn the reality of corporate responsibility. The modern evangelical mind recoils at the idea that God would judge a whole group for the sin of an individual. But the Bible is replete with it. We are in Adam, and so we all fell. We are either in Christ, or we are outside of Him. This is true for the church as well. When a church tolerates open sin in its midst, it becomes a partaker in that sin, and the whole congregation comes under the threat of divine discipline (1 Corinthians 5). We are our brother's keeper.
Third, this passage is a model for how to handle suspected sin. They did not gossip. They did not form factions. They sent a formal delegation, led by godly leaders, to confront the issue head-on. They stated the charge clearly, they laid out the biblical principles at stake, and they appealed to their brothers on the basis of their shared history and shared covenant. And they were willing to make personal sacrifices to achieve reconciliation. This is the pattern of Matthew 18 applied on a national scale.
And so, we must ask ourselves. Is our zeal for the purity of God's worship as sharp as theirs? Do we tremble at the thought of God's corporate judgment on our churches for tolerated sin? And when we see what appears to be a brother straying, do we respond with principled, courageous, and loving confrontation, or do we simply change the subject and hope it goes away? The God of Phinehas is our God. He is a jealous God, and He demands our total allegiance. Let us pray for a healthy dose of that old Israelite hair trigger, a holy zeal for the glory of God and the purity of His bride.