There was a misunderstanding in this chapter and I'm glad it got sorted out, especially after all the challenges they had been through together.
In verse 5 it says,
'But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.'
To break it down, they were to.....
- Keep the commandments
- Love the Lord their God
- Walk in His ways
- Obey His commands
- Hold fast to Him
- Serve Him with all their heart and all their soul
Joshua's reminder to the eastern tribes, is like a reminder to us too. To live a victorious life, we need to keep His Words hidden deep within our hearts. Next, we give God our love as a result of His Word. We need to love God first before we can walk in obedience to His Word.When we realise that God is our everything, our perspective of Him changes!
The misunderstanding teaches us different lessons especially in the way they handled it.
- They didn't fight straight away but they talked it over. Both sides had a chance to speak their minds.Out of their love for their brothers and in fear of God's holiness and wrath, the brothers approached them.
- They confronted in love! I think that was very courageous of them.
- They showed empathy. Looking at the situation from both perspectives because there's always a reason for every action. To understand the action, you need to determine the reason. The reason will tell you what they were thinking at that particular time.
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