Having discussed the personal and contemporary political matters of rivers as providing the potential for trade and communication that can nonetheless be inhibited by those seeking to wall themselves off from others [1], I would like to turn to a matter that is not often well understood when one thinks of dealing with the problem of rivers, and that is a biblical passage that gives a great, if often forgotten, examination of the way that godly people are supposed to deal with misunderstandings and difficulties. The fact that unconverted Israelites during the time of Joshua were able to resolve a problem of immense importance where the latent threat of division as a result of a river being between two parts of Israel ought to give us all the encouragement we need to resolve such misunderstandings we have with others. The way in which this misunderstanding, which could have had immensely tragic results, was resolved provides a template for how to deal with such matters in our own lives, should they arise.

First, we see in Joshua 22:1-9 the context for why this misunderstanding developed in the first place. As it is written: “Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and said to them: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.” So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

In reading this passage, one would not initially suspect that trouble was on the way. The initial subduing of the land of Israel under Joshua’s rule had been successful, and the tens of thousands of troops from the Transjordan area of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh were given leave to go home, to return to their tents and attend to their own affairs. Their duty and responsibility to share in the common effort of their brethren on the other side of the Jordan river had been fulfilled, and their share of the resulting spoil of the successful initial conquest was divided and given to them before their return home. Their departure was seemingly without any sort of hostility, but they were praised for not abandoning their brethren and enjoined to obey the laws of God that had been given to Moses and that are recorded in the first five books of the Bible. None of this would seem to be particularly demanding, the lack of lasting obedience that Israel showed to God’s ways notwithstanding. Yet trouble was on the way, and was some to threaten Israel with civil war immediately after their successful initial conquest.

We see the controversy in Joshua 22:10-20: “And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar. Now the children of Israel heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’””

What we see here is that immediately after the children of the two and a half tribes of Gilead return home, their actions are misinterpreted as a sign of rebellion. The act of setting up an altar on the other side of the river prompts a serious community effort from the other nine and a half tribes, who send ten leaders and the heir to the office of high priest to parley with the apparently rebellious two and a half tribes. Let us note, to make it clear, that what the tribes of Gilead were accused of doing was nothing less than secession from the confederation of Israel by setting up an altar for independent worship apart from the system established by God through Moses. The building of an altar, had it been for the purposes of withdrawing from the larger political community of Israel, would have fully justified a bloody and brutal civil war. Clearly, the stakes were high and the importance of choosing envoys wisely and making sure to fully understand what was being done before committing to acts of hostility was necessary to avoid conflict where none was required but to demonstrate that if conflict is required it should be conducted as well as possible.

Joshua 22:21-34 gives the result of all of this fretful and anxious concern: “Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel: “The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself require an account. But in fact we have done it for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.”’ Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.” Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.” And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Here we see the desired end of all conflict resolution—no conflict and no need for conflict. Despite the anxious concerns of the rest of Israel, we see that the threat of civil war was over a misunderstanding. For just as the tribes on the west side of the river were concerned about separatist behavior from those in Gilead, those in Gilead were concerned about being cut off and having the river used as a barrier to prevent them from full involvement in the Israelite confederation. Therefore they built an altar, a replica altar, not intended to be used, as a sign of their continued loyalty to God and their desire to be considered fully as a part of Israel. And so the crisis was averted, the envoys returned home, and no war was fought. If only all difficulties could be solved that easily. What was it that made the conflict possible to resolve? For one, it was a misunderstanding, and neither side desired harm to come to the other side, and both were committed to following God and unity with each other (which is an aspect of what is required for the Israel of God). For another, both sides were honest in communicating their concerns and also genuinely interested in hearing the concerns of the other. This allowed the misunderstanding to be cleared up, which it was. None of this is rocket science—if we want to avoid turning a river into a hostile border, we need open and honest and respectful communication and a mutual desire for unity and the well-being of others. So long as this is present among all parties, the misunderstandings that result from life need not divide us. The larger question is therefore, are these conditions present for us in our dealings wiith others? And if not, why not?

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/the-other-side-of-the-river-part-one/