The Altar Called Ed

        My son and daughter came to church a few Sundays ago. Sister Julie Davis had written a song and Sister Jeannie Lyle and I were prepared to perform it that morning, but there wasn’t time. So Sister Jeannie and I gave a command performance for them in the choir room following the service. The lyrics to the song would not make sense to someone not familiar with the biblical parallels in the bible between the Israelites’ miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (salvation) and their second miraculous crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land (sanctification). I gave my best attempt to explain these parallels to Jeremy and Ashleigh prior to performing the song. The lyrics are as follows:

Sanctified

[Chorus:] I’ve settled down in the land of Canaan

Now my soul has ceased from wan-drin’

Now I’m home.

The veil is rent and I’ve crossed Jordan

Now my joy is overflowin’

Now I’m home, oh, I’m home.

[Verse 1:] He did away with Adam’s seed

Cleansed me from all carnality

From orphaned child to royal son

Lord, not my will but thine be done

[Verse 2:] He did away with Adam's seed
Cleansed me from all carnality
From orphan child to royal son
Lord, not my will but Thine be done

[Verse 3:]  And with it comes a lasting peace
More grace, more power, stability
He calmed the storm of inward strife

When I committed my whole life

                I have been reading through the book of Joshua and I came across a verse that I don’t know how I’ve missed before. It is verse 34 of chapter 22, “And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.” I just had to investigate this altar named Ed. The word Ed is the transliteration of the Hebrew word for witness. I found out that this altar is not a good thing. I’ll try to present the story in a way that I, even I, might understand it.

                After 40 years in the wilderness the Israelites approached the land that God had promised them. Certain ones scoped out the land on the wilderness side of the Jordan and felt it was good enough for them and for their cattle. So they told Moses they did not want to cross the Jordan, that they were satisfied with whatever would await them on this side. Here is Moses’ reply:

Numbers 32:6-7, 20-22

⁶ And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?

⁷ And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?

                Moses gives them the conditions on which they should inherit the land east of the Jordan in verse 20:

²⁰ And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,

²¹ And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

²² And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

                So the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh fought with the rest of the Israelites but they never possessed any part of the Promised Land. They never accepted all that God had offered to them. They were very much like Lot, who decided the land near the wicked city of Sodom was okay to settle on because his cattle (his wealth) would prosper there.

                When we come to the passage in Joshua, we find that these folks have constructed an altar, but it is not the altar God had instructed the Israelites to build in Canaan land. They even admit that it is only a cheap imitation and that they never intend to make sacrifices on it. They say they will simply use it as a witness to their unity. It will simply be something to look at.

Many who profess to be Christians are content with a watered-down lukewarm experience. Many churches have very impressive altars. But many professing Christians have settled for less than all God has to offer, and less than what God expects from them. To them salvation is like an all-you-can-eat buffet. “I’ll take this and I’ll take that, but I don’t want any part of those vegetables. The singing is nice but ain’t nobody gonna tell me that God cares how I dress.” Some may even add things that were not offered. I used to carry around a small bottle of Tabasco sauce in my pocket in case of “emergency.” They add things to their Christian profession that God never intended, such as forbidding priests to marry.

We need to desire all that God has for us. Only in being truly saved (having crossed the Red Sea into the wilderness) and being truly sanctified (having crossed the Jordan River and settled down in the land of Canaan) can we have true unity with each other.