Joel M Bradshaw

 34The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”–Joshua 22

Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had land on the other side of the Jordan. After being released by Joshua to go home, they built an altar. Word got back to Joshua that they had built an altar. It looked bad to do so because they were so far away and closer to enemy territory. Maybe they were worshiping another god and hoping not to be noticed?

So Joshua sent the priest to check it out and the tribes reported that they had not turned from Yahweh. Rather, they built the altar to Yahweh to serve as a reminder to the other tribes that these were their brothers across the Jordan. It was an altar not for sacrifice, but for remembrance. This satisfied the priest that they were not up to nefarious purposes. In fact, the novelty altar served a nice purpose.

I’m journeying with people right now who don’t trust in God, but want to trust in God. They sought the church’s assistance in order to help them to trust God. And they were each sent my way. They are theologically like Nicodemus approaching Jesus in John chapter 3.

My first step with them in this process is to see if they can lay the foundation to their trust buildings. This foundation is looking back at their pasts. What story do they maintain regarding the past? Do they recognize God’s faithfulness in their lives? Again, this isn’t where trust has been broken, but just wasn’t there to begin with.

Trust can be rebuilt when broken, but it also can be built when not there. It’s a journey for them to leave the ‘self’ path and start walking the ‘Jesus’ path. Step 1 was what the trans-Jordan tribes did here in our text today. If you can remember God’s faithfulness in your past, you have laid the foundation for trust in your present.

So what great works of God in your life do you recall and need to remember? How great has his faithfulness been to you? There may be no need to build something in your backyard, but can you place a few landmarks in your heart?–JMB